Rach

el N

orbo

rg-Je

rkeb

y

People changing the world40 years of Diakonia

People changing the world40 years of Diakonia

Rachel Norborg-Jerkeby

Translated by Katherine Cash

Content

9 Foreword

13 Author’sForeword

chapter 1 The formation of Swedish Free Church Aid/Diakonia 18 SwedishFreeChurchAid–Bornintimes

ofchange

19 PovertyChallenged

20 DevelopmentDebate

21 AlternativecelebrationsofChristmas

22 MajorChurchConferences

24 FreeChurchCooperationthroughSFCC

24 TheFreeChurchesandSocialIssues

25 FreeChurchSocialAidEfforts

27 Thedecisionismade

29 BasicPrinciples

29 TheologicallyRooted

30 LookingAhead

30 KeyDebate

32 Conclusion

33 AnIndependentOrganisation

34 FromSwedishFreeChurchAidtoDiakonia

36 OrganisationalStructure

37 Relationswiththedenominations

42 Atheologyforlife

45 Theworktakesshape

India–whereitallbegan

47 TheMiddleEast

49 Refugee71

50 Vietnam52 SupporttoAfrica

52 SouthAfrica

54 Morecountriesadded

54 Theworkcontinued

chapter 2 Organisation 58 TheworkofDiakoniaaroundtheworld

60 Democracy

60 HumanRights

62 EconomicJustice

63 GenderEquality

64 Theinternationaldepartment

64 Employeesintheregions

66 Asia

68 SouthAmerica

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69 TheMiddleEast

70 Kurdistan

71 CentralAmerica

71 Africa

72 WestAfrica

72 DemocraticRepublicofCongo

72 EastAfrica

73 SouthAfrica

74 Europe

75 Howarecontactsmade?

75 Globalcoordinationmeetings

75 PeacePrize

76 PersonnelinSweden

78 OfficePremises

78 Finances

80 FinancialCredibility

81 TheSwedenDepartment

82 InformationworkinSweden

85 TheSpringCampaigns86 Dela med

86 Fundraising

87 CooperationwithSwedishRadioAid

87 CooperationwiththeGothiaCupandothers

88 Exhibitions

88 DevelopmentEducation

88 Publications

89 Lobbyingandpublicopinion

90 Conclusion

chapter 3 Bangladesh 94 HowBangladeshwasformed

95 Workbegins1966

96 TidalWave

97 PoliticalUnrest

98 CooperationonaChildren’sHome

99 Refugee71

100 FirstSidaapplicationturneddown

101 Firstpersonnelplacedabroad

102 TheSchoolBuildingProjectTakesShape

104 ThefirstSidagrantapproved

108 sfca Teacher’sTrainingProject

108 Cementislove

110 ChristianHealthCareProject–c hc p

112 Literacyproject

113 ThehandicraftprojectthatbecameSackeus

115 Anti-diarrhoeaProgramme

115 TheLathyrismProgramme

118 Theworkdevelopsfurther

121 Programmesinsteadofprojects

123 Recurrentdisasters

123 InformationinSweden

126 ”ComealongtoBanbazar”

126 Studyvisits

127 Conclusion

chapter 4 Palestine/Israel129 Shorthistoricbackground

130 Helpforthevictimsofwar

131 Theologicallysensitiveterritory

132 Workwithdisabledpeople

134 GrantfromSwedishRadioAid

135 Refugee71

137 Adrawnoutprocess

138 TheCommitteeVisits

139 Theworkgrew

140 InformationinSweden

140 Developmentscontinue

141 TheMUMS Programme

143 TheEcumenicalYouthCentreinBeitSahour

144 PeacePrize

144 AnothervisitbytheCommittee

144 NewSwedishRadioAidAppeal

145 Projectdevelopment

146 ThefirstIntifada

147 AbuRayaRehabilitationCentre

150 CommunityBasedRehabilitation(c br)

152 TheGulfWar

153 Newpartnersadded

154 Thechildren’sbookproject

155 PalestinianLiberationTheology

155 ThePalestinianState

159 TheWall

160 Internationallyestablishedhumanitarianlaw

160 Diakonia’scontinuingsupport

161 LobbyingandpublicopinioninSweden

162 Conclusion

chapter 5 South Africa166 BeyersNaudé

171 PeacePrizetoNaudé

174 Personnelbasedinthecountry

176 FrankChikane

182 Banningorderlifted

184 JothamMyaka

190 Anewcountrytobuild

192 Thefirstfreeelections

193 TheTRC

195 Newdevelopmentcooperationagreements

withSweden

196 EconomicJustice

198 Increasedgenderequality

198 hiv &Aids

200 Threephasesoftransformation

200 AwarenessraisingandlobbyinginSweden

201 Conclusion

chpter 6 El Salvador204 ItstartedinSouthAmerica

204 Chile

207 CentralAmerica

208 TheChurchesrole

�

Foreword – People changing the world

diakonia has, thisyear,existedandworkedforfortyyearsasaChristiandevelop-

mentagency.ItstartedasadisasterreliefagencynamedSwedishFreeChurchAid

(FrikyrkanHjälper)inthemid1960sandistodayanorganisationthatworkswith

long-termdevelopmentcooperationandaclearmandatetochallengedecisionmak-

erstochangethestructuralcausesofpovertyandoftheoppressionofpeopleliving

inourworld.

Therehavebeenyearsofstruggle,discussion,development,learningandexpan-

sion.Butmostofalltheseyearshavebeencharacterisedbyworkthatineverypart

andatalltimeshasbeenbornebydeeplycommittedpeople.

During these fourdecades a tremendousamounthashappened inourworld.

Fromthemid1960stothepresentday,numerouseventshaveetchedthemselveson

ourmemorywithheadlinessuchas,forexample,theBiafranWar,theSixDayWarin

theMiddleEast,thefallofdictatorshipsinLatinAmerica,SouthAfrica’sliberation

fromapartheid,thefalloftheBerlinwall-theresolutionofthecoldwarbetween

EastandWestandnowmostrecentlythewar inIraq. Intensivelycoveredbythe

210 ArchbishopOscarRomero

212 PeacePrize

213 NewRegionalOffice

217 Thestriveforpeace

220 PeaceTreaty

225 ThevillageofSantaMarta

225 ChristianBaseCommunitiesformed

226 Theflight

228 MesaGrande

229 Homeagain

230 Reconstruction

233 Rememberingthehistory

233 Thevillagecouncilmeets

234 ElSalvadorinSweden

234 Conclusion

chapter 7 The last five years 2000–2005 238 Globkom

240Newchallenges

240 HowwellknownisDiakonia?

241 Diakonia’sbiblicalrolemodel

241 Thecorevaluesofthework

243 OrganisationalIssues

244 Methodologydevelopment

245 ResultBasedApproach

245 Thesubstanceofthework

246 Israel/Palestine

247 TheDemocraticRepublicofCongo

248 Trade/wto –Debt/trips

251 TheexampleofSouthAfrica

251 jas 39Gripen

252 Networking

254 CooperationwiththeStockholmSchool

ofTheology

254 InternationalThemes

254 GenderEquality

254 hiv/Aids

256 Finances

256 SponsorsofChange

257 SidaGrants

257 SwedoshRadioAid

257 TheTsunamidisaster

258 Conclusion

259 Footnotes

270Literature

271 Appendix

272 Listofphotographs

10 11

massmediawhenithappened,butwithanunderlyingpoliticalpowerplayanddra-

mathatweonlylearnfragmentsaboutfromthehistorybooks.Revolutionaryyears

-andDiakoniawasthere!InthisbookyouwillfindDiakonia’sperspectiveonevents

insomeregions.Naturally,itmightseemthatDiakoniahasplayedasmallpartin

thebigcontext–butdon’tlookdownonpersonalcommitmentandconviction.The

bigwordsandtherolesofkeydecisionmakersareperhapsgiventoomuchweight

inthewritingofhistoryandweforgetthatbehindthedevelopmentarepeoplewho

havestruggledandliterallygiventheirlivestobringaboutchange.

SometimesIhavebeenaskedwhatresultsDiakoniahasachievedovertheyears.

ThenIusuallytalkaboutCentralAmerica.Howtheworkwithrefugeesfromdicta-

torsandcivilwarsinthecountriesbecamethebasisforextensiveworkforpeaceand

democracy.

ItalkaboutSouthAfricaandthestruggleagainstapartheid.Howthechurches

tookgreatresponsibilityforrevealingtheinhumanstructuresandthehumansuf-

feringtheycausedtotheinternationalcommunity.Butaboveallhowtheystoodon

thebarricadesinthestruggleforafreeanddemocraticSouthAfricawithoutblood-

shedandviolence.

I talk about Diakonia’s work on the West Bank and Gaza over forty years.

Humanitarianprojects in theregionwereamongthefirstprojects thatDiakonia

supported.Todaytheworkhasdevelopedintoanextensiveprogrammetostrength-

enrespectforhumanrightsandinternationalhumanitarianlawasabasisforpeace

buildingbetweenIsraelandPalestine.Youcanreadmoreaboutthisinthebookyou

areholdinginyourhands.

OnepartofDiakonia’shistoryanddevelopmentisofcoursetherelationship

andcooperationwithourdenominations.Therehasbeenanongoingdialogueon

theorganisation’stheologicalbasisinthecontextofthebroadermissionandman-

date.Inrecentyearsthequestionofclosercooperationandintegrationhasbeenon

theagendawithsomeofthedenominations.

Itisnotpossibletodescribebetweenthecoversofthisbookallthathashappenedin

theworldandwhatDiakonia,fromitsparticularperspective,hascontributed.That

iswhywehavechosentobeselectiveanddescribeDiakonia’shistoryusingafew

geographicalareastodepictthecourseofpoliticalevents,theroleanddevelopment

oftheorganisationandaboveallwhathappenedtothepeopleinvolved.

Atestimonyaboutpeoplecarriedbyconviction,faith,andcourageandbythe

vision that it is possible to change the miserable conditions under which all too

manyliveinthisworld.Womenandmeninspiredbyhope,whohavesucceededin

turning thathope intoconcreteaction.Peoplewho, throughtheiruntiringwork,

havemanagedtotransformahopelesssituationintoafeasiblefutureandastepin

thebuildingofGod’skingdom.

ExcitingreadingthatIhopewillinspireyoutocontinuedandincreasedactionto

createaworldwhereeveryonecanlivealifeofdignity.Itispeoplewhochangethe

world.

Sofinally,thankstoRachelNorborg-Jerkebywhohasbeenacolleagueintheorgani-

sationforalargepartofDiakonia’shistoryandwho,overthelastyear,hasspentdays

andweeksinDiakonia’sextensivearchivesfindingfactsandbackgroundmaterial

andhasnowwrittenthisbook.

Sundbyberg, January 2006

Bo Forsberg

General Secretary

12 13

Author’s Foreword

it turned out to be me, RachelNorborg-Jerkeby,whowasgiventhefantastic

job of documenting Swedish Free Church Aid/Diakonia’s 40 years by Diakonia’s

board.Fortyyearsmightseemlikequiteashorttime,butforanorganisationthat

hasgrownfromonesmall,limitedeffortinIndiaintosuchanextensivenetworkof

organisationsandpeoplearoundtheworld,thesehavebeenfortyfullyears.

