Letter from the Editor - JCTR Bulletin No.39

Editors letter continued...

The New Year will also see us broaden the authorship of articles. While keeping a strong Jesuit focus we shall accept and even solicit articles written by non-Jesuits. JCTR will circulate the Bulletin more widely since it seems to be appreciated by those who do receive it.

The pertinent issue in 1999 in Zambia and Malawi and in other developing countries is poverty. The campaign against poverty is much more than what it signifies. It is a campaign for the socio-economic stability of a nation; for the preservation of the nation's natural, ecological and environmental resources for the benefit of future generations; for the resurgence of moral and ethical values in society; for the promotion of sustainable human development and human happiness. Above all, it is a campaign for the equitable provision of opportunities for all human beings for spiritual self-realization. This wider and deeper understanding of poverty was articulated at a recent JCTR Public Forum, "The Challenge of Poverty in Zambia", by Prof. V. Seshamani of the University of Zambia.

In line with the campaign against poverty, JCTR has taken up a project to promote equitable and sustainable debt relief. In the coming issues of the Bulletin we shall update you on the debt crisis and debt relief efforts in Zambia and Malawi. Our conviction is that the debt burden of many poor countries is an injustice of such serious proportions that to ignore it would be to abandon any claims to have made a preferential option for the poor. In fact, the debt crisis is a prime example of the poor being punished for the failures, the mistakes, and sometimes the wrongs, of others.

We therefore would like to invite you all to contribute to the debate on the debt issue and to partake in debt relief campaign. All of us at times may feel our limitations, our lack of expertise in economics, and our lack of confidence in our own abilities in this matter. But we do have our own special expertise. Our expertise is not necessarily in technical matters. More than anything else it derives from our commitment to and experience with the poor.

Alex Muyebe, S.J.

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