wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: WSF youth pre-event in Porto Alegre

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World Council of Churches - Feature
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release  25/01/2005

ECUMENICAL YOUTH SHOW ENERGY AND COMMITMENT

By Henrike Müller (*)
Free photos available - see below

In a joyous procession of hope after the opening worship service of an
ecumenical youth event preceding the World Social Forum (WSF), some 50
young people dance, clap and sing Por isso vem (God calls us for a new
moment, so come and join the circle!) - a Brazilian song of hope for a
better world.

Hosted by the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Rio Grande do
Sul, organized by the World Alliances of Young Men's and Young Women's
Christian Associations and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF),
and supported by the World Council of Churches (WCC), the 23-26 February
youth pre-event in Porto Alegre, Brazil, brings together young people from
Latin America and other parts of the world.

Participants are discussing issues related to the 26-31 January WSF,
worshipping and participating in Bible studies, and exchanging experiences
from their different contexts under the overall WSF theme "Another world
is possible. After the four-day meeting, the young people will join an
ecumenical coalition at the Forum.

"This meeting is an ice-breaker on our way to proclaim and build a
different world, WSCF former secretary general Nana Brew says in his
opening remarks. "Once the event is over, I hope that each one of us will
have learned something new and will do something different. We are not
only preparing for the World Social Forum - we are even more preparing for
what we will do afterwards in our everyday life.

An exposure visit to a YMCA children's day nursery on the outskirts of
Porto  Alegre contextualizes the meeting's theoretical reflections for the
participants. Here, at Morro Santana, some 100 children aged between 6 and
15 are taken care of by 25 volunteers and professional social workers.
Funded both by the YMCA and by donations, the project aims at keeping the
children off the street.

In the poor areas of Porto Alegre, children are often forced to earn money
to support their families. Begging at the traffic lights through open car
windows is one way of getting at least a little bit of money. Drug
addiction is the most serious among the many dangers for children spending
their days on the street.

"We try to give the kids basic cultural knowledge and offer them an
alternative to living on the streets and to drugs, explains Ana Paula
Alves, a social assistant and the project coordinator.

One entry requirement is that the children attend a public school. They
spend their afternoons in the day nursery, where they have help with their
homework, can engage in sports and music and enjoy a safe space for
recreation.

On this sunny morning, the young people from the ecumenical youth event
join the singing and dancing, and watch presentations of songs and the
traditional Brazilian capoeira. They are enthusiastic about the social
work that begins right where help is needed.

You don't have to be a hero to make the world a little better, Gustavo
Andrade, coordinator of the YMCA Rio Grande do Sul youth department, says.
This visit inspired all of us to look out for the needs in our own
countries.

The energy to work towards a better world is what Costa Rican professor of
theology Elsa Tamez considers as one important thing theologians can learn
from committed ecumenical youth. In a Bible study focusing on the economy,
she calls it the lack of prudence: Theologians are too often afraid of
connecting the gospel to social issues. Young people, however, have the
courage to say whatever they want. Theology must become more courageous.
[657 w]

- - -

(*) Henrike Müller, a curate in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Hanover, is working in the Media Relations Office of the WCC in Geneva.

Cf. WCC press update PR-05-04 of 24 January 2005
cf. WCC press releasePR-05-62 of 19 January 2005

High-resolution photos from the forum are available on our website:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/photo-galleries/meetings/possibleworldtheology.html

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to the
author.

Media contacts in Porto Alegre:
Susanne Buchweitz subuc@terra.com.br +55 (0) 51 3342 2627 +55 (0) 51 3225
9066
Henrike Mueller hem@wcc-coe.org +55 (0) 51 8114 7833

- - -

"Affirming life in dignity: enhancing justice and rights in a globalized
world" is the overall theme for the World Council of Churches' (WCC)
participation in the 5th World Social Forum taking place 26-31 January in
Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The WCC delegation is participating with others in the framework of a
global ecumenical coalition, including the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF), the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), and other world-wide
ecumenical organizations.
The fifth edition of the annual World Social Forum will be an open meeting
place for non-governmental organizations, social movements and civil
society groups to debate alternative ways to build a world in solidarity
and justice.
More information about the WCC participation in the 5th World Social Forum
is available on our website at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/wsf-2005-e.html

Media contacts in Porto Alegre:
Susanne Buchweit subuc@terra.com.br +55 (0) 51 3342 2627 +55 (0) 51 3225
9066
Henrike Mueller hem@wcc-coe.org +55 (0) 51 8114 7833

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
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which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.