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It is our hope that as Presbyterians learn more about Joining Hands they will want to participate and actively support our program in general or in the country of their choice.

If you can think of ways for us to give more exposure to the newsletter please do not hesitate to send us your suggestions >>>

2007 Achievements

I would like to lift up for you some of this year’s accomplishments that give us cause for celebration:

First and foremost, Alexa brought in new enthusiasm and a push for more bold moves with the press locally and internationally. In that line we were able to orchestrate a major media blitz for the visit of a high level ecumenical and interfaith Peruvian delegation that came to St Louis and New York last summer as part of an advocacy initiative with the Doe Run mining company, for the health of the People in La Oroya, Peru.
We were able to link up with the Publish What you Pay international campaign, headed in the USA by Sarah Pray and this resulted in the successful ushering of three presbytery overtures for PCUSA to join that campaign. Hopefully, next June our General Assembly will consider and approve these overtures, allowing us to become more actively involved in that campaign.

The non profit organization Partners for Just Trade (PJT) , based in St. Louis MO and sponsored by the Presbyterian Hunger Program, is now in full swing.It received coverage on National Public Radio and has just posted an active website that is generating much interest: www.partnersforjusttrade.org.
We are making headway in beginning to organize prospective fair trade activities not only with Peru but also with other countries like Cameroon, Egypt,Palestine and India. As missionary in residence, Ruth Farrell is working from Louisville to help interested partner networks discern their strategies to link up with PJT.

Furthermore, this year we initiated a training program on “Global Organizing for Social Change”. This is intended for all participants in Joining Hands to help re-center themselves and their activities around what is really essential to this program: Local and global campaigns including anti-hunger education, advocacy and the search for alternative sustainable economic activities for poor communities.

At this point training workshops have taken place in Bolivia, Sri Lanka, India, Sacramento, Atlanta and Newark.

Shifting Gears

Really, if you read your newsletter you will get the sense that Joining Hands is preparing to kick into higher gear:

In Egypt, the JH partner network Together for Family Development, through the effective collaboration between Nancy Collins and Dr. Nabil Sisostres, has been successful in pushing for changes in the law concerning the Rights of Children, particularly with respect to education for children with disabilities. When you realize that this network did not have any prior advocacy experience, their accomplishment is amazing.
In Cameroon, Valery Nodem's relentless efforts for the Transparency in Extractive Industries campaign has propelled RELUFA on the national and regional scene as a major player in the area of education and advocacy on social and economic issues.
In India, Thomas John and Jacob CS have fervently worked with the CHETHANA membership to define a platform of 10 basic demands around Land and Livelihood rights that will serve as their education and mobilization charter for the next few years.
Big news is also coming out of Bolivia on preparations for a major Water campaign with UMAVIDA. Working with Joining Hands coordinating teams, Bob and Julie Dunsmore are facilitating parallel activities in the Presbyteries.

All of this IS exciting and give me shivers.

Thank YOU!

I hope you, too, can share in this excitement at the prospect of the changes that are on the way, and the sense that YOU are responding to God’s call to be an instrument of such changes.

I would like to take this opportunity to express to you all our sincere gratitude for what you are already doing with Joining Hands in your respective presbyteries and country networks. Many of you are volunteering time over and above your professional obligations. Your commitment to peace, justice and your witness of God’s love for your neighbors in need are what keeps us going.

A special thanks goes to our in-country Companionship Facilitators who on a daily basis have continued their efforts with our international and Presbytery partners to help build programs and relationships in the Joining Hands context.

2008 International Joining Hands Gathering

I am really looking forward to seeing you or your representatives next year, when an international gathering is scheduled to take place at Chapman University in Orange, CA, on July 12 – 19, 08. We will take time to celebrate, to lift up each other up, develop our skills, learn more about issues, and to strategize together. In addition, international participants will have a chance to spend an extended time visiting with their partner presbyteries. This will help deepen relationships, clarify expectations and plan together further joint activities.