IhavebeenemployedbyDiakoniaasInformationSecretaryfor25years.Being

soclosetotheworkmayhaveresultedinmehavingdifficultyincriticallyreviewing

documentsandinterviews.But ithasalsobeenanadvantage,asduringtheseyears

Ihavehadtheprivilegeofmeetingsomanypeople,meetingsomanypartnerorganisa-

tionsaroundtheworldandhavealsobeenpartoftheSwedishoffice.Inadditionto

themanystimulatingconversationsandinterviewswithpeople, Ihaveaccessed40

metresofshelvingfullofdocumentshousedattheNationalArchivesinArninge.

ThroughouttheprocessIhavehadaworkinggroupatmydisposalcomprised

of Ewa Widén, Peter Ottosson and Eric Nilsson. Diakonia’s General Secretary

Bo Forsberg has closely followed my work, as has the former Director Karl-Axel

The absolute best way to educate com-

mitted people about Diakonia’s work is

through study visits, which have been

arranged throughout Diakonia’s history.

The photograph was taken during a

visit for congregational representatives

in 2000, when Pastor Anita Larsson

met one of the women involved in the

Zibambeleni project in South Africa.

14 15

Elmquist. Sven Halvardson, a lecturer at the Stockholm School of Theology, has

beenmysupervisorthroughout.Theadviceandcommentsofallthesepeoplehave

beeninvaluableformywork.

AsSwedishFreeChurchAid/Diakonia’sworkhasbeensoextensive,itwasclear

fromthebeginningoftheresearchprocessthateverythingandeveryonecouldnot

becontainedinthestory.Itwasdecidedtobeginwithadescriptionoftheorgani-

sation’sfirstfiveyears.Itwasduringtheseyearsthatmuchofthepolicywasformu-

latedthathasgivendirectiontotheorganisationeversince.

MycolleaguesandIchosetothendescribefourcountriesandtheregionsto

which they belong: Bangladesh/Asia, South Africa/Africa, Palestine and Israel/

MiddleEastandElSalvador/LatinAmerica.Thesecountrieshavetorepresentall

theothercountriesandsituationsintheirregions.Onechapterdescribestheorgani-

sationitselfandtheretheworkinSwedenisalsopresented.Inthefinalchapterthe

lastfiveyearsuptotheAnnualGeneralMeetinginMay2005aredescribed.

Iwouldliketothankallthosewhomadeitpossibleformetocompletethistask.

InadditiontothoseofyouIhavealreadynamed,Iwouldliketothankeveryonewho

agreedtobe interviewedbothhereathomeand inSouthAfricaandElSalvador.

IwouldalsoliketothankthepersonneloftheNationalArchivesinArningeandall

thosewhohavereadandcommentedonthewholeorpartsofthetext.

AsIwritethis,IfeelgreatjoythatDiakoniaexistsandisatoolinGod’shands,

withtheChristiancallingasitsguidingstar.

Notes to the readerReferencestoitemsintheminutesaregiventhroughoutthetext.Theserefertothe

minutesoftheSwedishFreeChurchAidCommitteeorofDiakonia’sCommittee/

Board,whicharearchivedattheNationalArchivesinArningeandatDiakonia’sof-

ficefortheperiodfollowingtheyear2000.

General Secretary Bo Forsberg on a visit to Palestine.

1� 1�

chapter 1

The formation of Swedish Free Church Aid/Diakonia

had the members of theSwedishFreeChurchCouncil(sfcc)graspedthefull

significanceofthedecisiontheytookattheirmeetingon5May1966,wouldthey

havedaredtoagreetotheformationofSwedishFreeChurchAid?

LookingatSwedishsocietyinthe1960s,itiseasytoconcludethattheirdecision

wasanobviousone.Increasedcoverageofworldeventsinthemassmediabroughtthe

worldcloser,bringingwithitanawarenessofhowpeoplefarawaylived.Committed

ChristianscouldonlyanswerthecryforhelpfromdroughtstrickenIndiainone

way.Thedecisionofthecouncilclearlyshowsthatorganisationalandstructuralis-

sueswerenottheprimaryconsiderationinformingaChristianresponse.Therewas

avisiontohelpanditledtoaction.

18 1�c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Swedish Free Church Aid (sfca) – Born in times of change Itwasatimeofexpansion,characterisedbyma-

jorchangesinSwedishsociety.Theeconomyhad

takenoffaftertheendoftheSecondWorldWar.

Optimismwashighbothwithinthefamilyandin

societyatlarge.Theconceptofthewelfarestate

was increasingly used to describe the new situa-

tioninSwedishsociety.Theeconomystabilized

and industries developed. A larger labour force

was needed and Sweden attracted immigrants.

New food habits developed, with the arrival of

hamburgersandpizza.

Thechangeswerevisiblenotonlyinnewhous-

ing estates, increasing numbers of cars and new

stylesofclothes.Theywerealsovisibleinpeople

themselves,associetyhadchangedinitsessence.

Formanythisexpresseditselfinanewradicalism,

“acollectivesocialmovementwithalargelyshared

worldviewandtheaimofchangingtheworld”1 ,

and”aneweconomicworldorder”wasonmany

people’sagenda.

Allthiswasalsonoticeableintheworkofthe

freechurches.Congregationswerefoundedinthe

newhousingestatesof largecitiesandchurches

werebuilt.Theworkofthechurchesheldanin-

creasing focus on global issues. More and more

peoplecouldaffordtovisitothercountries.This

andanincreasingknowledgeofforeignlanguages

enabledmanytoexperienceameetingwithpov-

erty.Radioandtelevisionnewsprogrammesgave

moreandmorecoveragetothesituationinwhat

hadnowbeguntobecalledtheThirdWorld2.

ThewarinVietnam,lastingfrom1961until1975,

became thefirstwar tobe followedontv .Anti-

warsentimentinSwedengrewstrong.Awareness

ofapartheidpoliciesofracialsegregationinSouth

Africaalsoledmanytotakeaction,forexampleby

boycottingSouthAfricanproduce.

Revelations about the activities of Swedish

companies in Africa also created commitment

to issues of international justice among Swedes.

Twotv documentaries,Black week in Nimba,(svt

2/10–66) depicting circumstances surrounding

thestrikeatLamco,theGrängesownedcompany

inLiberia,andNot one figure right(svt 25/6-68),

highlighting Atlas Copco’s involvement in the

Cabora-Bassaproject inMozambique,hadama-

jorimpactonpublicopinion.

The mission work of the Christian denomi-

nationsgainedanewfocusduringthisperiod,as

manyAfricanstateswerefreedfromcolonialism.

Liberation movements from Africa and peoples’

movements from the North met in a common

commitment to freedom and justice. This also

led to an analysis of the nature of partnership

betweenchurchesinNorthandSouth,whichin

turn led to sister churches in poor countries be-

comingindependent.

Poverty ChallengedIt is interesting to read some of what was writ-

tenatthetime.Oneexampleisfoundinachal-

lengefromtheSwedishBaptistUnion’sMission

Secretary,SvenOhm, in theChurch’smagazine

Veckoposten(29/61967):

Itismorallyperiloustoseeneedandnotact.

OnedaywewillmeetourLord:Didyougivethem

somethingtoeat,didyouclothethem,anddidyougive

themshelter?Somewillprobablyanswer:YesLord.They

got0.3%oftheSwedishgnp .Otherswillanswer:YesLord

wesentbandagestoCongo,we invitedanIndianboyto

Easterdinner…

WhatdoyouthinktheLordwillreply?Doyouthink

hewillbepleased?Areyousatisfiedyourself?

Isn’t it time to think again? To radically change

ourselves? Is it not obvious that ‘crumbs from the rich

man’stable’aren’tenough,thattheageofcharityisover?

Itishightimeforsolidaritywiththeworld,whichmeans

thatweshare,actuallyshareourabundancewiththehun-

gryandthehomeless.Whatwillhappenifwedon’t…?

For many the changes

brought a new radica-

lism – a collective social

movement with a lar-

gely shared worldview

and the aim of changing

the world.

20 21c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Development DebateCommitmenttothemajorissuesofsocialjustice

was clearly expressed in the development debate

thatbeganin1966.In1961,theUnitedNationsde-

cided to challenge economically developed coun-

triestoincreasetheircontributionstointernational

developmentassistanceto1percentofgnp .Inthe

same year, the Swedish Parliament unanimously

agreedonthisasatarget.Howevernodeadlinewas

setforitsachievement.In1962/63developmentas-

sistancestoodat0.17%ofgnp .Thestatebudgetfor

1966/1967increasedthisto0.35%.

The slow pace of increase led all of the free-

churchdenominations,sfca ,theChurchofSwe-

den and approximately 30 other organisations to

cometogetherinDecember1966toappealtothe

Swedish Parliament to increase taxes in order to

increasedevelopmentassistance.TheCommittee

ofSwedishFreeChurchAidconcurredwith the

otherorganisationsinsayingthat

[…]Thequestionofthebudgetfordevelopmentassistance

cannotbe solvedby limitingexpenditure alone, state in-

comemustalsobeincreased.Weare,however,convinced

that the members of our organisations are willing to ac-

ceptanincreaseinstateincometaxforthispurposeand

therefore suggest that such a measure be the subject of

Parliamentaryenquiry.(1966§166)

ThedebateheldinParliament(19/41967)washighly

animated. In addition to raising taxation levels,

thequestionofhowSwedishsocietybenefitsfrom

exploitative relationships with developing coun-

trieswasdiscussed.ParliamentarianandMethodist

ministerThorvaldKällstad,LiberalParty,wrotein

themagazineSvenska Sändebudet3/51967:

Thetermsofinternationaltradingrelationshipsarebiased

towardsusandagainstdevelopingcountries.Thisapplies

togoodssuchassugar,cocoa,coffeeandalargenumberof

otherproducts.Sweden’simportofgoodsfromdeveloping

countries standsatbetween3and4billioncrownseach

year.ThebenefittoSwedishsocietyfromunfairtermsof

tradecanbeestimated tobeanamountofbetween500

and1000millioncrownseachyear.Eventhelowerofthese

twofigures,500million,exceedstheamountofthecurrent

statedevelopmentassistancebudget.

Asaresultofstrongpublicopinionthestatebud-

getfor1968/69includedariseinthelevelofde-

velopmentassistance.Thebudgetalsostatedthat

thetargetof1%shouldbereachedby1975.Inreal-

ityitwasreachedin1976,tobereducedagainin

thebudgetyear1995/6to0.94%ofgni .3

Alternative celebrations of ChristmasCelebratingChristmas inanalternativemanner

wasanotherwayinwhichanawarenessofinterna-

tionalinjusticewasexpressed.Undertheheading

“IntendingtocelebrateChristmas?”theMethodist

Church magazine Svenska Sändebudet (9/11 1967)

wrotethefollowing:

IntherunuptoChristmas,Christianyoungpeoplewillbe

raisingawarenessamongstbothchurchpeopleandothers

abouttherealmessageofChristmasforusasrichpeoplein

aworldofpoverty.Severalfree-churchyouthorganisations,

theChristianstudentorganisationsandChurchofSweden

youthhave[…]experiencedthegrotesqueinourcelebration

ofChristmasanddecidedtodosomethingaboutit.

