(a)(ii) Explain why there is a need for world development.
There is an imaginary line called the North-South divide that divides the world into almost 2 halves.
North:
- 25% of the world population.
- 80% of the world income.
- Average lifespan: 70+ years
- Most people go through primary and secondary schools.
- 90% of the world manufacturing industry.
- 96% of the world research funds.
- Nearly all of the worlds registered patents.
- Dominates most of the international economic system and institutions of trade, money and finance.
South:
- 75% of the world population.
- 20% of the world income
- Average lifespan: 50 years
- 20% of people suffer from malnutrition.
- 50% of people have little chance of a formal education.
The distribution of wealth and food is unequal throughout the world. Nearly a fifth of the world's population live in absolute poverty. These people are malnourished and suffer from high infant mortality and low life expectancy. They also lack education, employment, sanitation and safe water, access to health services or transport. More people have died as a consequence of hunger in recent years than have been killed in all the wars, revolutions and murders for over 100 years.
The lack of development in countries is not usually the fault of the people. Many developing countries are war torn. The governments in war torn countries usually use money for armaments and not on improving the people’s lives. Misguided policies and weak governance in past decades have contributed to environmental disasters, income inequality, and social upheaval in some countries, often resulting in deep deprivation, riots, or refugees fleeing famine or civil wars. Natural disasters can also set back developing countries, as they must use the money on repairs and not on building schools, hospitals etc… Very poor countries need to borrow money as they have so little money to live off. Once they have borrowed the money, they need to spend even more money on paying back the loan and interest. Therefore, they end up losing money. Many farmers in developing countries are giving up on subsistence farming to grow cash crops. This is a problem as farmers are getting money, but not enough food to live on, as their farms are devoted to making produce for sale.
Poverty is a problem for every country in the world. In developing countries like Ethiopia and Mozambique, hunger and poverty are widespread and threaten whole communities with starvation and disease. This situation should not be allowed to continue. The world needs development because most of the deaths from poverty could be prevented. With help, developing countries could become more self-sufficient and individuals would be able use their skills and abilities and so fulfil their potential.
(a)(iii) Analyse and explain the work of Christian Aid and how it works for world development.
‘Christian Aid’ was set up in 1944, under a different name. It was called the British Churches Ecumenical Refugee Council. It’s main aim at that time was to help victims of World War II. It then became Christian Aid in 1945, it was a department of the British Council of Churches, it’s new aim was to help poor people in the less developed countries. The work of Christian Aid is split into 4 main groups:
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Fund-raising. Fund raising is done in several ways, in May there is a ‘Christian Aid week’. Churches nationwide try to put a red collection envelope and an information sheet about the work of Christian aid into every household in the area designated to them. This week raises nearly £10 million every year. During the rest of the year, many Christians and Churches hold their own fundraising events, which brings the total up to almost £30 million a year.
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Emergency Aid. Emergency aid is used to quickly distribute money to help people who have been involved in natural disasters and victims of war. Emergency aid provides food, antibiotics and shelter to the people in desperate need of these things. This uses about 15% of the Christian Aid funding.
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Christian Aid. Christian aid is in direct contact with many other Christian charities around the world, this means they can give the money directly to the other charities. It’s these smaller groups that deal with the long-term distribution of the funds.
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Education. Education is delegated the least of Christian aid’s funds, only about 5%. These funds are spent on advertising to let the British public know about why the charity needs money and what it’s used for. Part of the funds are spent on Christian Aid News, which is a quarterly newspaper that gives all kinds of statistics and stories about the poorer people in the world.
Christian aid aims to improve four aspects of people’s lives:
Food security - ensuring that poor people can meet their food needs. This includes work on issues to do with land, water, trade and the environment.
Health - supporting poor people in accessing health care, with particular emphasis on issues around HIV/AIDS.
Rights - supporting and undertaking work which enables poor communities to assert their civil, social, political and cultural rights.
Peace building and reconciliation - helping communities to overcome situations of conflict. Conflict is a major obstacle to development.
Here is an example of a recent Christian Aid funded operation:
For 54 years the Bible Army of Uruguay has been helping the poor with their
medical needs, eyeglasses, wheelchairs, and other acts of kindness. Their method
is always to preach the gospel first, and then do what they can to help.
Amazingly, this ministry of compassion makes a practice of never asking for a
donation. Christian Aid's Latin America Director, Gabriel Prada, tells his
impressions based on a recent visit:
‘On my visit to the Bible Army of Uruguay I was able to see with my own eyes how
a true "faith" ministry works.’
It has been a ministry principle not to advertise their work. Since its beginning they
decided to trust the Lord for everything. Similarly, they never sell anything as a way to meet their own needs. They believe that it is God's work and they trust the Lord to provide for the needs of His ministry, to open the necessary doors, and to supernaturally touch the hearts of His people.
This is the way they have done it since the very beginning. The ministry does not and will not ask for a donation in exchange for its services.
Whenever the poor (believers or not) knock on their door or the Lord brings BAU workers to such, they will first of all preach to them the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ before any material need is offered. Most accept the Lord as a result of that witness. Then the ministry meets the need with whatever resources are available.
Thanks to the generosity of many who are obedient to God's calling, BAU workers
are able to provide services that many poor believers and unbelievers alike--especially in the depleted economy--would be unable to afford. They fill doctors' prescriptions for people who need glasses but can't afford expensive frames. They provide walkers, wheelchairs, crutches and similar items for handicapped people of every age group.
