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SAPC — NEWSROOMWashington Diocese Seeks "Inventory" of Parishioner Skills to
Assist Partnership Effort in Southern Africa By John-Manuel Andriote September 2006—Bishop Chane and the Southern Africa Partnership Committee (SAPC) urged Washington-area Episcopalians to consider lending their talents and skills—and undergoing personal transformation—by assisting the diocese's efforts to work with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Kicking off a special September 18 open meeting hosted at St. Columba's, Bishop Chane said the diocese is trying to inventory the skills of people within the Episcopal Diocese of Washington who can offer something to the province. The bishop recounted the formation of the partnership with the province and the SAPC after he was invited by Archbishop Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, to visit the province—which includes South Africa, Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, St. Helena and Swaziland. Seeking individuals with skills to share SAPC Chair Annie Brown said the partnership originally sought to link EDOW parishes with partner parishes in Southern Africa. "But we found it difficult to get parishes to take that step," she said. "Now we want to push individual opportunities." Brown invited those who have "skills to share—such as medical skills or grant-writing skills" to participate in the diocese's partnership by providing hands-on assistance in the province itself. As a further incentive, Brown said, "If you can pay for your travel [to Southern Africa], you will be cared for on the other end," meaning that room and board will be provided by hosts in the province. Partnerships in MotionEven with the new individual-level focus, there are parish-to-parish partnerships that have provided wider-scale assistance—and tremendous rewards for those from here who have visited their sister parishes in the province. Kitty Hempstone, a member of Christ Church in Georgetown and of the SAPC, said it is important to remember "that these programs didn't start full-blown." She explained, "They started with one person who had a passion or business dealings" with one or more country in the province. "It takes a cheerleader within a parish to get something like this going," she said. Annie Brown added, "If there are a few passionate people in a parish, miracles can happen." Everyday MiraclesDiane Ruesh, a St. Columba's parishioner and member of the SAPC, said the EDOW's largest parish has pursued partnership opportunities in Southern Africa based on a three-pronged approach: trust, respect and reciprocity. St. Columba's efforts include supporting an after-school program for children sponsored by a monastery in Grahamstown, South Africa; a project giving church-owned land to people to farm; and buying children "very practical" items like boots, rain slickers and alarm clocks. Jane Bupp, from St. Peter's in Poolesville, Md., said the parish's partnership in Richmond, South Africa, includes supporting a soccer camp featuring local soccer stars talking with young people about HIV prevention; a program to recycle hard-to-come-by water; and a soup kitchen for children. Its newest initiative, funded with a grant from Rotary International, will provide sanitation facilities in the populous squatter camps. St. John's Lafayette Square's partnership began with a visit to the province in 2004. Parishioner and SAPC member Paul Barkett explained that St. John's partnered with the Diocese of the Highveld. His fellow parishioner Abbot McCartney said St. John's has focused on three main areas: children, community-building and clergy education. He said the partnership has been "life-changing" for those involved at St. John's. McCartney recalled that when St. John's parishioners visited a village, a local resident asked, "Who are those people?" Told they were from America, the woman said, "They must care." # # #
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