The Diocese of New Hampshire's Companions in Jubilee project got its start with a unanimous resolution of the Diocesan Convention in the fall of 1998. It was the brainchild of then Bishop Darling of our companion diocese of Limerick and Killaloe, Ireland. Like other Anglican bishops, he was sensitive to the pleas of bishops from Africa, Latin America and Asia that something be done to alleviate the crushing burden of international debt in many of their countries.

Why not undertake to raise $100 (or in Bishop Darling's case 100 Irish pounds) from each household in each of the three companion dioceses in each of the two years marking the 2000 millenium? The money could be used to help people in these countries who were suffering because of the international debt crisis. Both New Hampshire and Quebec picked up on the idea.

What is Jubilee?

The year 2000 for Christians was a Jubilee Year marking 2000 years since the birth of Jesus. The idea of Jubilee years stems from the Old Testament Book of Leviticus (chapter 25, verses 8-55). It was a form of bankruptcy law, designed to restore people burdened by debt to productive membership in society. A broad coalition of Christian churches seized upon the theme of Jubilee as a way of gaining attention for the international debt crisis. Because of international lending practices, political agendas and economic cycles, a number of poor nations now have to use most of their public funds simply to pay interest due to lenders in rich nations. Nothing is left over for education, health or economic development assistance to their own citizens - things we take for granted as government functions here in New Hampshire. Progress is beginning to be made at the governmental level on the alleviation of international debt. Companions in Jubilee addresses the fall-out of this crisis at the person-to-person level.

Our New Hampshire Project

The resolution adopted by the 1998 Diocesan Convention provided that the money raised would go to promote microenterprise projects. Microenterprise is a term that refers to what we would call "mom and pop" or cottage industries: family farms, market stalls, home workshops manufacturing goods used locally. It is the sort of economy we would have found right here in New Hampshire two hundred years ago. It is still the backbone of societies in most of the world. Without it, democracy and a free economy are impossible. Here in New Hampshire, eighty percent of all new jobs created between 1992 and 1996 resulted from similar microenterprise endeavors.

These children are from the village of New Hope, a settlement of survivors of Hansen's Disease (leprosy) in Cameroon. KWIHEED serves two groups of women from this village. They raise pineapples and cassava for market sales.

In the last 20 years, a wide variety of nongovernmental agencies have turned to microenterprise financing as the most effective way to help ordinary people in poor countries. These agencies make loans, generally of less than $100, for less than a year, with a market rate of interest. Loans are usually made to groups of people so that individuals assume responsibility for each other. Trained local consultants work with these groups to teach them the basics of cost accounting, marketing, and good productive practices - as well as help with health and other problems. Typical projects include buying a piglet to raise for market, backyard fish farming, hiring a herd of cattle to graze and fertilize a field in preparation for planting, buying a cell phone which becomes a village's "pay phone" giving it access to outside sources of market information, and setting up a "fast food" stall. Any of these tiny operations, so cheap to start by American standards, can make a family self-sustaining in a poor nation.

Companions in Jubilee has a second component embodied in the diocesan resolution. This is an educational effort to help Episcopalians in the state understand the problem of international debt and also to consider ways in which debt here at home, both at the national and the household level, may raise serious spiritual issues.

Follow these links for more information about our program.

• A Letter from Bishop Theuner, Thanksgiving 2001
• Membership of our committee
• Our grant criteria
• How to contribute
  

In Cameroon, West Africa, our support of microenterprise in KWIHEED (Kongadzem Women's Initiative for Health, Education and Economic Development) is directed to borrowing groups within local villages.

KWIHEED has lent money to 4,000 women. They borrow $50 at 15% interest to be paid back in eight months for projects such as selling farm produce, buying something cheap in a "bush market" and selling it at a profit at larger markets in towns and other villages, and setting up fish tanks in order to raise and sell fish. At home, they manage to put food on the table, clothe and nurture their children and meet costs of school fees and health care.

Follow these links for more information from our receipients.

• Kwiheed, Cameroon
• KCLF, Kazakhstan
• Oxfam, Viet Nam
• Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic
• SIDAREC, Kenya
• Espiritu Santo, El Salvador