Article August 12, 2002 Issue

Prayer-based solutions for Africa

By Marjorie Scherer

IN MY HOME in a relatively peaceful, tree-lined street in Lusaka, I am not shielded from anxiety about racism, political corruption, abuses of human rights, HIV/AIDS and other health risks, the growing chasm between rich and poor, drought, and famine.

Several countries in Southern Africa are on "famine alert," with warnings that the food crisis here is worsening daily. They include Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and the country I live in, Zambia, which is landlocked, and sparsely populated by more than 70 ethnic groups. According to a BBC News profile of the country, three-quarters of Zambia's total population of ten million lives below the World Bank poverty threshold of US $1 a day.

However, it has never been clearer to me than now how important each one of us is to the healing of the many problems facing this wonderful continent called Africa. It doesn't matter where we live in the world or what position we hold in our everyday life—peasant farmer, student, businessperson, homemaker, television producer, or even head of state—we are all essential.