By Ruth Greenaway
In a relaxed bush setting near Ohope beach in the Eastern Bay of Plenty sits Te Maungarongo marae, home to Te Aka Puaho. Meaning “to hold on to the ways of peace’, Te Maungarongo is home to Te Wananga a Rangi, which is currently being developed as a centre dedicated to theological education and research.
CWS staff and long-time partner of CWS, CEPAD (The Council of Protestant Churches in Nicaragua), recently visited Te Maungarongo. CEPAD works with many rural communities. The focus of their development programmes is to “promote justice, peace and equitable solidarity”. The overall aim is to empower people to carry out their own development. Damaris Albuquerque, and Gilberto Aguirre are executive director and programme director respectively, for CEPAD.
“This was a rare opportunity to hear from people deeply involved in the complex issues facing the Nicaraguan people: widespread poverty and high levels of conflict and injustice. The churches in Nicaragua are working together to turn the situation around through strong community development and advocacy programmes that deal with the causes and offer hope to the people,” explains Jonathan Fletcher, CWS national director.
CEPAD delivers programmes in organic farming, sustainable agriculture and marketing skills; training for women in small-scale home gardening, peace, human rights and advocacy training; theological education and funding to support adult returning to secondary/tertiary education.
The CEPAD visit to Aotearoa/New Zealand in September was an engaging schedule of visits and meetings with local parishes, Christchurch presbytery, schools, a youth café focussed on fair trade, a Parliamentary function and meetings with NZAID and the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. For them, an unexpected highlight of their visit was the opportunity to connect with local Maori.
Damaris and Gilberto shared their theology of ministry to one’s own communities, and the relationship of a development agency with churches. Wayne Te Kaawa, our host, shared his hopes for Te Wananga a Rangi, that it will “contribute to the wider life of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand by offering the following: theological education to members of Te Aka Puaho, research opportunities and the archiving of Maori church history among other projects.”
The indigenous peoples of Nicaragua, the Miskito, share a common history with Maori, in terms of land confiscation, the adoption of Christianity, and the need to re-claim language. Gilberto, defined a “common humanity” as that which is expressed through messages of peace across cultures; and found in the work of healing past injustices. “Looking for freedom, looking for self-esteem, self respect, for the person is the same all over the world. I felt it was important to listen to the history of the Maori people, who are proud to be indigenous, and are people who have a strong identity… it moves you”.
“The time that we were blessed to have with Damaris and Gilberto was very much a time of peace. We were able to share openly and honestly with each other about our cultural experiences and histories.” says Wayne. “More than that, we were able to share why our Christian faith is so important for indigenous people on the opposite side of the world. Our experiences and faith seemed to bridge the physical gap.”
To coincide with this visit by CEPAD to New Zealand, CWS has launched a postcard campaign “Take Action Against Poverty” calling on our government to set a target for aid to meet the internationally agreed 0.7% GNI on overseas aid by 2015. CWS also has a video study series “Making change – economic challenges in Nicaragua” For copies of either of these contact cws@cws.org.nz or visit www.cws.org.nz