On Friday, April 6th, over 250 Canadians across the country will be participating in a Good Friday Fast, organized by members of Development and Peace, in support of the organization’s work in the Global South.
After news was released on March 21st, that Development and Peace was receiving a 65% reduction in funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, Ottawa-member Paul McGuire immediately began to mobilize fellow members and put together this event, which has grown into a Canada-wide initiative. His call-to-action has been taken up from coast-to-coast as a gesture of solidarity with the hundred of communities in the Global South that Development and Peace has touched through its work over the years, and which now may not be able to continue to strive for fairer conditions in their respective countries due to these cuts.
On Good Friday, it will be a time to think about those communities, about the peasant farmer in Brazil who has improved his output by learning how to better irrigate his land, or the domestic worker in Bolivia who now earns a fair wage for her work and is protected from exploitation, or the coffee producer in Burundi who can sell his beans a better price thanks to the organization of a community cooperative. It will be an important moment to share in their hunger for justice.
To learn more about the Fast, visit the Facebook page for the event.