Central and South African Yearly Meeting
7 January
2012 --- I was very excited to be able to attend Central and Southern African
Yearly Meeting (unprogrammed Friends). It was held January 1 – 7, 2012, at the
lovely Good Shepherd Retreat Centre near Johannesburg, South Africa. About 90
Friends from Monthly Meetings in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and
Zimbabwe attended. The only country not represented was Zambia where there are
only a couple of Friends who sent a report, but could not attend.
I gave a seven-minute
talk introducing myself and the Quaker publications with which I am involved. I
made 10 copies of What Canst Thou Say
and Quaker Eco-Bulletin to give away
and left one copy each of the two recent Quaker Institute for the Future
pamphlets. There was quite a lot of interest in all three of these periodicals.
The seven-minute talk is a great idea for a Yearly Meeting. It allows quite a
number of contributions and is a good discipline to fit into that timeframe.
I also gave
a Special Interest Group on Climate Change out of which came a minute with four
parts:
1)
We
recommend lobbying for a Financial Transactions Tax to finance adaptation
responses to the adverse effects of climate change in developing countries and
as a means of wealth redistribution.
2)
We ask
that the latest scrubbing and other technologies be used on all existing coal
plants.
3)
We
ask that all subsidies for fossil fuels be removed.
4)
We
ask for a boycott of Shell, and will write to tell them so, because of their
plans for fracking in South Africa.
The Yearly
Meeting spent considerable time on issues in Zimbabwe. After the Friends
Meeting in Harare experienced serious intimidation last year, Les and Pauline
Mitchell went to Zimbabwe traveling in the ministry and wrote a detailed report
of their findings. After a tremendous drought in 2002, Friends developed the
Zimbabwe Food Relief Action. They went into areas that were hard hit where
there is no other NGO helping and they still are providing when they have
enough money. They buy maize (corn) and arrange for transportation to provide
25 kg to each family in each of 16 villages, whatever their financial status,
number of members, etc. The chief of each village provides a list of all the
families. That way it is not necessary to make any judgment of neediness, and
it gives an opportunity for any who do not to need so much to share. Much of
the Zimbabwe population is pastoral and they have lost a large part of their
livestock due to the drought, resulting in serious conditions.
The
political conditions are also serious. There is global agreement that the last
elections have been rigged by the ruling party. The intimidation of the
population in regard to upcoming elections happens long before the
international monitors arrive. People are frightened into voting for the party
in power implying that their ballot is not secret. One must show a party
membership card to get essential services such as transportation, education,
even food. One person reported authorities coming to his house asking him to
prove that he was a member of the ruling party and then to name five people who
were not. When he said he didn’t know anyone that wasn’t, he was beaten until
he named five people. The drought and a high incidence of HIV/AIDS have
exacerbated the problems.
The Yearly
Meeting suggested several ways they could help. Voter education is needed to
let people know of their rights. There are internal electoral monitors, but
they, too, are the victims of intimation. International monitors are needed
earlier in the process. South African Friends will lobby the South African
government to stop supporting the ruling Mugabe administration and deporting
Zimbabweans.
The
inspirational DVD A Force More Powerful
will be made available in Zimbabwe. It begins with the Gandhi Salt March and
continues with five other examples of non-violent campaigns that were
successful in overthrowing dictators or other oppressive regimes. This DVD was
shown at Yearly Meeting. I found it very moving and will make some effort to
get it to Friends Meetings in the U.S., if they don’t have it already.
A South
African Member of Parliament, Trevor Manuel, has led an effort that resulted in
a National Development Plan, which among its goals, eradication of poverty and
sustainability. Friends George Ellis has written an analysis which was endorsed
by the Yearly Meeting. He says that the plan is very good, but is likely to be
opposed by those whole power would be threatened. Friends were committed to
lobby for it and to work through inter-faith groups. He suggested that in order
to reduce corruption, they should establish an amnesty like the truth and
reconciliation process that occurred after apartheid.
These are
just the highlights of a wonderful week which included worship, music, birding,
morning walks, good food and fellowship. I felt quite at home with these
Friends.