Preparing the road for the Lord (Human Rights Day – 10 December)

December 5, 2004

Among Bangladesh’s most vulnerable and poorest communities are the minority indigenous peoples, known collectively as Adivasi ( a name that means ‘first peoples’). Although the Adivasis form only one per cent of the population, they have their own distinctive cultural identities and languages. In spite of the Bangladesh government’s policy of freedom and equality for all religious and tribal minorities, they face massive discrimination and frequent denial of their rights, particularly land rights.

The Adivasis are also disadvantaged in their education, because lessons in government schools are given in Bangla, not in their own languages.

The Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB) is working in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where it helps resettle people from different tribes displaced from their land. Lawrence Nokrek, Director of the CCDB’s Ethnic Communities Development Programme, who is an Adivasi himself, visited the United Reformed Church in September 2003.

He spoke of his work to provide health care, education services, and to introduce settled farming practices – giving up shifting cultivation – to make the best of their limited land. He said,‘The ethnic minority communities face racism, but we are forming cooperatives and federations at the district and national levels. Our thinking is that in time this will enable us to speak out at the national level. We must call on the government to recognise our rights.’

HIV/AIDS is not yet widespread in Bangladesh, but it is feared that many social factors are present which might lead to its rapid spread amongst the young and vulnerable. In December 2003, the CCDB launched an exhibition of art by people living with HIV/AIDS. They face stigma and discrimination, and are frequently unable to get the medical help they need. The exhibition was one of a number of initiatives through which the CCDB aims to remove fear and discrimination, and show how people with HIV/AIDS can make a positive contribution in response to the disease.

Advent 2
John the Baptist, Read Matthew 3: 1 – 12

Getting the room ready, the meeting room, the guest’s bedroom,
making sure that the towels are clean,
pouring out the coffee,
preparing the agenda and circulating the minutes.

God, help us at those times
when we are called to do the preparing jobs,
the jobs that nobody wants to hear about and nobody sees done.
Thank you for those times
when somebody recognises the validity of our contribution.
But when they don’t,
may we be motivated to do what we believe is right,
encouraged by the rightness of what we do
and not the need for applause.

Dismantling the current way of doing things,
challenging how it has always been done,
pointing out how things are falling,
turning the world upside down.

God, enable us,
empower us,
strengthen us,
for those times when what we have to say
is not the easy thing to hear,
not the fashionable thing to say.

This is the way of John the Baptist,
but more importantly, it is the way of Jesus.

Rev Fred Ireland