Day 71 - An interconnected world

We live in an interconnected world. Another name for this is globalization; defined as the spread of products, technology, information, and jobs across national borders and cultures. Globalization is not new (economists date it back to Columbus in 1492!) but the latest “era” of globalization is said to have started in 1989. During this time, we have witnessed huge technological advances, not least in the growth of the internet and mobile communications.

Jessica Mwedzi and her family live in rural Zimbabwe, where 7 out of 10 people rely on farming for income and food. She toils on her farm, but nothing can grow on her ashen, dry land. Often her children go to bed hungry as she can only feed them with one bowl of porridge a day. Drought is a recurring nightmare for Jessica and many like her. She recalls: “One year, we had no rain. The scorching sun burnt my crops just as they were about to bloom. It was so painful and disheartening.”

How does globalization impact on Jessica? More than you may think. Her life has been directly impacted by three factors over which she has no control and which may seem remote to her; the covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine (which has driven up food prices, including wheat and cooking oil produced in Ukraine and Russia) and – most significantly – climate change.

Next week is Christian Aid Week, and Christian Aid is using the opportunity to shine a light on the plight of Jessica and many like her in Zimbabwe and elsewhere. Christian Aid is working with partners in Zimbabwe to help Jessica, and others, so that she can grow drought-resistant crops, set up water taps on her farm and learn how to grow food in the harsh climate. With the right support, Jessica’s dry, dusty land could transform into a garden of hope, abundant with fresh food like tomatoes, beans, groundnuts, corn and cucumbers. Enough to feed her family.

As we approach this Christian Aid Week, let us take a moment to give thanks again for all the good things we enjoy. And may we also give thanks for organisations, like Christian Aid, working tirelessly around the world to support communities who cannot take these things for granted.

Creator God, cultivator of our faith,

thank you for the privilege of living in this global garden

planted to bear your fruit,

to delight our tongues, to fill our bellies, to energise our bodies.

You have given us life in all its fullness.

You have given us life, yet millions still hunger.

As we approach this Christian Aid Week, we stand alongside Jessica and so many like her who struggle to provide food and hope for their families.

We give thanks for the work of agencies such as Christian Aid, and their many partners around the world, who hunger to provide.

But may our support not end here.

May we be the seeds from which your kingdom grows.

Amen

(An adapted prayer from Christian Aid for Christian Aid Week.)

Philip Clarke

Image: Jessica carrying maize (source: Christian Aid / David Brazier)