The organisers of this activity also got Swedish

FreeChurchAidinvolved.HavingheardtheFree

ChurchStudentMovementandtheFreeChurch/

LutheranSeniorHighStudentMovement’scallto

actiontheexecutivecommitteeagreedtoexpress

theirsolidarityandjoyattheactionbeingtaken

(1967§148).

Theactivitycontinuedforseveralyears.Alter-

native celebrations of Christmas were organised

in many places around Sweden through the free

church organisation Ny Gemenskap, founded in

thelate1960s.

Nothingwasholy.Everythingwastobequestioned.Even

Christmas. The commercial carousel of Christmas cele-

brationbecameaperfecttargetfortheprotestmovement.

Peoplewantedtocreateacounterbalancetothecommer-

cialfrenzyinsociety,butthemainpointwastogivethe

manyhomelessandlonelypeopleoftheirtownalittlehu-

manwarmthandcompany.4

This drawing was included in SMCC Youth’s magazine for

youth leaders 1���.

22 23c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Major Church Conferences The1960swerealsoaveryimportantdecadefor

churchpolitics.Themajorconferencesheldwere

allcharacterisedbythechallengetotheChurch

toreinterpretitsroleinaworldofgraveinjustice.

Two Key Catholic Processes

AttheSecondEcumenicalVaticanCouncilofthe

Roman Catholic Church in Rome in 1962−1965,

questionsofsocialethicsweregivengreatatten-

tion. The final document Gaudium et Spes (The

ChurchintheModernWorld)assertedthatitwas

not enough to merely talk about every person’s

duty to work effectively for a reduction in in-

equalitybetweenrichandpoor.

It also gave concrete details and suggestions about how

thisshouldhappen.Animportantpoint,howeverhardto

realize,wasthatallworkwithinthechurchshouldbeap-

propriate to peoples’ needs. The church should be there

for them, not the other way around. It’s about allowing

thelightofthegospeltoshineonsocialrelationshipsand

problems,whicharespecifictoeachtimeandplace.5

ThesecondConferenceofLatinAmericanBishops

inMedellínin1968wasalsodominatedbydiscus-

sions of poverty and violence on the continent.

The Bishops’ analysis led them to conclude that

widespreadpovertywastheconsequenceofsoci-

etal structures and that theviolencewas largely

institutional violence designed to defend unjust

structures.Inthissituation,theBishopsasserted,

theChurchmuststandonthesideofthepoor.6

Uppsala 68

The World Council of Churches’ (wcc) fourth

GeneralAssemblyinUppsala,Swedenin1968,on

thethemeSee I make all things new,wasanother

important Church gathering. In a conversation

withOlleEngström7,oneoftheSwedishpartici-

pants,hetoldhow:

themeetingturnedintoachallengetothechurchestoget

involved incurrentaffairs, in issuesofpeace, racism,and

economicinequality.Questionsofgenderequalityweren’t

seriouslydebatedthen.Buttheseotherquestionswerefo-

cusedonanditwasofcoursetheyoungerdelegates,who

inpartcameoutofthestudentprotestmovement,andthe

delegatesfromtheThirdWorldwhochallengedus.Thedel-

egatesattheyouthconference,whichwasheldinparallelto

thewcc conference,satupinthegalleriesandshoutedand

yelledandcontributedofcoursetothechargedatmosphere.

ThestudentuprisingswereunderwayinMay68.

Uppsala 68 was a meeting covered by the mass

media.Televisionandradiobroadcastscarriedex-

tensivereports inwhichrepresentativesof inde-

pendentchurchesintheThirdWorldweregiven

muchexposure.

Free Church Conference 1969

AsonlytheMissionCovenantChurchofSweden

(mcc s) and the United Methodist Church in

Sweden (umc) were members of the wcc this

General Assembly was documented neither in

therecordsoftheSwedishFreeChurchCouncil

(sfcc)norofSwedishFreeChurchAid.sfcc ’s

decision to arrange a free church conference in

Örebroin1969,onthethemeThe congregation in the

world caneasilybeinterpretedasafreechurchre-

sponsetothewccconferenceof1968inUppsala.

Internationalissuesfeaturedhighlybothinthe

conference’sworshipandworkingsessions.Many

who participated still remember, for example,

the longdebatesabouttheactivitiesofSwedish

companiesinMozambiqueandtheCaboraBassa

Project.Theconferencewasprecededbyayouth

conference,theresolutionsofwhichwereimpor-

tantforthedecisionsofthemainconference.

The free church conference in Örebro 1���, with ”The Congregation in the World” as its theme, can be interpreted as

a free church response to Uppsala-�8.

24 25c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Free Church Cooperation through SFCCSwedishFreeChurchCouncil(sfcc)wastheor-

ganisationthatlaybehindtheformationofsfca .

In 1918 three denominations, the Baptist Union

ofSweden(bus),theMissionCovenantChurch

of Sweden (mcc s) and the United Methodist

Church in Sweden (umc) decided to form the

FreeChurchCooperationCommittee.

In1947thenumberofdenominationspartici-

pating in the Committee increased with the ad-

dition of the Scandinavian Independent Baptist

Union(sibu),theHolinessUnion(hu),Swedish

Salvation Army (ssa) and the Örebro Mission

(öm).In1952theSwedishAllianceMission(sam)

alsojoined.In1994sibu andhu unitedandlater

in1997mergedwithöm toformadenomination

calledNybygget kristen samverkan inSwedishand

InterAct internationally. The denomination’s

SwedishnamechangedtoEvangeliska Frikyrkan

in 2002. In 1963 the Free Church Cooperation

CommitteechangeditsnametotheSwedishFree

ChurchCouncil(sfcc).

The basis for the collaborative work of the

councilwasexpressedwellbyBirgerDavidsson9

”Thatwhichwedobesttogether,weshouldn’tdo

separately.”

The Free Churches and Social IssuesTheminutesofsfcc ’smeetingsandnotesofthe

proceedingsofthefreechurchconferencesshow

thatsocialissuesplayedacentralrole.Inconver-

sationonthesubjectTorstenBergsten10pointed

outthat:

there have been two branches within the free church

movementasfarbackastheendofthe19thcentury.One

was the evangelical, charismatic, Pentecost focused holi-

ness movement, which warned against involvement in

politics. The Pentecostal movement was an a-political

movement–nopolitics.However,sincetheformationof

theChristianDemocrats(c d)inthe1960sthePentecostal

movement has been highly politically active. However,

withintheolderfreechurchmovements,therewaspoliti-

calconsciousnessstemmingbackasfarasthe1870s.The

reformedheritagewasoneoffaithandaction.Thiscould

be seen for example in the number of parliamentarians

whoweremembersoffreechurches,notleastofmcc s .

Thedenominationsthatfoundedsfca [from1984

Diakonia]comefrombothofthesebranches.The

socialresponsibilityofthechurcheswasexpressed

clearlyinaletterthatbus ’sMissionCommittee

wrotetosfcc on10/51968:

It seems to be a right development, in line with current

effortsatcooperationbetweenthefreechurches,thatwe

strivetocollaborate inthefieldofsocialworkandwork

jointly both within Sweden and abroad. In addition, we

considerittobeofgreatworththatthefreechurcheshave

ajointbodythatcanappealtothegeneralpublicfordona-

tionsforcurrentsocialreliefefforts.11

Since its inception sfca has been the churches’

jointexpressionof theirChristiancalling toact

toassistafflictedpeoplefaraway.Theself-evident

truththatfaithmustbeshowninactionisalso

clearly expressed in Diakonia’s policy document

from1991,whichborethenameFaith is Action12.

Free Church Social Aid Efforts sfcc ’s minutes from February 1965 document

thatErikRudén,MissionSecretary,bus :

soughtopportunitiesforjointfreechurchsocialaidefforts

forvariouscountriesinneed.Hethoughtnotonlyofemer-

gency relief efforts but also more generally of joint free

churchaidworkofroughlythesametypetobefoundin

EnglandandGermany.Itwould,inRudén’sopinion,create

goodwillif,ataspecifictimeofyear,Sweden’sfreechurch-

esstoodtogetherinbothdonatingtojointaideffortsthem-

selvesandinappealingtootherstodothesame(1965§30).

A ‘periodofdiscussion’ followedthis suggestion

andthecouncilchosethreeofitsmemberstopre-

pareaproposalforalatermeeting.

BirgerDavidssonbelieved(11/6-03)thatErik

Rudén’s suggestion grew from his experience of

working as General Secretary for the European

Baptist Federation and as the Baptist World

Alliance’sRegionalSecretaryforEurope,postshe

heldforthesixyearsto1965.Inhisposthehad

hadtheopportunitytoworkwithmajorinterna-

tionalissuesandhewantedtobringtheseissues

alive in the Swedish context. In all probability,

he had also had contact with Christian Aid in

EnglandandBreadfortheWorldinGermany.

mcc s :sMissionSecretary,GöstaNicklasson’s

attemptat thattimeto initiatenewdiscussions

onajointfreechurchalliancemadeRudén’ssug-

gestionwelltimedandmayhavemadethedeci-

sion easy to make. “When the denominations

could not find their way to a joint free church

alliance, there was a large joint project in the

form of sfca/Diakonia. The organisation grew

andsoughtnewpathsandIbelieveithadavery

stimulating effect on free church ecumenism”,

saidTorstenBergsten10.Thiswasalsoemphasised

byDavidLagergren,13”Ithasbeenhealthyforthe

denominationstohaveSwedishFreeChurchAid

andDiakonia.”

2� 2�c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

sfcc continuedtodiscussjointsocialactionand

allofthedenominationsgavesupporttotheidea.

(1965§13.2)

It was suggested that the denominations

should form their own, joint development or-

ganisation,tobecalledSwedishFreeChurchAid

(sfca) and should attempt to carry out a fund-

raisingdriveduringaweekinMay1966.Atthis

time there was an umbrella organisation for de-

velopment work called the Swedish Fundraising

Council,ofwhichseveralof thedenominations

weremembers.Thedenominationsweretoleave

this organisation, in order that sfcc should in-

steadrepresentthem.

After this initial decision was taken the de-

nominations were, of course, keen to influence

theshapeofthecomingwork.Isitpossibletosee

thatthedenominationsdifferedinrelationtothe

directiontheywantedtheactivitiestotakeeven

atthisearlystage?It isveryclearthateveryone

wished to create an organ for emergency relief.

öm felt that it should be limited to this brief,

whilstsomeothersadvocatedusingtheorganisa-

tionformore long-termdevelopmentassistance.

