Celebrating PWRDF in the Archdeaconry of Woodstock

Two dozen people, mostly from the Archdeaconry of Woodstock, gathered at St. John’s church in the Parish of Richmond for one reason: their love of PWRDF.

The Sept. 28 event, organized by the Rev. Canon Bonnie LeBlanc and others, featured PWRDF’s diocesan representative, Debbie Edwards, who led the day with several sessions. 

PWRDF is the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, the outreach arm of the Anglican Church of Canada that works in both Canada and around the world to relieve suffering and promote sustainable development in areas impacted by conflict, natural disasters, drought, climate change and other events.  

Previous to the day, the Rev. Marie Shepherdson, rector of the Parishes of Richmond and Woodstock, asked those attending to bring with them the tools of service they use in their parishes — everything from aprons to prayer books. 

During the opening service, they placed them on the altar.

“We place emblems of this service representing all the countless acts of generous giving that make the work of the PWRDF possible,” said Maria.

“Just as we cannot isolate climate change from poverty, greed and apathy from hatred and war or people from one another, neither can we separate forms of service that ultimately lead us to making a difference to God's children.”

SESSION ONE
“Today we will be talking, thinking and praying for PWRDF — a topic dear to my heart,” said Debbie. “Thank you for coming for a whole day to hear about it.”

Debbie began with a bit of history.

“PWRDF began with the Springhill Mining Disaster of 1958,” she said.

The Primate wanted to help, and money was raised and given to support the community and families affected.

“There was a great response across the country, and the thought was, ‘maybe we should continue,’” said Debbie. “At that point, it was just relief. Then later the development piece was added.”

These days, they focus on support for refugees, women and girls, and work to relieve suffering brought on by global conflict, food insecurity, climate change and health issues, among others. 

“It’s almost exclusively Anglicans who give to this organization,” she said.

PWRDF enjoys a stellar reputation, not only for its work, but for its integrity as a registered Canadian charity, said Debbie.

“Partners” was the word of the day, said Debbie, because PWRDF works with so many aid agencies around the world to deliver aid in emergencies and support programs for development.

“Those partners best understand the social, political, economic and cultural needs of an area,” she said. “The work is carried out by local people on the ground.”

New in 2023 was a program for emergency funds in Canada. When an emergency strikes, a diocese can apply for money to cover the cost of gift cards, emergency accommodation, counselling and other recovery activities to help those affected.

“This is to fill the gap, not to duplicate other services,” she said.

Debbie gave the example of the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza  run by the Episcopal (Anglican) Diocese of Jerusalem. It was bombed last year, early in the war, and Canadians quickly donated $30,000. Then another $39,000 was sent to help them reopen.

Debbie stopped the session to pray for the people affected by the war in Gaza, asking God to “help us recognize we are one human family under your care.”

Debbie ended Session One by noting that our diocese is well-known as a generous supporter of the annual World of Gifts campaign.

SESSION TWO 
The next session’s focus was on food security.

“783 million people globally are experiencing hunger,” said Debbie. “This is a current figure, and that is just staggering to me.

“Often they’re forced to leave their home and culture — like Joseph’s family in Genesis — in search of food. Why? Drought, violence, war, flood, economic disparity.”

Debbie introduced the concept of dry rations to the group, which was perhaps what most will remember about the day.

Aid agencies often give out dry rations at refugee camps, said Debbie, noting we’ve probably all seen that on the news. They are usually in packs meant to last one month.

A dry ration is enough for one person for one day and has a caloric value of 2,100. It includes 450 grams of rice or flour, 50 g of pulses (beans or lentils), 50 g of oil and 5 g of iodized salt.

While some questioned the appeal of the ration, “at the end of the day, it’s a matter of life and death. There’s nutrition in it,” said Debbie.

Then she led everyone to the kitchen area, where plates of the rations were available for tasting. Everyone was given a fork and encouraged to sample the dry ration meal: rice, beans and flatbread.

COMMENTS ON THE DRY RATION MEAL
“Even before we ate, I was thinking of the moms giving their food to their children, and just trying to conserve energy,” said Bonnie.

“It certainly wouldn’t be my favourite meal, but I’m not hungry. If I were hungry, it would be a good tasting meal. We judge according to our culture. For a family with kids, it would be manna from heaven,” said the Rev. Canon Fran Bedell.

“This made me grateful. I’ve known what it’s like to have little, and this isn’t it,” said the Rev. Bob LeBlanc.

“How many of us have ever really been hungry?” asked Fran.

Maria recounted her childhood spent in Dublin and the strikes and lack of government support for those affected. 

“There were times we did not know where our next meal was coming from,” she said. “We were an entire community hungry. I’ve seen it there, in Gaza, in Russia. When one family had enough, they shared.”

The group read the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes, beginning with just a few loaves of bread and fish.

“Which is harder for God to do? Take seven loaves and a few fish and somehow multiply them, or get us to give up what we’ve squirrelled away for ourselves?” asked Maria.

Debbie outlined the traditional role of women in developing countries. 

“Women often plant, gather and prepare the food,” she said. “Food is scarce. They give it up for their children, which leads to hunger and abuse. How does this put women at risk?”

To end Session Two, the group prayed for every person, every farmer, every family, every parent going hungry, every child too weak to play, every helper, every government leader, and every one of us to be grateful and generous.

SESSION THREE
Climate change and how it impacts the developing world was the theme of the afternoon program. 

“The countries and people most impacted are those most marginalized and vulnerable,” said Debbie. “They have the greatest need. The impacts from climate change are not the same.”

Women are increasingly seen as more vulnerable than men to the impact, mainly because they represent the majority of the world’s poor, and they are more dependent on natural resources.

“They have less access to land, credit, agricultural inputs, technology, training and education,” she said.

In many African countries, the men leave home for urban areas, seeking jobs, while the women and children remain in their villages to look after the household, but without the legal and social authority to do so because they lack equal rights.

Debbie cited the example of child marriage in places like Bangladesh, Kenya and Ethiopia. Those numbers are rising as families seek ways to make money.

“Selling a daughter is one less mouth to feed, and it helps the family recover from flood or drought. It’s a means of coping with a natural disaster,” she said.

G7 countries do not recognize climate change refugees, yet in the next few years, they will number an estimated 1.2 billion.

Debbie put everyone into small groups and gave them a print out of a story of a PWRDF project in various parts of the world. After some group discussion, they came back to report on the various projects.

“That was just a little taste of the projects going on throughout the world,” said Debbie. “There are countless ongoing projects.”

She encouraged all to visit the website, pwrdf.org, to discover more.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:
1.  Michael Corbin, Ray Lamoreau and the Rev. Canon Fran Bedell from the Parish of Madawaska sample the dry rations meal that refugees often live on.
2.  Dried beans, rice and small flatbread. This is the dry ration meal refugees around the world subsist on for months at a time. This plate represents half of the day's ration per person.
3.  Debbie Edwards, the diocesan representative for PWRDF, led the day's activities.
4.  The group, mostly parishioners from the Archdeaconry of Woodstock, gathered Sept. 28 to hear about the work of PWRDF in Canada and throughout the world.
McKnight photos