News
Servants to launch new website
Published:
6/12/2008
Tired of looking at this brown website? Check back soon because its all going to change.
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Servants Southall (UK) - moving into the neighbourhood
Published:
5/21/2008
The Village People sang … “Go west, life is peaceful there, Go west, lots of open air …” Wait a minute, West from Ealing is Southall … peaceful?? You’re more likely to find pulsing bangra music, fragrant curry houses, and vegetable shops spilling their wares into the street. However, I’m guessing many Ealing-ites have never ‘gone West’ and crossed the divide past Ealing Hospital and checked out this vibrant area. It’s also a bit exotic: in a report published last year, Southall was described as the least English place in England, with just 17.82% of residents being of English ethnic origin. As you exit the train station you will see the ’Welcome to Southall’ sign in Punjabi as well as English. A nearby pub is in the only one in the UK to accept rupees! Consequently, Southall is known to many as ‘Little India’.
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Ask me where I was (poem)
Published:
5/12/2008
The following poem by Kristin Jack is taken from the forthcoming Servants book "The Sound of World's Colliding". It concludes a chapter written by Servants elder Dave Andrews about the agony of Sudan, and the sense of moral impotence he felt while visiting that devastated nation.
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IHT: Thousands Dead in Myanmar Cyclone
Published:
5/5/2008
Nearly 4,000 people have been killed by a devastating cyclone that struck Myanmar two days ago, the government said Monday, while the foreign minister told diplomats and UN officers that the figure could rise to 10,000.
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Eco-Justice and the food crisis in Calcutta slums
Published:
5/1/2008
Subha Nava Varha! Today is the Bengali New Year. I remember this time last year. My neighbors celebrated by decorating the entry ways to their homes with the traditional green coconuts and palm branches on top of brightly colored clay pots. They prepared special meals to celebrate with their families and friends. It was a very joyous day as everyone was hopeful that better things would come in the next year.
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If They Have No Rice, Let Them Eat French Fries!
Published:
4/28/2008
Before losing her head entirely, Marie Antoinette is credited with making the statement, “If they have no bread, let them eat cake.” The context was late 18th century France at a time when the over-indulgence of the French royalty and nobility led to a state of famine and extreme poverty for most of the population. From her pampered life Marie saw none of this and was a little surprised by the anger she noticed in the city one day as she was couriered between palaces. “Why are they so angry?” She asked her attendant. “They have no bread,” he replied. “If they have no bread, let them have cake.”
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Cambodian Kids Get No Free Breakfast as Rice Aid Cut
Published:
4/24/2008
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Thirteen-year-old Pin Oudam gets a free breakfast of rice, fish and yellow split peas every morning at his school in Kampong Speu, Cambodia's poorest province. Next week he won't.
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Slum Tourism = Voyeurism?
Published:
4/15/2008
We had just run across a busy road at the end of our regular Saturday morning run when we heard the ominous screech, scream and crunch of two motorbikes colliding behind us. Rushing over into the rapidly developing crowd of on-lookers we quickly assessed nothing more serious than bruised bodies and egos so we disentangled ourselves and went on our way. From experience we know the vehicles and victims will remain where they land until police arrive to work out who was at greatest fault and mediate some sort of compensation.
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Lessons from 13 years living in Manila's slums (Part 1)
Published:
4/7/2008
Christian Schneider is a nurse from Switzerland. He arrived in Manila in the late 1980’s, living in its slum communities for a further 13 years. Here he tells of his battle to try and mobilize middle-class churches to get involved with the lives of the very poor, and of how God worked through him to raise-up a new ministry to Manila’s street youth, called ‘Onesimo’....
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Lessons from 13 years living in Manila's slums (Part 2)
Published:
4/7/2008
Christian Schneider is a nurse from Switzerland. He arrived in Manila in the late 1980’s, living in its slum communities for a further 13 years. Here he tells of his battle to try and mobilize middle-class churches to get involved with the lives of the very poor, and of how God worked through him to raise-up a new ministry to Manila’s street youth, called ‘Onesimo’...
Click here to
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