Itwasproposedthatsfcc shouldmakeadecision

inprincipleontheformationofsfca and“carry

outa joint fundraisingappeal for thevictimsof

famineinIndiaamongtheCouncil’smemberde-

nominationsassoonaspossible”.Intheminutes

itwasnotedthatthe“MethodistChurchwasin-

volvedinaninternationalfundraisingappealfor

India. But they would support sfcc ’s appeal in

anycase”.(sfccsau 1966§39and§57)

The decision is made Thedecision takenbysfcc on5May 1966was

worded as follows: “to undertake a rapid action

amongstthedenominationslinkedtotheCoun-

cilforthebenefitofthestarvinginIndia”.Thus

Swedish Free Church Aid was founded. The ex-

ecutive committee of sfcc was also to be the

Committee for sfca (henceforth referred to as

theCommittee).Itstaskwastoleadtheworkand

takeresponsibilityforthedistributionofincom-

ingfunds.Althoughitwasstatedthattheaction

hadaonceoffcharacter,theintentionwastoal-

lowsfca tobecomeanannualfundraisingappeal.

(sfcc :sau 1966§57)

Anextractoftheminutesoftheboardofhu

(1966 §57) illustrates the reception given to the

decisionbythedenominations:

Decisions have, amongst other things, been taken on the

formationofajointfreechurchaidorganisation“Swedish

Free Church Aid”, which is intended to be free church

people’s complement to the existing aid organisations in

Sweden.

BirgerDavidssondescribedhowatthetimepeople

whowantedtohelpthoseaffectedbyacatastrophe

somewhereintheworldwouldsendmoneytotheir

denomination. In many cases the denomination

didn’thaveanobviouspartnertosendthismoney

to.Inconversation,WalterPersson14describedhow

mcc s hadbuiltupaidworkandcontactsthrough

a programme called ”Swedish Mission Covenant

Church Aid”, via the International Federation of

FreeEvangelicalChurches.Theideaofajointfree

church ’aid agency’ became an excellent solution

forthedenominations.

AfterjustonemonththemembersoftheCom-

mitteeunanimouslyagreedtoproposethatsfcc

givesfca “amorepermanentcharacter,through

whichspecificcausescouldbehighlighted,forex-

ampledisasterrelief tovariouscountries. Itwas

alsoagreedtoproposethatsfcc setfundraising

activities for a particular time of year, prefer-

ablyduringthespring.”Thefundraisingworkof

ChristianAidinEnglandwasthemodelforthe

proposal.(1966§9)

The vision that lay behind the formation of Swedish Free Church Aid was to create opportunities for joint free church

social aid efforts to various countries in need. The photo was taken in the 1�80s in Beirut, Lebanon, where Swedish Free

Church Aid supported projects in the midst of war.

28 2�c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Thefirstfundraisingcampaignwassuccessfuland

itisnotedinaminute(1966§70)that“attoday’s

date 670,835.17 Swedish crowns have been re-

ceived”. By the end of the year the amount had

risento856,712.68crowns.15

The question of administrative costs has al-

waysbeenimportantindevelopmentassistance.A

noteexistssayingthatcostsfortheappeal“should

notexceed20,000crowns.” (1966§71)This isfur-

theremphasisedbyanotethat,inlinewithadeci-

sionfromtheexecutivecommittee,theSecretary

had,on8June1967,askedpermissiontochange

theirpostgiroaccountnumber403304toapost

giro account in the so called 90 series. [Swedish

post-giroaccountnumbersbeginningwith90are

reserved for approved non-profit organisations.]

The response to sfca’s application was that as

administrationcostsforthe1966Indiaappealhad

beensolow,hecouldgiveimmediateapprovalto

theCommittee’srequest(1968§33).Theaccount

numberchangedto903304.Thisaccountnumber

hasfollowedtheorganisationsincethen,inmore

recentyearswiththeadditionof–4.

The Swedish Foundation for Fundraising

Control (sfcc) has the task of ensuring that

charitable organisations do not have unreasona-

blyhighcostsfortheirwork.Accordingtosfcc ’s

guidelines (2005) at least 75% of funds must be

usedforthecharitablepurposeandamaximum

of25%maybeusedforadministrationandfund-

raisingcosts.Today91%ofDiakonia’sfundsgoto

developmentwork16.

Fromdayone,theprintedmediaplayedamajor

roleinspreadinginformationabouttheworkini-

tiated. The magazines of the denominations and

othermediawerecontinuallysuppliedwithpress

releasesandinformativearticlesaboutfundsraised

andhowtheyhadbeenused.

Basic Principles Itisinterestingtolookatthefocusofthesupport

thatwasgiven.Onlyonemonthafter theforma-

tionoftheorganisationthereseemstohavebeen

nodoubtabouttheprinciplestobesetforthework.

Threeimportantbasicprincipleswereagreedupon

andstill(year2005)apply.Thoseworethatread:

• Supportshouldgotothoseinmostneed

• Regardlessofthereligiousprofessionoftherecipi-

ents

• Themoneyshouldbedistributedtoexistinglocal

organisations(1966§75).

Theologically RootedTheworkofsfca shouldbepresentedintheolog-

icalterms.Thiswasabasicpolicy.Articlessentto

themagazinesofthedenominationsandtocon-

gregationsclearly showhowvariouswritershad

the taskof theologicallymotivatingtheworkof

theorganisation.Forexample,EinarRimmerfors

(Member of Parliament, Liberal Party) wrote an

articleentitled“StarvingIndia”inwhichhefirst

emphasized the importance of state assistance

beinggivenviaSida17,but,hecontinued:

Christianlovedemandsnowandthenadirectandpersonal

expression.Paulhas,inaveryinterestingandchallenging

way,describedthisgenerosityandcollectiveresponsibility

in2Cor.8.Itisinthiscontextthatheusestheverytopi-

calwords’therewillbeequality’betweenthoseofuswho

currentlyenjoyourdailybreadinrichmeasureandthose

ofuswhosufferinneed.Thewholeofourpolicytowards

developingcountries,needandexcess,poorcountriesand

richcountriesiscontainedhereasinanutshell.18

The denominational newspapers did all they could to

spread information about the fundraising campaign

SFCA. This was the front page of SMCC’s newspaper

’Svensk Veckotidning’ in June 1���. (SMCC´s archive)

In order to use a ’�0-

account’ at least �5 per-

cent of funds raised must

be used for the charitable

purpose and a maximum

of 25 percent may be used

for administration and

fundraising costs. Today

�1 percent of Diakonia’s

funds are used for the

charitable purpose.

Sfca first folder

(Diakonia’s archive, B1B)

30 31c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Looking AheadTheworkoftheorganisationcontinuedtogrow,

asinformationandappealsfromaroundtheworld

came to sfcc ’s attention. The organisation had

still not adopted any fixed structure or policies.

ItwasprobablythisthatledPer-ArneAglert19to

giveapresentationondevelopmentsintheorgan-

isationtothemeetinginDecember1968.

Hestartedbydescribingthegoodrelationsthat

haddevelopedbetweenSwedishFreeChurchAid,

theoverseasmissionworkofthedenominations

andotherSwedishdevelopmentagencies.Where

possible the work had been planned in liaison

withthepersonnelofthedenominationslocated

intheareasconcerned.

sfca had become an instrument for fund-

raising,firstlyfordisasterreliefandsecondlyfor

development work. It was important that sfca

shouldcontinuetohaveasettimeoftheyearfor

fundraising,preferablyduringthespring,whenit

wouldtakeaspecificprojectasitsfocalpoint.

Finally,Aglertpointedoutthatsfca hadno

personnelof itsownbased inthecountriescon-

cernedtocarryoutprojectsandthattherewere

nootherplansthanthatprojectswouldcontinue

tobeoperatedbylocalorganisations(1968§41).

It is likely that the members of the Council

found the presentation so important that the

year after it was decided to invite the Mission

Secretaries of the member denominations to at-

tendasimilarmeeting.

Key Debate InDecember1969themembersoftheCommittee

andrepresentativesofthedenominationsmetto

hold a strategic debate on sfca and the future

direction of its work. Unfortunately, space does

notallowtheminutesof themeeting tobepre-

sentedinfullhere.Theymakeinterestingreading

inwhichmanyof thepointsmadebydelegates

arequoted.20

Several of the delegates began by expressing

theirjoyatbeinggiventheopportunitytomeet

anddiscussthecontinuingdevelopmentofsfca

and by saying how necessary such a debate was.

Everyone agreed that the work should include

disasterreliefefforts.However,therewerediffer-

encesofopinioninrelationtowhetherprojects

shouldbe limitedtoareas inwhichthedenomi-

nationscarriedoutmissionworkornot.Several

speakersfeltthatwhenadisasterhitanareawhere

one of the denominations carried out mission

work the money should be channelled through

thatdenomination,butthatreliefeffortsshould

alsobemadewhendisasterhitapartoftheworld

wherenoneofthedenominationswerepresent.

Anothercleardivideinthediscussionrelated

to follow up. What should happen after the dis-

asterphaseisover;shouldworkcontinueornot?

Several denominations felt that development

workshouldbecarriedoutbythedenominations

themselves. mcc s ’s Mission Secretary Arvid

Stenström,said,”Therehasbeenagradualshiftin

sfca ’s work, from disaster response to develop-

mentassistance.Ithinkthisisamistake.Church

ofSwedenAidandtheRedCrosshavemisdirect-

edsfcc .sfca andsfcc shouldnotbeinvolved

in development assistance. The denominations

shouldmanagethatthemselves.”

ZethAbrahamsson,MissionSecretaryof the

BaptistUnion,ontheotherhand,feltthatdisas-

ter relief should be followed up on. “We should

askourselveswhatbecameofthosewehelpedin

adisastersituation,hesaid”.

The third point of disagreement revolved

around fundraising. Nicklasson, mcc s , pointed

outthatwhenadisasterhashappenedsfca get

involvedandthenitiseasytoraisemoneyfrom

the general public. Several others agreed that

fundraisingforsfca shouldprimarilytakeplace

outside the congregational context. Campaigns

should target the general public. Aglert point-

ed out that large amounts had been raised at

ecumenical services and gatherings. When the

ChurchofSwedenhadbeeninvolved,Churchof

Sweden Aid and sfca had generally shared the

collectionsfromtheseoccasions.Aglertfeltthat

if sfca were not allowed to fundraise amongst

theirownmembers, thewholecollectionwould

gotootheraidorganisations.

Folder on the work in Bangladesh (Diakonia’s archive, B1B)

32 33c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Intherecurrentdiscussionsonfundraisingrepre-

sentativesofsomedenominationshaveheldthat

fundraising should not be directed towards the

congregationsbuttowardsthegeneralpublic.

ConclusionThe discussion ended with the adoption of the

following recommendations: (note that no deci-

sionwastakenonfundraising)

a. Toprimarilyfocusupondisasterrelief;

b. Thatsfca wouldnotinvolveitselfinactual‘mission’

work;

c. Thatdevelopmentassistanceshould inthefirstplace

begiven todisasterhit regions inwhichsfca hasbeen

involvedindisasterreliefworkfromstart.