One reason the ministry is so compassionate to the poor and handicapped is that the founder, Ismael Giménez, had polio as a youth, and only after a series of painful operations arranged by a visiting missionary was he able to walk again. Now he is quite elderly, but still manages to spread good cheer.
Everything is always done "in Jesus' name." On a recent evangelistic visit, Carlos Lopez, the current leader, knocked on the door of a very poorly erected structure on the outskirts of the city. From inside the shelter a voice said, "Come in." When he stepped inside the structure his feet sank in mud. Once inside he saw that there was water leaking from the roof onto the dirt floor. Stuck in the mud in a corner of the room was an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair without wheels.
Carlos greeted the man and immediately began to share the gospel. The man listened attentively and accepted Christ as his personal Saviour. Soon after this the ministry repaired the man's roof, fixed his floor and doors and presented the man with a brand new wheelchair.
The ministry has special apartments for elderly and poor widows. Without the ministry's intervention these ladies who have no other family would be left on the streets to fend for themselves. One of the women was found by the ministry leader living near a dump underneath a box made from aluminium sheets. Now she enjoys a life with other ladies who deeply care for each other. The women participate in home Bible studies and are winning their neighbours to Christ. The ministry provides Bibles, wheelchairs, eyeglasses, prostheses and other forms of help for the needy, and is grateful for Christian Aid's support over the years.
(b) ‘There should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world’
I am unsure about whether I agree with this point or not. If poverty were caused by laziness, then I would disagree with this point. I would disagree, as it is the person in poverty’s fault that they are impoverished. If they could go and get a job, why don’t they? Unfortunately this is not the only cause of poverty. Poverty, quite a lot of the time, is caused by unequal opportunities. Many people in developing countries do not get the same opportunities as people in developed countries. People in the developed countries can get a good education and then move onto a highly paid job. People in developing countries do not generally get this chance, as they don’t receive much in the way of education.
If everybody had the same amount of money, the world would be an extremely unfair place. People who had to go through education and needed skill to get a job would have the same amount of money as the lazy people who did nothing. If this was the case, more and more people would become lazy and nothing would get done. Economies would crash, as not enough goods would be produced due to hard workers having no incentive to work hard anymore.
Also, if there are no rich people while poverty is in the world, where will the money come from to try and relieve the impoverished? If people don’t have the excess money to give to charity, they simply won’t. If there were no rich people to set up charities and trusts, how would the living conditions of the impoverished improve? They wouldn’t, they would more likely actually degrade. War-torn countries would receive no more relief; infections like HIV/AIDS would be rampant in less economically developed countries, as there would be no more funds for treatment and vaccinations.
Christians think that rich people should donate money to the poor.
‘Good master, what must I do to win eternal life? And he said, ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have riches in heaven.’ Mark 10:17-21
‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle then it is for a rich man to enter heaven.’ Matthew 19:24
This is slightly hypocritical, as the Church itself refuses to give money to the poor. The Church is effectively contradicting the bible by hoarding its wealth rather than distributing it.
Islam believes that wealth should be given to the impoverished. They also believe that richer people should give more to charity. This is evident due to the fact that Muslims must annually give 2.5% of their income to Zakah. Richer people will earn more and therefore pay more into Zakah. Also the Islamic custom of Sadaquar also means that, if asked, people give to charity any money that they feel they don’t need. Again, richer people will obviously have more to give away.
The poorer countries need to become more self-sufficient. To do this they first need to educate the population properly and have the correct buildings for public welfare. Then, the developing countries would have more equal chances and may be able to compete with the developed countries. Everyone who wants a job should have the opportunity to get one. They shouldn’t have to do more than anyone else to get this opportunity.
If people in poorer countries are educated about contraception, then it is quite possible that they will become less impoverished. The logic behind this is; if there are less people in a family, it does not take as much time, effort and money to bring them up. Of course this could work the other way. Families may need more members to do more work and get more money in the first place.
If people from developing countries want to get jobs in developing countries they may have problems. One of the biggest problems is discrimination. People, unfortunately, believe in stereotypes. This creates problems for the educated people from developing countries. If they come to a developed country, looking for a job, they need to go through immigration. Also, employers may discriminate against these people, as they will not necessarily have enough money to buy good clothes. First impressions usually stick, no matter how unfair that may seem. If a prospective employee turns up looking scruffy they are not as likely to get a job as a smartly dressed person, no matter how qualified they are. Also, racism is still quite common these days. Some employers may refuse to employ any workers from developing countries. Of course this may work the other way round, employers may exploit workers from developing countries. Employers may hire refugees etc…because they are cheap labour.
The statement ‘There should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world’ is very idealistic. In the real world equality like this would simply not work. I would therefore have to say that I disagree with this statement. Without rich people, how would the poor people get the support they needed? With ‘equality’ would everyone really be equal, even though some are doing more skilled jobs but getting the same pay? I can see that some rich people do not deserve the money that they earn, like professional footballers that get thousands of pounds just for playing football, whereas doctors do not get as much but do a lot more for the community. If rich people give away their ‘excess’ money to charity and don’t hoard it, then that is fine. Poorer people can get some of the relief that they desperately need whereas if rich people hoard their money and have nothing to spend it on that’s just selfish. If the world was full of misers and no one gave to charity, then I would have to agree with the statement. As the world is now though, with some rich people being selfish and others giving I have to, ultimately, disagree with the statement for the reasons above.