Editor’s note: This is the third installment of a series of columns by deacons of the diocese addressing the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

By Deacon Mellissa Sands

God’s gifts are plentiful. We rejoice that we are blessed with an abundance of all that we need: food, shelter, clothing, health care and education — freedom from want. Yet an estimated one billion people, approximately one sixth of the world’s population, live in extreme poverty.

Extreme poverty means that they live on the equivalent of less than $1 a day. It is not even accurate to say, “live on,” because at that level of poverty, a person merely exists. It is terrible to realize that every three seconds a child of God dies of the effects of poverty, including starvation and easily treatable diseases.

The UN Millennium Development Goals present us with a road map to approach the challenge of significantly reducing extreme poverty. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has reminded us that there is a “vision of shalom embedded in the Millennium Development Goals. …That vision of abundant life is achievable in our own day.”

The second of the eight goals is to achieve universal primary education for children. This goal looks to the future by providing a basic education for all children, of both genders. This goal ensures sustainability of current efforts to reduce poverty and to keep it at bay.

Education is essential to improving the wellbeing of the world’s people. If a child learns to read, write and do basic math, he or she can learn a skill or trade to support the family. That child has the foundation for further education to help build their country’s economy or provide health care to their people, rather than being reliant on the good will of others. Combating ignorance will be the best weapon to meet some of the biggest challenges of this world, such as hatred between peoples of different religions or teaching people about AIDS prevention.

A recent World Bank study of education reminds us that where there are higher literacy rates, the country is more likely to have a strong democratic process.Data show more children around the world are completing primary schooling, but those numbers lag behind for sub-Saharan Africa, where some of the world’s most devastating poverty exists. Thousands of children there are orphaned by AIDS and are unable to afford to go to school. In many parts of the world, girls are not educated, leaving them helpless to care independently for themselves.

The Anglican Communion has a long tradition of education around the world. The Episcopal Church is very active in providing primary education for “mind and spirit” in our companion Diocese of the Dominican Republic. For only $250 a year, a child can attend an Episcopal school. Last year, generous donations to the Dominican Development Group provided $93,000, or 360 scholarships.

Archbishop Ndungane of South Africa teaches, “all of us have a responsibility to ensure that everyone who is created in God’s image, with dignity and worth, has all that is essential for human living…Each person can make a difference. It is little drops of water that chip a rock away. It is little drops of water that makes an ocean.”

—Deacon Melissa Sands is currently assigned to Calvary Episcopal Church in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla.

Resources:

Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation

Episcopal Relief and Development:

Evangelical Lutheran Chuch in America: “God’s Mission in the World: An Ecumenical Christian Study Guide on Global Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals.” This study guide features six weekly sessions examining Christian understanding of social justice, global poverty and the MDGs;

The Episcopal Church: Several multimedia interviews focusing on the Millennium Development Goals have been produced by the Episcopal News Service and are available for online streaming. Bulletin inserts, available in English and Spanish, can be downloaded.