Fromthisdiscussion,wecanconcludethatsfca

hadbecomeanacceptedpartofthelifeofthede-

nominationsinitsownright.ButtheCommittee

wasdividedoverwhichdirectiontheorganisation

shouldtake.Shouldtheorganisationonlysupport

disasterreliefworkorshoulddisasterrelieflead

tolong-termdevelopmentwork?Itisworthnot-

ing the decision that sfca would not run ‘mis-

sion’ work (evangelisation, church planting and

building)andthattherewasunityonthispoint.

In 1973 Aglert wanted to introduce mission

work,primarilyinBangladesh.“Itwouldbegood

ifthegoodwillcreatedbyhumanitarianworkwas

followedupbyevangelismaspartofthedenomi-

nation’s mission work”(1973 §95). öm took this

challengeseriouslyandpeoplewhohadpreviously

participatedindisasterreliefworkinBangladesh

beganevangelisationworkinthecountry,under

öm ’sleadershipin1973.21

Discussions about the future continued and

it was decided to arrange a consultative confer-

ence (1974 §90). Thorough preparations were

carried out, resulting amongst other things in a

30 page paper entitled Ownership, Mutuality and

Development22. InOctober 1978aconferencewas

arranged for sfcc , sfca and representatives of

thedenominations(1978§6).

Oneresultofdiscussionsofthepaperwasthe

adoption of Policies for Swedish Free Church Aid

(1978§76.4).Giventhatsfca was,inlegalterms,

partofsfcc thepoliciesdidnotcontainanystat-

utesregulatingorganisationalstructuresandpro-

ceduresbutwereratheran instrumentforsteer-

ingtheworkitself.

An Independent Organisation 10yearspassedbeforethequestionofsfcc and

sfca ’s work and organisational structure was

broughtupagain(1988§58).Theissuegrewasthe

wholeshapeofecumenicalcooperationinSweden

begantobereconsidered(1990§39).Thesediscus-

sionsledtotheformationoftheChristianCouncil

ofSweden23(1993§48).AtanextraordinaryAnnual

General Meeting on the 25 October 1993 it was

decidedthatSwedishFreeChurchAid,whichin

1984hadchangeditsnametoDiakonia,shouldbe-

comeanindependentorganisationinlegalterms.

New statutes were adopted in November 1995

(1995§107).

Whilst the organisational analysis was being

carriedout,theprocessofwritinganexploration

of Diakonia’s work wasinitiated(1990§39).After

muchdiscussionbetween theBoardandperson-

nel at the head office and regional offices, the

documentFaith is Actionwaspublished. Itspub-

licationcamejust intimeforDiakonia’s25than-

niversaryin1991.

In1994theBoarddecidedtoinitiatea:

thorough process to look at some priority areas such as:

theologicalandideologicalbasis,anoverviewofadminis-

trativestructuresandcapacitydevelopment,thesenseof

ownershipamongstthedenominationsandrelationswith

Sida(1994§7).

Theprocessresultedinthepolicyadoptedin1997

(1997 §45), which was a much appreciated guid-

ingdocumentforworkwithpartnersaroundthe

world and for work in Sweden. The policy re-

tainedthebasicprinciplesadoptedin1966,now

expressedinthewords:

Diakonia’sgoalistochangethesituationofthepoorand

oppressed through creating the conditions necessary for

participation in building society through strengthening

democratic structures and culture. This is not a target

groupthatDiakoniaasanorganisationcanworkdirectly

with and thus influence. We can achieve our goals only

throughestablishingpartnershipswithorganisationsand

churchesthatsharethesesamevisionsandgoals.24

Folder from the spring campaign 1��� (Diakonia’s ar-

chive, A2:1)

34 35c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Diakoniaincreasinglysawthewholeofitswork,

fromitssupportersinSwedentothegloballevel,

asoneintegratedprogrammeinwhichexperience

andknowledgewerechannelledinalldirections.

Experience exchange had become increasingly

importantinDiakonia’sworkbothbetweenpart-

nersintheSouthandbetweenthemandthework

inSweden.EskilAlbertssonconfirmedthis:”Over

the 20 years that I was a member of Diakonia’s

Board I encountered a great deal of knowledge

and experience regarding international develop-

mentwork,andIwasabletopassthisonthrough

variouschannelswithinthedenomination”.25

AttheAnnualGeneralMeeting(agm)in2005

it was agreed that a revision of the policy docu-

mentshouldbemade.Thesituationintheworld

changesrapidly,newissuesariseandDiakoniais

constantly challenged to respond to these in its

work.Thepolicythereforeneedstoberevisited

(agm 2005§15).

From Swedish Free Church Aid to Diakonia The Swedish name Free Church Aid, adopted by

theorganisationfromthebeginning,wasasimple

statementofpurpose.DroughtafflictedIndiawas

to receive aid from the free churches in Sweden.

Whenthemajorevaluativestudywascarriedout

in1975thenamewascalledintoquestion:

”Free Church”Timelimited,willnotapplyafterdisestablish-

mentofthestatechurch,whenallchurchesbecome‘free’

”Aid” International development and disaster relief work

shouldnolongerbecarriedoutinthemannerimpliedby

theunidirectionalwork‘aid’.Thekeywordshouldinstead

bemutuality,whichimpliesrelianceandcommunication

inbothdirections.26

In 1974sfca tooktheSpanishnameAcción Ecu­

ménica Sueca(SwedishEcumenicalAction).This

namecontinuestobeusedinsomecontexts[year

2005] as it provides a clear statement of the ori-

ginsoftheorganisation,whichcanbeimportant

inpoliticallydifficultsituations.

Aninterestingcorrespondenceontheissueof

theorganisation’snamehasbeenkeptfrom1974.

TheEnglishnameSwedishFreeChurchAidhad

beenadopted.LeoLiljengren,whoworkedatthe

organisation’sofficeinBangladesh,wrotetohead

office to explain how misunderstandings could

arise due to the word church being contained in

thename.Thishadledtheauthoritiestobelieve

thatthoseworkingfortheorganisationweremis-

sionaries.(Missionarieswerenotallowedtowork

inBangladeshatthetime).Liljengrenwantedthe

organisation to have a name that made it clear

thattheorganisationworkedwithdevelopment.

LarsFranklinfromheadofficeansweredthat

therewasuncertaintyabouthowtotackletheis-

sue.Howwouldtheauthoritiesreactiftheorgan-

isationsuddenlychangedname,butretainedthe

samepersonnelandcarriedoutthesamework?

Liljengren answered that the authorities had

misunderstood the name once more, leading to

delaysintheimportofcementbecausetheword

churchconcernedtheauthorities.Anewnamewas

suggested, ”SWEDISH AID TO BANGLADESH

(incapitals)withSponsored by Swedish Free Church

Aid(insmalltext)”.27Asnodecisionwastakento

changethename,theabbreviationsfca beganto

beusedinBangladesh,atitlethatnooneappar-

entlyquestioned.

Discussions about the name were concluded

on the 2 September 1984 when the name was

changed. The new name was DIAKONIA (1984

§135). The biblical word diakonia is Greek and

means service. It also has an original linguistic

meaning:togobyhorsethrougheviloruncleanli-

ness in order to achieve change. The new name

requirednotranslation.

Thelogo–twohandscuppedaroundaheadof

wheat–wasusedforthefirsttimeforthespring

fundraisingcampaignin1969(1969§25).

Asaresultofworkingwithitscorporateiden-

tity,thefontinthelogowaschangedinSeptem-

ber2001.Thehopewastofindamarketingmodel

thatwouldgivegreaterclarityandabetterfocus

on Diakonia’s identity. This was also the point

at which Diakonia adopted the slogan ”People

changingtheworld”.

Throughout the years, discussions have taken place on

the relations between SFCA /Diakonia and the denomina-

tions. This picture was taken during discussions on SFCA

and the future in 1��8. From the left: Lars Franklin, SFCA,

Åke Larsson, UMC, David Lagergren, BUS and Per-Arne

Aglert, SFCA. The poster series ’My Golden Bengal’ can be

seen in the background. (Diakonia’s archive, K2:8)

3� 3�c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Organisational Structure

Swedish Free Church Aid was originally a part

oftheworkoftheSwedishFreeChurchCouncil,

with sfcc ’s executive committee as its steering

group.From1967thecommittee’smeetingswere

divided so that questions regarding sfca were

dealtwithseparatelyandrecordedasdecisionsof

theCommitteeofSwedishFreeChurchAid.

In 1969 a specific Committee for Swedish Free

Church Aid was elected, consisting of two rep-

resentativesof theMissionCovenantChurchof

Sweden, mcc s , and one representative of each

of the other denominations. The elected repre-

sentativesallheldleadingpositionswithintheir

respectivedenominations,severalofthembeing

missionsecretaries.EskilAlbertssoncommented

that”sam (SwedishAllianceMission)sawitsin-

volvementinDiakonia’sworkassoimportantthat

formorethan30yearsitsBoardelectedthemis-

sion secretary and thereafter the chairperson as

representativeonDiakonia’sBoard”.25Allminutes

were adopted in retrospect by sfcc and the an-

nualreportandauditedaccountswereapproved

bybothsfcc andthedenominations.

In 1993 Diakonia became an independent or-

ganisationwithitsownlegalregistration.Thein-

timatelinkwithsfcc cametoanend.Underthe

newstatutes theBoardand theAnnualGeneral

Meeting became the organisation’s highest deci-

sion making bodies. The agm was to elect the

Board,whichwastoconsistofrepresentativesof

allthedenominations(1995§107).

Theworkgrewcontinuallyandthepoliticalcon-

textfortheworkaroundtheworldchanged,plac-

ing new demands upon Diakonia. Many organi-

sationalanalyseshavebeencarriedoutover the

years.Onesuchwascarriedoutin1996(1996§65).

Itwasfollowedupbyasystemsauditthataimed

toevaluateDiakonia’sroutinesandcontrolsinre-

lationtotheworkandthefinances.

One proposal arising from the audit was the

order of delegation later introduced in 1999. It

was importantto identifyareasofresponsibility

and clearly define the levels at which different

kindsofdecisionsshouldbetaken(1999§138).

Diakonia’scorevalueswerestrengthenedwith

the adoption of new statues on 23 September

2003.Thetheologicalbasisfortheorganisation’s

work was clearly described and the organisation

wasgivenaclearer,strongermandate:”Diakonia

isoneexpressionfortheChristiancongregation’s

callingtoservepeopleacrossalldividesinthelove

ofJesusChrist”(moreonthisonpage42).

Relations with the denominations Since Swedish Free Church Aid’s formation,

therehavebeencontinualdiscussionsaboutthe

relationship between sfca/Diakonia and the

denominations. In 1968 the bus sent a letter to

sfcc inwhichtheyproposed”thatSwedishFree

ChurchAidshouldbecomeapermanentjointin-

strumentforsocialactionforthedenominations

linkedtothecouncil.”Theybegantheletterwith

highlypositivestatementsabouttheecumenical

developmentofsocialworkprojectsbothwithin

Swedenandabroad.Ifsfcc andsfca werepre-

pared to take over responsibility, bus would be

preparedtotransferalloftheirsocialprojectsto

the organisations.28 The letter is included in the

minutesofthemeeting,anditwasdecidedthat

thepresentationgivenwassufficientforthetime

being.(au 1968§133:1)

Atthistimebus ranaprogrammecalledThe

Social Mission.Itwasthiswork(whichincluded

supportforprojectsinothercountries)towhich

the letter referred. It would be 10 years before

sfca took over responsibility for bus ’s projects

inthePhilippinesandBurma.

