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Hepburn, Sask.
MCC seeks to be fair to national workers


Under the theme “Listen to my cry”, the Mennonite Central Committee Binational Board held its Annual General Meeting June 15–16 in Hepburn, Sask.

Finances

Overall, despite a shortfall in receipts in the first half of the fiscal year, MCC finished the 2001–2002 year, ending March 31, 2002, with $18.3 million US in receipts, 2% more than budgeted. However, “We have a problem,” Dave Worth, director of Resource Generation, said. While more money is coming in designated for specific projects, contributions to MCC’s general fund have “flattened out”, making it difficult for MCC to fund its central administration and start new programs. “We want an increase in unrestricted funds.”

Expenses for the 2002–2003 fiscal year are budgeted at $23.6 million US, virtually unchanged from the previous year.

Equity among workers

A major part of the meetings were the workshops held Friday afternoon to acquaint board members with international programs and issues. A major question, present in many discussions, was fairness in dealing with locally appointed (national) staff and Board-appointed (North American) staff. National workers are paid less than North American workers. However, giving national workers a higher salary would make it difficult for other charitable organizations who also employ nationals, said Eric Rempel, an MCC Binational Board member representing MCC Canada. Given MCC’s commitment to “principles of operation that are non-discriminatory” (MCC Principles pamphlet), how can it be reconciled that a North American worker living in a foreign country receives the best medical care in case of emergency while a national worker, perhaps even performing the same function, has no such safety net? In an irony that is anything but laughable, MCC struggles with how to apply its principles on justice to itself.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has brought this to the fore. In the Africa workshop, a major part of the discussion centred around how MCC should respond to national MCC workers who have contracted HIV/AIDS, whether MCC is responsible for their medical care, and, if it is responsible, to what extent.

“I think we have entered a commitment to our workers, and if we do not honour . . . that commitment, it’s going to come back and haunt us,” said Tesfa Dallelew, an African director for MCC.

MCC, in a major initiative called “Generations at Risk”, is currently developing plans to raise funds for HIV/AIDS related work. MCC hopes to raise $1 million of designated income in the coming year ($750,000 from MCC US and $250,000 from MCC Canada) for the decade-long program, with $2 million annually coming in by the third year. During a workshop on HIV/AIDS, Bill Ginter, at the time Resource Generation/Thrift Shop co-ordinator for MCC Saskatchewan, shared that he has a difficult time raising funds from churches for this program. Some people still struggle with feeling that people with HIV/AIDS are reaping the effects of a sinful lifestyle. Yet what about the 14-year-old girl given in marriage to a man with HIV/AIDS, and what about their babies? What have they done wrong? he asked.

Mennonite Central Committee is a relief and development agency operated and supported jointly by the various Mennonite denominations in Canada and the US.

 – Becky Buhler, for Meetinghouse

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Last modified August 13, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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