‘We are all connected’

Val Brown, Head of Christian Aid Scotland, reflects on the charity’s 80th anniversary and highlights why the spotlight falls on Guatemala for Christian Aid Week which takes place this month.

THE month of May is always busy but this year it will be particularly full as we hold a series of events to mark our 80-year anniversary in addition to Christian Aid Week.

You may have read Thomas Baldwin’s excellent article in Life and Work earlier this year explaining how the Church of Scotland played an integral part in the early history of Christian Aid.

The Rev Douglas Lister was a Church of Scotland minster serving as an army chaplain at the end of the Second World War. Based in Luneberg, Germany, he was hugely concerned for the refugees left desolate, displaced and freezing cold and it prompted his urgent request to the British Army for help. When this request was turned down, he turned to the churches across Scotland to step in and send what they could to their neighbours in Europe. They responded generously, despite the on-going hardships at home – an inspiring act of Christian witness.

He is widely regarded as one of Christian Aid’s founding fathers though we were not known as Christian Aid until many years later.

It is fair to say the Rev Lister’s legacy continues today both in Luneberg, where there is a street named after him, and in the two Scottish churches where he was minister, after leaving the army. Both churches remain proud of these links. He was minister at St Andrew’s Parish Church in Inverurie (from 1957-1967) and then at Largo Parish Church in Fife until his retirement. The Very Rev Dr Russell Barr, the locum minister at Largo commented: “He was a very well-liked minister.... people are interested to learn but also very proud of him and the Christian Aid connection.”

In Alta Verapaz most of the people who live there depend on agriculture which makes them more vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Both churches are planning special events this month, to celebrate these links while raising money for Christian Aid Week.

This year Christian Aid Week (11-17 May) is focusing on our work, through our partner, with the Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community in the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala. Located in Central America it is a country that is especially vulnerable to climate change and is rated among the 10 countries in the world which are the most vulnerable to disasters and climate emergencies.

Last year it experienced record high temperatures and multiple forest fires that contaminated the air. Meanwhile, extreme rainfall caused flooding that killed at least 10 people and caused 6,000 to evacuate their homes.

Guatemala sits in the Central American Dry Corridor, a tropical dry forest region that endures both severe droughts and floods. The climate crisis is intensifying these conditions. As a result, harvests are failing, rivers are drying up and families who rely on their own farms to supply their daily food are being hit hardest.

Gerardo Tobar is our programme officer based in Christian Aid’s LAC team and he says it is a worrying picture: “Guatemala might be 8000 kms away but we’re more connected than you think, especially because of climate change – which is being driven by countries in the Global North but being felt most severely by countries, like Guatemala, in the Global South.”

He added: “In Alta Verapaz most of the people who live there depend on agriculture which makes them more vulnerable to climate change impacts. It is also an area where there are high levels of poverty and malnutrition, especially among children. This is very concerning.”

One of the ways Christian Aid is supporting communities to build resilience is through agricultural training. Our partner Congcoop is offering education and training on Indigenous farming practices – adopting agroecological approaches that conserve their land, culture and livelihood. Through training sessions women like Amelia (pictured) are learning how to cultivate native seeds that are better suited to the changing climate, planning planting schedules that will deliver multiple harvests throughout the year, making organic fertiliser, and constructing rainwater collection systems.

Amelia (24) is married with two children and says she sees the reality of climate change every day and its impact on the land:

“The cacao trees are getting dry, and the banana trees are dying. In the past three years, we’ve been experiencing high heat and a lack of rain. It’s very worrying.” She added: “This is my land. My plantations have been dying due to the lack of water, and in terms of how it’s affecting me, there is no food for my family.”

Geraldo reminds us, it is crucial we act now: “Everything you’re doing is important and appreciated but it is really important to do it now, because people are facing these challenges now – it is a reality on their skin. And they are finding ways to deal with it. Timing and urgency is important. This is an issue that involves us all and needs to engage us all to solve it.”

Christian Aid has never just dealt with the symptoms of poverty. We believe the biblical mandate for justice calls us to challenge the structures that keep people poor. Which is why we are asking for governments and companies to reduce their carbon footprints and for the biggest polluters to pay into a loss and damage fund to support the most vulnerable when climate disaster strikes.

As Gerardo says we are all connected, we all share this beautiful planet. The unstoppable power of hope is what motivates us to keep going in the face of what seem like impossible challenges. An active hope that involves us raising our voices to demand that all of God’s people are treated with dignity and equality and can live free from the misery of poverty and want. Because we still believe in Life before Death.

Thank you for everything you do to support our work.

To find out how you can get involved in Christian Aid Week this year please visit our website. You’ll also find a list of the events happening this year to mark our 80th anniversary including a service at St Giles’ Cathedral on the May 17.

Visit: caid.org.uk/scotland