Whilstrelationswiththedenominationshave

basicallybeenpositivetheyhavebeenputtothe

testonseveraloccasions.Theminutesfrom1967

tellofone suchoccasion. InFebruary 1967sfcc

decidedtocarryout“fundraisingworkunderthe

leadershipofSwedishFreeChurchAid”…“atan

appropriate time and in an appropriate manner”.

ThepurposewastoraisefundsforwellsinIndia

andthedatewassetfortwoweeksinMay(1967§10).

When sfcc’s committee met in March 1967,

Stenströmofmccsinsistedthatthedecisiontorun

the fundraising campaign be reversed. This was

becausethedenominationhadbeguncooperating

Using funds raised by the Refugee �1

campaign, refugees who had come from

Angola to Zaire (now Congo-Kinshasa)

could be helped.

38 3�c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

withthechainstoreDomusandwasprovidingan

exhibitiononthetheme1000 wells in India,which

wastotourstoresuntiltheautumn.Afundraising

campaignwastobecarriedoutinconnectionwith

thisexhibition.ömalsorequestedthatnofundrais-

ingshouldbecarriedoutduringthespringasthey

were planning to fundraise around their Jubilee.

Nicklasson, mcc s , also said that no fundraising

forsfca shouldbedoneduringtheautumn,asthe

denominationneededtimeforitsownfundraising

efforts.“Afterdiscussionitwasapparenttosfcc

thatitwouldnotbepossibletoinitiateafundrais-

ing campaign”, and the decision was made to re-

frainfromfundraisingduring1967(1967§50).

In the followingdiscussionRudénsaid, ”that

hecouldnothelpbutfeeldisappointedthatsuch

apromisinginitiative,assfca hadindeedshown

itself tobe,couldnotbecomeafixedannualac-

tivity”.Rudénwas supported inhisviewby the

representative of the Methodist Church, whose

Bishop,OddHagen,hadexpressedconcernover

theproposal todelay thefundraising, “now, just

when Bihar is in such desperate need of help”.

Despitethesevoicesthedecisiontorefrainfrom

fundraisingduring1967stood.(1967§50and§44)

In the Annual Report of 196729 it states that

sfcc decidedatthebeginningoftheyearnotto

activatesfca thatyear.TheSix Day War inthe

MiddleEast,however, forced theexecutivecom-

mitteetotestthedecisionforathirdtime.

nconversationwithWalterPerssonheshared

that discussions in the Committee up until the

1980s “revolved largely around a struggle over

money, and less around real cooperation on the

projects”.14

In 1995 Diakonia’s Annual General Meeting

adoptedguidelinesforrelations between Diakonia

and the international work of the denominations.

1. Inanareawhereoneofthedenominationsoperate

missionworkDiakoniawill liaisewith thedenomi-

nationonpossiblecooperation.

2. Inanareawhereoneofthedenominationshasasister

churchwithsignificantdevelopmentassistancework,

Diakonia’scontactshouldinthefirstplacebewithoth-

erchurchesandecumenicalorganisations.Wherethese

arenotthemostsuitableorganisationsforpartnership,

otherorganisationsandmovementsmaybeDiakonia’s

partners. This includes organisations with other re-

ligious affiliations than Christianity, provided that

theydonotactivelyworkagainsttheChristianfaith.

3. WhenrecruitingDiakoniapersonnel,effortistobe

madetofindpeoplewithChristianfaithandalinkto

thecongregations.Noparticulartheologicalperspec-

tiveistobepreferredandskillsandpersonalsuitabil-

itywillhavegreatimportanceforrecruitment.

4. Exchange of information and experience between

Diakoniaandtheinternationalworkofthedenomi-

nationsissoughtbybothparties.Exchangeofexperi-

enceinothercountriesisalsoencouraged.

5. Diakoniaandthemissionsecretariesofthedenomi-

nationsshouldkeeponeanotherinformedaboutnew

workinthoseregionswherebothpartiesareactive.

RegularmeetingsareheldbetweenDiakoniaandthe

missionoffices.Thesemeetingsmayincludeallthe

denominationstogether,onedenominationatatime

orregionalgroupings.(AnnualGeneralMeeting1995

§11).

40 41c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Themostrecentoccasiononwhichthequestion

offundraisingwastakenupwasinconnectionto

theTsunamidisasterof2004.mcc s sentaletter

tolocalcongregationsappealingtothemtoraise

fundsandtoprayforthedisasterreliefworkbeing

donebytheirIndiansisterchurchontheAndaman

Islands.Inthemagazinedebatethatfollowedthis,

formerbus missionsecretarySvenOhm,wrote:

Inthatwhichhasbeensaidanddoneinconnectionwith

thetsunamidisaster,itseemsthatmany,includingchurch

leaders,haveforgottenthatDiakoniawasfromthebegin-

ningourjointtoolfordisasterreliefanddevelopmentas-

sistanceparticularlyinrelationtothegeneralpublic30.

Reactions came, amongst others, from mission

secretaryBertilSvensson,mcc s :

Asthedisasteroccurredinthemiddleofthefundraising

period for international mission in mcc s congregations,

wefeltthatitwasdifficulttosplitthefundraisingbetween

morethantwopurposes:thelongtermmissionworkand

disasterreliefviaasisterchurch.31

Since the beginning of the 1970s, congregations

withinthebusandthemccshavestoodoutasbeing

those most active in supporting sfca/Diakonia.

One probable reason for this is that in 1975 öm

founded a development assistance organisation

calledBröd till Bröder(BreadforBrothers),closely

linkedtoitsownoverseasmissionwork.Manycon-

gregationswithinsamandhu/sibuthereforechose

to supportBröd till Bröder, asdid somecongrega-

tions within bus. Involvement in Bröd till Bröder

meantthatneithertimenorfundswereavailable

forsfca/Diakonia.GötheHenrikssondescribed21

how,aspartoftheoverallfundraisingwork,itbe-

camethenormtocarryoutanannualcollection

forsfca/Diakonia.Formanyyearsthisamounted

to5%oftheamountcollectedforBröd till Bröder.

In addition to Bröd till Bröder, sam has also been

heavilyinvolvedintheSmålandbasedorganisation

Erikshjälpen. Therehavebeenrecurrentdiscussions

aboutclosercooperationbetweensfca/Diakonia

andBröd till Bröder.

Formersam missionsecretaryEskilAlbertsson

feelsthat”thereisawidespreadviewwithinsam

that Diakonia’s work complements the mission

work of the denomination in a series of impor-

tantareas,suchasrapiddisasterresponseinthe

poorest parts of the woldk; concrete and long

terms work to eradicate the causes of poverty;

bold support of leaders within the struggle for

human rights; community level programmes to

strengthen women’s rights and position in soci-

etyandmuchmore”.25

Inallprobability,thepercentagesoffundsraised

duringthespringcampaignsof1995and2002pro-

videaconcreteandrepresentativeillustrationof

howactivethedenominationsandcongregations

areinsupportingDiakonia:

1995:mcc s 77%,bus 12%,sam 3%,umc 2,5%,

InterAct5%,ssa 0,5%

2002:mcc s 76%,bus 14%,sam 2%,umc 5%,

InterAct2,5%,ssa 0%32

The question of how Diakonia cooperates with

theinternationalworkofthedenominationswas

broughtupagainattheagm of1999(1999agm §8).

This question sparked off a process of dia-

loguebetweenDiakoniaandthedenominations

which, in terms of its effect on Diakonia’s stat-

utes,wasconcludedon23September2003when

newstatuteswereadopted.Discussionsonhowto

structurecooperationinmorepracticaltermsare,

however,ongoing[2005].

mcc s PresidentKristerAnderssonexpressed

thefollowinghope:

mcc s expectstoseeanincreaseinopportunitiestofunc-

tioncooperatively.Wehopethiswillleadtoadeepeningof

Diakonia’srootsinthechurchesandtoincreasedcommit-

menttoDiakonia’sworkandtoitsformofmanagement

andcooperation.33

The dialogue was an interesting process, which

beganwiththepreparationofasummaryofthe

international work being done by Diakonia and

the denominations. The Board minuted the fol-

lowingcommentsonthesummary:

Are we in agreement about what the problems and op-

portunitiesare?Woulditbegoodtohaveananalysisfrom

someone external to challenge us? What gains can be

made by coordinating the work without the denomina-

tionshavingtohandovertheirwork?Howcanwemake

themostoftheimpactthatcanbemadethroughstrong

jointadvocacywork?(2000§26)

Diakonia’sDirector,BoForsberg, expressed it in

thefollowingway:

ThechurchesrepresentedonDiakonia’sBoardaremission

organisationswithresponsibilityforevangelismandrela-

tionswiththeirsisterchurches,whilstDiakoniafocuseson

issuesofjusticeandlongtermdevelopmentcooperation,

workingfordemocracyandrespectforhumanrights.34

In order to meet some of Diakonia’s partner

organisations and to have time for joint delib-

erations,theBoardandtheDirectortravelledto

SouthAfrica.Oneresultofthisjourneywasthat

theBoarddecidedtoproposetotheagm of2002:

42 43c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

ThattheBoardbegiventhetaskoftakingregularsound-

ings and looking into possible consequences for the con-

stitution and other key documents and of drawing up

proposalsforamemorandumofunderstandingregarding

cooperation between the denominations and Diakonia.

(2002§19)

A theology for life AnimportantpartofthisworkwastoclarifyDiako-

nia’smandateandtheologicalbasis,drawingupon

experiencesfromtheworkandonthewayinwhich

theorganisationhaddevelopedovertheyears.

InitsdailyworkDiakoniaisfacedwiththere-

ality thatGod’s intentionsandtheworld’sorigi-

nalharmonyhavebeenshattered.AlthoughGod

continuestobepresentandinvolvedinpeople’s

livesandinhistory,ourworldisriddledwithcon-

flict,betrayal,greed,warsandsuffering.

Christiansbelievethatwemeettheincarnate

God in the life and work of Jesus, as described

in the Gospels. Jesus is also the embodiment of

truehumanity,ofhumanityasGodintendeditto

be.Jesus’lifeexpressestheidealsthatChristians

arecalledtostrivefor–justice,love,forgiveness

andsolidarity.Throughlivingaccordingtothese

ideals–whichformaprotestagainsttheorderof

sin–peoplecontributetobuildingthekingdom

ofGodhereandnow.Christianfaithmustnever

bereducedtoanotherworldlyvisionofthenext

life.Morethananything,itisacallto”takeupthe

cross”now,inourpresentreality.

