April 28, 2003
by David Kohler and Cisar Dergarabedian

"We urge ourselves and all of you to walk the world with faith and hope" - a hope "based on the conviction that our efforts will not be in vain," thanks to the faith "that leads us to struggle to defend life on this earth."

The call is part of the statement drawn up by young people from 14 countries - mostly in Latin America with some from Europe and the United States - participating in a 24-27 April seminar in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Youth and Globalization. The seminar was organised by the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) and the World Council of Churches (WCC); its slogan was "Faith and Living Hope."

At the seminar, the debate focused on globalization, foreign debt, international trade and their consequences for young people and the churches. The final statement highlights "exclusion, unemployment, loss of cultural identity, consumerism, unequal distribution of wealth and ecological crisis."

According to the statement, "the trans-nationalization of the world economy" allows companies to "freely roam the planet seeking the cheapest labour, the least protected environment, the most favorable tax regime or the most generous subsidies." These practices deepen the "impoverishment of the poorest for whom life, rather than being a gift of God, has become a real tragedy."

Faced with this reality, "We must value what we believe in: a kingdom of God with justice that guarantees the human rights of all people. If we unite, we will have more strength to face this very difficult situation," said one participant, Joyce Torres (29) from Sco Paulo, Brazil.

National realities and alternative proposals

Young Brazilians described the impact of globalization in their country. According to them, there is an "official Brazil" inhabited by the dominant elite. Then there is a "virtual Brazil" created by soap operas and the Internet. Finally, there is the "real Brazil," a "land of exclusion and social conflicts": the Brazil of those "without land, without bread, without anything."

Paraguayan youth described the dramatic effects of globalization in the land of the Guarani. "Instead of going to school, many children are working, begging in the streets, sleeping on the sidewalks," they said. Having been deprived of their childhood they later, as young people, "continue down the path to drug addiction, alcoholism and prostitution."

"Faced with the social fragmentation imposed by unjust relationships, churches could work with each other and with social movements committed to human life on this earth," said the participants in their final declaration, calling such cooperation "an inescapable ecumenical vocation." A forum on economic alternatives to neo-liberalism and capitalist globalization could be included in the programme of the next WCC assembly, scheduled January 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the young people suggested.

They also emphasized the need for a "true Christian social doctrine" which would express the Christian principles of a society [...] based on the Gospel." Such a doctrine should not only act as a guide for church communities and their educational institutions, but also for "lay people and youth who raise the voice of the church in their daily lives, in political, social, economic and cultural arenas."

United and organized in adversity

The seminar took place during the last days of a political campaign leading up to 27 April presidential elections in Argentina. The day before the elections, the participants visited one of Buenos Aires' poorest neighborhoods, where some 50,000 people live in poverty and adversity.

In Bajo Flores, they saw some of the terrible social consequences of globalization at first hand, but also some examples of resistance. They met the director of a community radio, Eduardo Najera, and visited a production cooperative which also provides training opportunities.

"The experience was extremely interesting. I was really able to learn a great deal," said Elizabeth Jiminez (24), a medical student from the Dominican Republic. Having seen similar projects in her own country, shed noted that "here, people are more united and more organised. So they can work better and with more results."

Norwegian Freddy Knutsen, responsible for the WCC Youth Programme, emphasized the importance of this type of event: "It helps young people see the challenges of our times and perceive the true impact of globalization on people." What was essential, he said, was to "discover how young Latin Americans can deal with this situation and propose alternatives."

The youth event took place immediately before another, continental, consultation on "Globalizing the Fullness of Life" convened by CLAI and the WCC in Buenos Aires, 28 April - 1 May.

God in the backyard

Enormous disparities between rich and poor are nothing new for Ole Jakob Lxland, a 22-year-old theology student who spent six months working with street children in La Paz, Bolivia, and two months traveling in Peru. But he was shocked by what he saw in Bajo Flores, a poor neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

"Seeing such huge disparities and the injustice endured by the marginalized classes is such a contrast to life in Norway," he said. The experience of Bajo Flores, however, helped him "reaffirm the liberation of the poor as being central to me and to the church."

The visit has rekindled his desire to live among the poor. "In order to understand the poor, you must enter the world of the poor," he said, evoking Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiirrez.

Living in a Nordic country, said Ole, "it is very easy to forget the needy." But in a poor country, it is dangerously easy to "grow accustomed to poverty, to regard it as being natural."

Emily Ruff, a 22-year-old American who works with adolescents from homeless families in Orlando, Florida, described the experience of Bajo Flores as heart-wrenching. "I was overcome with sadness," she said.

However, she drew comfort from "strong, brave people," struggling for their daily bread. "I drew hope from their hope and the way they work their way upwards," she said.

Emily compared the comfortable middle-class neighborhood where the youth event took place with the one before her eyes: garbage on unpaved streets and unfinished houses. "The differences are dramatic. This is like the backyard," she said.

She was full of admiration for the "cartoneros" (cardboard scavengers), sometimes entire families, who hunt through household rubbish bins for paper and cardboard that can be sold for recycling.

"In the middle of so much corruption," their "honest living" makes them stand out, said Emily. They are a clear example that God "is walking with people in their struggles."

The final statement of the seminar is available at: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/youthsem.html

World Council of Churches