Scotch College

Scotch makes a massive statement in the fight against poverty

‘…Break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation, free the oppressed, cancel debts.’ Isaiah 58:6 (The Message).

WORDS: MARK WILLIAMS • STAFF Photography: Cloud 9

In 2000 the United Nations set the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – eight achievable steps aimed at significantly reducing extreme global poverty by 2015. The likelihood of success was substantially boosted in 2005 when the leaders of the G8 nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US – pledged $US50 billion in aid following the international Make Poverty History concerts.

However, the outlook was far less encouraging when the G8 met again earlier this year. While the debt of 18 of the world’s poorest countries was cancelled, no significant progress towards fairer trade had been made, and in 2006 aid flows from the West dropped for the first time in a decade.

The promises made by the rich to tackle poverty could so easily be perceived as empty rhetoric. Disappointment naturally evolves into cynicism. Cynicism eventually breeds apathy as the magnitude of the problem overwhelms. After all, what can be achieved by a mere individual?

       

A passionate group of senior Scotch students, known as Student Vision, refused to be dissuaded by the prevailing attitude of helplessness. Together they proposed a radical initiative aimed at bringing the disadvantaged back into the consciousness of their peers and the wider community.

On Thursday 19 July, the entire Scotch student population united to form a massive ‘07’ motif on the Main Oval. The sign represented the internationally agreed level of aid needed to achieve the MDGs (0.7% of gross national income), and the halfway mark (2007) to fulfilling the promises made to the world’s poorest people.

Together we made a public statement against poverty in the hope that others might join the growing coalition of organisations in support of increased aid, debt cancellation and trade justice.

What could be dismissed by some as a fruitless stunt was in fact an earnest attempt to heighten awareness of the grotesque inequality that still exists in our world. More importantly, it was hoped that a consideration of the dire needs of others might invoke compassion and ultimately inspire action.

The human sign event followed another Scotch anti-poverty initiative, the Kapumfi Basic School project. (See the article in this edition about the latest developments at Kapumfi.)

The second MDG, aimed at achieving universal primary education, is a small step closer to becoming a reality.

By 2015, the deadline for achieving all eight Millennium Development Goals, most of our current students will have graduated. It is hoped that their Scotch education will adequately equip them to embrace their responsibilities as global citizens, and inspire them to continue the fight against injustice, exploitation and oppression. GS