The church must actively resist and criticize

unjust structures that lock people in poverty,

suffering and oppression. Only then can God’s

willbedoneandthecredibilityofthechurchbe

retained. Or, as the Archbishop of Canterbury

RowanWilliamsexpressedit-Christianfaithis

always about making choices - choosing whose

sidetostandon;theexecutioner’sorthevictim’s,

theoppressor’sortheoppressed’s.

Diakonia’s current theological basis andclari-

fiedmandatewerebuiltuponreflections,thoughts

andconversationssuchasthese.

Extract from Diakonia’s theological basis35:

Jesushimselfwitnessedthesufferingandheardthecries

ofthepeoplefromthesideoftheroad.Inthesameway,

theChurchmustconstantlybepreparedtosee,hearand

seek out situations and conditions where God’s will to-

wardshumanityisbeingundermined,andwherethevalue

ofhumanlifeisthreatenedorwhererelationshavefailed

orbrokendown.Hunger,disease,repressionandothersuf-

feringareallclearcriesforhelpthatdemandaresponse

from the Churches in the form of cross-border diaconal

work.TheChurchwouldbebetrayingitscall,ifitfailed

torespondandactinthenameofthekingdomofGod,to

eventsaffectingpeople’severydaylife.

Diakonia’s mandate35:

DiakoniaisoneoftheexpressionsusedfortheChristian

community’s call to, through the love of Jesus Christ,

serveitsfellowsbeyondallborders.Thisinvolvessharing

burdens and thus bearing witness to the Christian faith

throughanetworkofhumanrelations.

Diakonia’s task is toseekGod’swillandbasedonfunda-

mental Christian values perform its mission by working

for the freedomand redemptionofhumanityand toen-

sure that just and fair structures are created or restored

-analysingtheforcesbehindinjusticesandconflictsfrom

bothatheologicalandsocialperspectiveaswellasseeking

alternative solutions– tacklingdistributionofwealth is-

suesbyexposingunjuststructuresandworkingforgreater

fairnessinthedistributionofresources.

At theagm of 2003 itwasdecided toadopt the

followingprinciples for thesigningofcontracts

betweenDiakoniaandthedenomination:

– In the continuing work to find greater integration and

closer cooperation between Diakonia and the denomina-

tions,eachdenominationholdstherighttosignaseparate

memorandumofunderstandingwithDiakoniainrelation

bothtoworkinSwedenandinternationally,

–Diakoniaandindividualdenominationshavetherightto

signseparatememorandumsofunderstandingforworkin

Swedenand internationalworkwithout theneedforap-

provalfromtheBoardineachcase,aslongasitfallswithin

theframeworkfortheworkandthebudgetagreedbythe

agm inordertodeveloptheworkofDiakonia(agm 2003§11).

The separate conversations with the denomina-

tionshaveinpartcontinued.Representativesfor

mcc s / bus and Diakonia have met with some

regularity.Themostconcreteresultofthisisto-

dayfoundintheDemocraticRepublicofCongo.

Aninitialcontractwassignedin1998andrenewed

inspring2005intheformofapartnershipagree-

mentforjointworktobecarriedoutthroughone

registered legal entity. Swedish personnel have

beenemployedforthiscooperationsince1998.

InThailandclosecooperationbetweenDiako-

niaandbus beganinspring2005,withbus and

Diakonia sharing office space. It has also been

decided to plan for Diakonia to take over bus ’s

Sida financed development project, whilst bus

becomesa”thinktankfortheologicalreflection”

(2005§37).

Attheagm of2005thePreparatoryCommittee

statedthefollowinginrelationtoconversations

withthedenominations:

In the province of Bihar the

local protestant churches

joined together to carry out

aid efforts. SFCA gave grants

to their work, which amongst

other things included drilling

bore wells.

44 45c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

[…] the question of how we can cooperate between

Diakonia and the denominations is at the moment in a

stateofimbalancebetweenthedenominations,between

those that are already engaged in conversations and

those that are not. The Preparatory Committee consid-

ersthatquestionsconcerningInformation/Development

Education/Fundraising are important subjects for discus-

sionwithallofthedenominations(agm 2005§8).

The work takes shapeIndia – where it all began Itwasselfevidentthatthefirstgrantsfromthe

newly formed Swedish Free Church Aid should

gotoIndia.Anotewasalsomadethat“pressure

for sfcc to do something there [in India] had

comefrommanypartsofSweden”36.

The first funds raised were to be distributed

on the basis of need in the worst affected areas:

MaharashtraonIndia’swestcoast,AndhraPradesh

ontheeastcoastandUttarPradesh,WestBengal

andBiharinthenortheast.Asitturnedout,there

weremissionariesfromSwedeninalloftheseareas,

whowerenowgiventhetaskofinvestigatingthe

possibilityofchannellingfundingtotheworstaf-

fectedandthoseingreatestneedofhelp.

Inafirstroundofgrantsmcc s andsam ,who

had a presence in Maharashtra, were allocated

325,000crowns,öm intheprovincesUttarPradesh

andWestBengal 125,000crowns,bus inOngole

district of Andhra Pradesh province 150,000

crownsandtheMethodistChurchinBiharprov-

ince was allocated 50,000 crowns. The various

missionaries/recipients were to put together re-

portsonthedistributionofthefunds.Thesere-

portswerethentobepresentedinmagazinesof

thedenominationsandother.

InBiharprovincethelocalprotestantchurches

hadcometogetherinajointreliefeffort,Action

for Food Production (afpro). Swedish Free

ChurchAidgaveagranttotheWaterDevelopment

Society,adepartmentofafpro ,whichamongst

otherthingshadresponsibilityfordrillingwells.

InAndhraPradeshstatethegrantresultedin

38,000peoplereceivingmonthlywheatrations(9

kgperfamily)duringthefirstyear,drilled15wells

being for drinking or agricultural purposes, and

pregnantwomen,mothersofyoungchildren,the

chronically ill, elderly people, orphans and chil-

drenoflowerschoolagereceivingassistance.37

In Maharashtra, extensive medical work was

set in motion with a connected food distribu-

tion programme. Food distribution was primar-

ily aimed at children in the early school years.

Surveyswereinitiatedlookingintothedrillingof

anumberofwellsforagriculturaluseanddrink-

Folder for the spring campaign of 1��� (Diakonia’s ar-

chive, A2:1)

4� 4�c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

ingwater.Thewaterlayatadepthof100mand

everywellwouldbecostly.38

Manyofthesefirstdisasterreliefprojectsde-

velopedintowiderangingpartnershipsbetween

sfca/Diakoniaandtherecipientorganisations.In

somecasesthepartnershipslastedformanyyears.

SupportforTheodori Mission, thesocialworkof

theumc ’ssisterchurchinBihar,continueduntil

2004.

It can be seen from minutes and annual re-

portsthatsfca continuedtoengageinareasthat

had previously received assistance. When the is-

sueoffundraisingcameupin1968noonehadany

objections.LeoLiljengren,bus ,wasemployedon

a short-term basis to prepare the information

materials for the campaign. The challenge that

year took the theme ‘India prays: Give us water!

Wells for Bihar.’ The campaign date was set for

twoweeksinMay.7000postersand10,500folders

wereordered,soitisclearthatamajorresponse

tothecampaignwasexpectedfromthecongrega-

tions.Therelief fundofSwedishtelevisionand

broadcast (SwedishRadioAid)allocated 100,000

crownsthatyeartoanirrigationanddevelopment

projectinBihar,supportedbysfca (1968§8).

Inautumn1968WestBengalwasstruckbya

terrible tsunami and flood. 370,000 people were

made homeless and 15,000 homes were totally

destroyed. Women’s Mission Workers (wmw)

supportedaNorwegianmissionaryinthisregion

calledOlavHodne,whoworkedfortheLutheran

World Federation in the Cooch Behar Refugee

Serviceproject.

sfcc ’s executive committee gave Per-Arne

Aglertthetaskoflookingmorecloselyattheex-

tentofthedisasterandwhatopportunitiesthere

wereforchannellinganeventualallocationfrom

sfca .Itwasdecidedtoallocate30,000crownsdi-

rectlytowmw ’spartnerinWestBengalandthat

Hodnewouldadministerthefunding(1968§31).

Atthesametimesfcc ’sexecutivecommitteetook

aninterestingdecisionregardinginformationon

thedisaster.Itwasapparentthattheinformation

wouldarouseamajorresponse,butdespiteorper-

hapsbecauseofthis,theyrefrainedfrompublica-

tionuntilafterChristmas,inordernottodisturb

ongoingfundraisingwithinthedenominations.

WestBengalwasthefocusofthefundraising

campaignin1969.Thefollowingtextappearedin

thematerialssenttocongregationsandthemedia:

TSUNAMITOOKALLTHEYOWNED!

TheTsunamileftnothingbehind.

Homes,cattle,fieldsandmany,manypeoplewerecar-

riedawaybythewave.Allthatwasleftwasachaosofmud,

brokentreesandtheruinsofwhathadoncebeenhomes.

No,thisisnotthemelancholyfuturevisionoftheaftermath

of a nuclear war. It is the terrible reality for thousands of

peopleinnorthernBengal.Atsunamitookalltheyowned…

Ourhomes,friends,supermarketsandindustriesare

stillhere.Wearethankfulforit.Butthinkforamoment.

Howdoyouthinkitwouldfeeltoloseeverythingyouhave

workedforinasinglemoment?Ornottobeabletogive

yourchildrenanyfoodatallforseveraldays?39

The story of Bengal (which in 1971 became Bang-

ladesh)hasachapterofitsown.Readmoreonpage

93!

The Middle EastTheso-called‘SixDayWar’betweenIsraelandthe

neighbouring Arab states was in progress when

sfcc meton7June1967.Thewarwasnotonthe

agenda,butwhilstdiscussingthecancelledfund-

raisingcampaignforIndia,thequestionof“help

for the victims of war in Israel and the Middle

East”arose.Itwasdecidedto“initiateafundrais-

ing appeal as soon as a ceasefire is in place and

givethesecretariat thetaskofmakingallneces-

sarypreparations”(sfcc :sau 1967§94).

On9June,whilstthewarwasstillongoing,the

missionsecretariesofthedenominationswithin

sfcc signedanappealforprayerandfunds,tobe

senttocongregationsandthemassmediaassoon

asthewarwasover.Theappealarousedastrong

response. A poster and folder were printed and

sent to thecongregationsof sfcc ’smemberde-

nominations. 40

Onceagainwe see that theChristiancalling

meantansweringcallsforhelpfromtheoutside

world.Howtoorganisethishelpwasasecondary

question.Thedecisiontosendassistancewastak-

eninJune,butinAugusttheCommitteetookup

thequestionofwhether they“shouldstartupa

separateorganisationforassistancetotheMiddle

Eastorsendfundsthroughexistingaidagencies”.

Theydecidedtochannelassistancethroughorgan-

48 4�c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

isationsalreadyinplaceintheregion(1967,§5,§6).

