World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007 - (Page 37)

Now! By the time I returned a year later, Father Tullio Favali, a Catholic priest I stayed with who was known locally as a voice for the poor, had been shot dead. I returned to the Philippines a year later, just as Marcos held a snap election to reinforce his legitimacy to the outside world. He claimed to have won, but the people of the Philippines knew that the true winner was Cory Aquino, and I joined the million citizens who jammed into Manila’s stadium to cheer Aquino and insist that Marcos cede power. The next few tense, fearful days of demonstrations ended with Marcos leaving the country. Finally, democracy was dawning on that Pacific archipelago. This was not an isolated incident. In the final 25 years of the last century, about 40 nations overcame their authoritarian regimes to become relatively democratic. More than half of the world’s people now live in a country that elects its leaders. While the results of this global revolution are far from perfect, this recent spread of democracy is laying the foundation for the end of extreme poverty. As economist Amartya Sen points out, “no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press.” Suddenly (in terms of human history), hundreds of millions of people can engage in organized activities that address their most immediate needs: access to income, food, clean water, education and health care. At the ballot box, they have some say in the priorities of their government. Until there is enough freedom for people to protest, to freely engage in issues that affect or concern them, there can be no real change. And that change www.heifer.org Why we can— and must— change the world often means the difference between life and death. EXPLOSION OF CIVIL SOCIETY People, like Father Favali, who live in unstable countries have often been intimidated, jailed or killed for organizing around such simple issues as agricultural development or literacy. But as the dictator-generals of Latin America, Africa and elsewhere have retired to their villas, the spread of democracy has gone hand-in-hand with the unprecedented growth of civil society—organizations such as local community groups and more formal nonprofits. In the last few decades, literally millions of nonprofits or community groups have sprouted. India alone boasts between 1 and 2 million! In How to Change the World, author David Bornstein points to some of the reasons for the emerging citizen sector around the world: the rapid growth in economies and in adult literacy rates, the women’s movement and communications technologies. In short, he says, “more people today have the freedom, time, wealth, hea lt h, exposu re, social mobility, and confidence to address social problems in bold new ways.” These groups are the building blocks of progress because PHOTO/VEER November/December 2007 | WORLD ARK 37 http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

World Ark - November/December 2007 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked & Answered Pursuing Happiness (PRODUCT) RED: Consumer Power Fights AIDS in Africa Rwanda Reconciles End Hunger Now Protecting the Poor from Climate Change Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Heifer Calendar Reflection

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

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