The Waltonian

During the week of Monday, April 1 through Saturday, April 6, Eastern’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity raised awareness about their mission to promote global affordable housing. The campus ministry led a number of on-campus and off-campus events through its “Act! Speak! Build!” awareness week. The week focused on promoting community action through advocacy, voicing how students can become involved and building awareness about poor living conditions.

Each event sought to address the issue of poverty housing or contribute to the promotion of its resolution, affordable housing. Students that were involved in the awareness week were able to increase awareness about the global issue of substandard housing and advocate for an initiation of change.

On Monday, April 1, Habitat for Humanity kick- started the week with a letter-writing campaign to U.S. Senators of Pennsylvania. Students wrote letters to Senators, Pat Toomey and Bob Casey Jr., on postcards to urge for the continuation of priority programs that support the work of Habitat.

Each letter urged for the federal funding of Habitat-related programs, such as the HOME Investment Partnership Program and the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP). One student, Abigail Fell-Dewalt, wrote a letter to Senator

Casey in Spanish to symbolize the impact of Habitat’s mission in the Hispanic community.

The next day, Tuesday, April 2, a tradition continued. Each year for awareness week, Habitat collaborates with the Society of Art & Illustration for an event related to affordable housing. This year, students participated in a night of painting and decorating birdhouses. With feathers, decorative gemstones, and splashes of paint, Habitat members and students participate in this creative event each year.

On Wednesday, April 3, Eastern’s Habitat for Humanity campus chapter led a Pancake Night fundraiser to raise money and awareness. Hours prior to the start of Wednesday Night Worship, students gathered in the Gough residence building to buy pancakes. Blueberries, chocolate chips, and thick syrup were the toppings for the evening. According to one of Habitat’s campus leaders, Rebecca Kallinkal, “The Pancake Night was a success.”

A number of resident assistants, student athletes and other campus ministries supported Habitat with their purchase of pancakes and spontaneous donations. On Thursday, April 4, the CEO of the Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery and Delaware County chapters shared her experience and answered questions in a panel discussion about affordable housing. Chief Executive Director Marianne Lynch contributed to educating the community about service through a distributive justice lens. In addition to Lynch, current Eastern student, Saroj Chettri, joined the panel to share his experience as the Neighborhood Revitalization Manager and as Lynch’s colleague. Chettri’s purpose is to initiate the restoration and revitalization of neighborhoods.

Through the programs offered in Montgomery and Delaware counties, Habitat is able to build stable neighborhoods and create safer living conditions. According to Lynch, MontDelco Habitat for Humanity will continue to launch additional programs, such as “a free Financial Empowerment Program launching in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and the Critical Home Repair Program.” The program addresses the critical needs of residents in the Montgomery and Delaware counties that threatens the safety, health and accessibility of residents.

On the last day of awareness week, students volunteered at a build site in Salem, New Jersey. Volunteering on Saturdays is a weekly opportunity for Eastern students. Every opportunity given to serve through Habitat is an opportunity for students to build hope and to build homes, one family at a time.

Sources: HabitatMontDelco.org, Habitat.org

On Friday, January 18th, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was commemorated at Eastern’s Windows on The World forum. Vicar of Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia and Temple University Chaplain, Reverend Dr. Renee McKenzie, explored and dissected one of Dr. King’s most prominent sermons.

“The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” was delivered on the Baptist church podiums in the mid-twentieth century during the Civil Rights Movement. In his sermon, Dr. King outlined the three dimensions of a complete life: the length of life (concern for oneself), the breadth of life (concern for others), and the height of life (one’s relationship with Christ). Rev. Dr. McKenzie spoke about each dimension and what the breadth of life means for Christians–a dimension that calls individuals to be oriented towards the ‘other’.

“God calls us to the other and gives us the responsibility of the other”, Rev. Dr. Mckenzie said. Biblically, to attain the dimension of the breadth of life, one’s actions should reflect the command of Jesus to ‘love your neighbor as yourself”. Rev. Dr. McKenzie explained that it is in this dimension that justice is addressed. This dimension is reached when loving our neighbors translates into justice.

“We are predisposed, pre-wired to the other”, Rev.Dr. Mckenzie said. God calls us to the other before we have the chance to say no. So, the question then becomes: What stops an individual from reaching this dimension, a dimension that is concerned with the welfare of the other?

Rev. Dr. McKenzie currently challenges her church to be oriented towards the community and social justice. In light of the systemic trauma that the community has experienced, Rev. Dr. McKenzie suggested that serving the other means becoming a trauma-informed ministry that is concerned with the social injustices and issues that exist in the community. As Christians, we must be informed about the experiences of others and be willing to provide services to meet their physical and spiritual needs.

The Church of the Advocate serves their community by providing nutritional meals to their neighbors living in food deserts without access to fresh food through the Advocate Cafe. Through their Center for Culture and Education, the church has created art and academic programs for youth and adults.

Rev. Dr. McKenzie and the church continue to challenge themselves to care for those impacted by systemic trauma in their community. They will continue to love their neighbors as themselves, and accept the Christian’s calling to the ‘other’.

Australia is fighting back for their economy, and returning to their diplomatic roots. Recently, Australia has shown a dramatic increase in the productivity of the Australian market. Their most recent decision to lower the cost of their exchange rate for the exporting of produced goods has revived Australia’s local manufacturing industry–an industry that was, for a long period of time, inactive due to the convenience and efficiency of manufacturing through the U.S.

Today, however, U.S. manufacturing is not the first industry that international countries are running to. According to business owner in Brisbane, Ty Hermans, “It’s far better, more cost effective to manufacture [our] products in our factory here in Brisbane, rather than manufacture [them] in the United States,” Hermans said.

Australia is currently renovating the levels of mass-produce and working to end the long-term decline and economic drought in their manufacturing businesses. By changing the rate of exchange, the number of raw and material goods being imported to their manufacturers each month has risen and their relations with international trading markets has developed.

“The Australian dollar has probably dropped by close to 10 per cent across a whole range of currencies, including the renminbi with China, with the euro and with the pound sterling,” David Chuter, Director of Innovative Manufacturing Co-operative Research Centre said. Businesses on the inside and outside of Australian borders are reaping the fruits from this sudden change.

Local manufacturing businesses in Australia are slowly thriving and rebuilding their networks. Industries that lost a large portion of their business to more favorable trading systems are now gaining their business back.

“Some of [the] customers took their work overseas 10 to 15 years ago, even three to four years ago, and they’re already looking to bring stuff back here to be manufactured locally,” Hermans said.

The industry has proven to expand over the course of the past two years. In fact, over 93,000 jobs have been added to the industry, causing an influx of workers to accumulate in Australia. Although the manufacturing industry has struggled and remained stagnant for years, it is making its way to a sweet redemption.

Australia is not only rebuilding their economy by shrinking the Aussie dollar and renovating their local industries, but they are also rebuilding confidence and restoring hope in their working communities–and it only took one small change.

Source: ABC News