Itisinterestingtoseesomeoftheissuesthat

aroseasa resultof thedecision.Onesuch issue

was the role of the World Council of Churches,

wcc , in thedenominations.Nicklasson (mcc s)

andHagen(umc)feltthattheirdenominations,

asmembersofthewcc ,shouldparticipateinthe

fundraisingappealforvictimsofwarinitiatedby

thewcc .Atthesametime,giventhattheyhad

signedthe letter to thecongregations, they said

theywouldbeloyaltothecallforfunds.

LinnéEriksson,öm ,wasagainst fundsbeing

placed at wcc ’s disposal, as the denomination

was highly critical towards the wcc ’s theologi-

calstandpoint.However,hefeltthathewouldbe

ableto“justifytohisboardhispositiveparticipa-

tioninthedecisionbylikeningthewcc ’sroleto

thatoftheGoodSamaritan”(1967§6).

Theappealforprayerandfundswasverysuc-

cessful.Largeamountsweresentinanddistributed,

inthefirstplaceforemergencyassistancetorefu-

gees.TheWorldCouncilofChurches(viaChurch

ofSwedenAid)andtheSwedishOrganisationfor

IndividualRelief,SOIRreceivedthefirstgrants.

Thefullstoryofsfca ’sworkinandforPales-

tine/IsraelcanbefoundinChapter4onpage129.

Refugee 71TheCommitteemeetingofJanuary1971(§§17,18)

received an invitation from Swedish Radio Aid

toparticipate ina jointNordicfundraisingcam-

paign entitled Refugee 71, together with the Red

Cross,SavetheChildrenSwedenandChurchof

SwedenAid.Itwasdecidedtoparticipateinthe

campaign,whichwastotakeplaceonSundaythe

25 April. Swedish Radio Aid notified sfca and

PMUinadvancethattheycouldreceiveonequar-

teroftheamountraised.

The Committee immediately decided to can-

celtheannualspringfundraisingcampaign.Fund-

raisingcommitteeswereformedacrossthecountry

withparticipantscomingfromalltheorganisations

involved.Theaimwastocarryout“operationdoor

knock” to reach the maximum number of givers.

Swedish Television broadcast a gala performance

fromtheRoyalTheatreinStockholmontheeve-

ningofthe25April.

The initiative was highly successful. Over 23

millioncrownswerecollectedandwhentheCom-

mittee met in May (1971 §66) they received the

news that the free church congregations’ parti-

cipation in thecampaignwasestimatedtohave

raised approximately 1.2 million crowns. An ap-

plicationforfundstothevalueof940,000crowns

was sent to Swedish Radio Aid. This included

work with refugees in Gaza, Pakistan and the

Democratic Republic of Congo. The amount al-

locatedwas977,500crowns,morethanhadbeen

appliedfor.

In close cooperation with the Middle East Council of Churches SFCA was able to support thousands of Palestinian refugees.

50 51c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

VietnamThe first time the Vietnam War, which lasted

from1961until 1975,wasmentioned inminutes

wasinfromFebruary1967.sfcc hadbeenasked

bytheSwedishFellowshipofReconciliationtoco-

host a peace conference in Stockholm focusing

onVietnam.Thecouncildeclinedtheinvitation

onthebasisthatthememberdenominationshad

receivedthesameinvitation.“sfcc shouldthere-

fore,asamatteroforder,nottakethepositionof

co-host”(1967§17).

In June, sfcc were informed of a statement

madebytheSwedishEcumenicalCouncilonthe

subject of the Vietnam War. In November the

SwedishVietnamCommitteeaskedsfcc tosign

alettertotheus PresidentLyndonJohnson,call-

ing on him to cancel the bombings of Vietnam

over Christmas. This request was also declined

onthebasisthatthedenominationshadeachre-

ceivedthesamerequest(1967§166).

Itwas1970,beforetheVietnamWarwasonce

againonsfcc ’sagenda.Thecouncilreceivedalet-

terfromLarsThunberg,SecretaryfortheSwedish

EcumenicalCouncil, inwhichheasked“permis-

sion to mention sfca as a suitable vehicle for

channellingstateresourcesforthereconstruction

of Vietnam, in a letter to the Foreign Minister.”

Representativesofthedenominationswereposi-

tivetotheideaofSwedishFreeChurchAidpar-

ticipatinginfundraisingworkforthereconstruc-

tion. The question of whether the wcc , sister

churches to sfcc denominations, or other part-

nersintheregionwereplanningworkforthepost

warcontextwasalsotobelookedinto(1970§10).

In1971,VietnameseProfessorCaoNgocPhuong

visitedSweden.Aglertmetherandlaterpassedon

herdescriptionofthecountry,which“largelyhad

a peace seeking Buddhist population”, to sfcc .

The Buddhist movement fornon-violencecould

be a channel for eventual aid efforts from sfca

(1971§56).

Minutes (1971 §91) relate that Nicklasson rep-

resented sfcc at a conference focusing on the

situationofAmericanconscientiousobjectorsin

Sweden.Itwasdecidedtoawardagranttoaproj-

ectgivingsocialandreligioussupporttothesede-

serters.Thisquestionhadalsoarisenin1968and

beensentonsfcc ’sexecutivecommittee.

sfca providedsupporttoVietnamfrom1972

until1975,andlargeamountswerechannelledto

the protestant Tin­Lanh Church and The United

Buddhist Movement. Whenthewarendedin1975

foreign organisations were forced to break off

their support to the country. Instead all social

workwastobeledbythestateanddomesticvol-

untaryorganisations.In1980sfca onceagainbe-

gantoprovidesupporttoVietnam41,concluding

itssupportin2004.Sweden was visited by the Vietnamese professor Cao

Ngoc Phuong. She is seen here talking with Per-Arne

Aglert (left) and Leo Liljengren (right).

One of the many groups in Vietnam that received support from SFCA.

52 53c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

Support to Africa In 1967, the war of independence broke out in

Biafra(nowtheeasternpartofNigeria).Thewar

lasted for three years, and caused grave suffer-

ingtocivilians.TheconflictinBiafrawaswidely

coveredintheSwedishmediaandformanythe

imagespublishedofstarvingchildrenhavebeen

a symbol for poverty and starvation ever since.

Onceagainpeoplefromthefreechurchesgotin-

volvedviasfca .

Whensfcc metinSeptember1968theywere

informed that 18,000 crowns had been received

by sfca for Biafra, despite the fact that no call

forfundshadbeensentout.Itwasalsothought

thatcongregationshadinallprobabilitycollected

largeamountsofmoney,whichhadbeensentto

SwedishRadioAid,ChurchofSwedenAidorthe

RedCross.This realisation ledsfcc to forman

‘ActionCommittee’42toactrapidlyinresponseto

disastersituations,onbehalfofsfca .

Throughout the Biafran conflict grants were

given via Church of Sweden Aid to the disaster

relief work of the Christian Council of Nigeria,

JointChurchAid(1968§17).

South AfricaBefore 1960 the Swedish general public had a

fairly low level of awareness of the situation in

SouthAfrica,acountrywithaconstitutionthat,

from 1948, legislated apartheid – the separation

of blacks and whites. The terrible massacre in

Sharpeville in 1960 was given mass coverage in

the world media. Insight into the plight of the

blackpopulationledmanypeopletogetinvolved.

ThefirsttimeSouthAfricaismentionedinthe

archivesofsfca ,wasin1971,whenOlleEngström

visitedtheChristianInstitute(c i)anditsleader,

the white South African pastor Beyers Naudé.

IwasreceivedinJohannesburgbytheSwedishAmbassador.

He said directly: Be careful not to say anything reckless

here. Watch every word you say. You know that the tel-

ephonesofc i aretapped.Sobecareful.

ThedayaftermyarrivalImetBeyersNaudéandwas

impressedbyhimandhisanalysisofthesituation,andby

histremendouspropheticpower.Hewascalminanalysis,

butverystrong inhisconvictionthat somethingradical

mustbedonehere.IleftSouthAfricawiththefeelingthat

thisissomethingthatweinSwedenmustdosomething

about.ThiswaswhyIwrotetoSwedishFreeChurchAid.7

On returning home, Engström sent an applica-

tiontosfca for10,000crowns.Inadditiontothe

Before 1��0 the Swedish general public had a fairly low

level of awareness about the situation in South Africa, a

country with a constitution that, from 1�48, legislated

apartheid.

54 55c h a p t e r 1 t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s w e d i s h f r e e c h u r c h a i d / d i a k o n i a

applicationtherewasadocumentattachedwhich

describedtheincreasingrepressionofthelibera-

tionmovements.Therewasalsoaletterattached

in which Engström wrote that “no Christian

voicehasspokensoclearlyorconvincinglyasthis

onthetragicsituationinSouthAfrica”(1971§92).

ReadmoreaboutcooperationwithSouthAfrica

inChapter5,page165.

More countries added Assfca gainedmomentum, itsnetworkofcon-

tacts increased continually. Here are a few ex-

amplesthatillustratethebreadthofthesupport

given,oftenviathedenominations.

In 1968, 10,000 crowns were allocated to an

earthquake-hitareaofSicily.Thebus channelled

thefundstotheDaniloDolciCommitteeinthe

area.In1970,theRedCrossreceivedsupportfor

work in Peru and Turkey. bus also channelled

fundsfromsfca toitssisterchurchinRomania

after a flood in 1970. hu received a grant for a

children’shomeinTanzaniainconnectionwith

the fundraising campaign of 1970. In 1971, the

Methodist Church received a grant to be chan-

nelled to the social work section of their sister

churchinRhodesia,ChristianCare,fordistribu-

tionamongstpoliticalprisonersandtheirfamilies.

Support for educational projects was also priori-

tised.TheSwedishBibleSocietyreceivedagrant

for theprintingofbible tracts tobedistributed

inEthiopiain1969.Thejustificationforthedeci-

sionwas that thebible tractswereusedas read-

ingbooksandthereforealsoservedthepurpose

ofcombatingilliteracy.Fundsweretakenfroman

accountcalled‘undesignatedfunds’(1969§71).

Support was also given to Guinea Bissau

and Partido Africano da Independéncia da Guiné

e Cabo Verde(paigc)in1970,forthepublication

ofbooks.Muchthankstohelpfromothercoun-

triesintheformofschoolmaterials,paigc had

built 160 schools, which functioned despite the

struggleforindependence.

After the joint Nordic Radio Aid campaign

Refugee 71,sfca wasablenotonlytoprovidelarge

grants to projects working with refugees from

EastPakistanandtheWestBankbutalsotoallo-

catefundstomcc s ’ssisterChurchinDemocratic

Republic of Congo for their work amongst the

550,000AngolanrefugeesintheMatadiregion.

The work continuedWithinfiveyearsthevisionthathaddrivenErik

Rudénof“jointfreechurchsocialaideffortsfor

the world’s afflicted” had taken on an organisa-

tional form and become a tool for channelling

solidarity and financial support to people who,

indifferentways,havebeenhitbynaturaldisas-

ters, oppression and poverty. The organisation,

sfca , had successfully established a network of

important international contacts, which was to

proveimportantinitscontinueddevelopment.In

Sweden, confidence in sfca as a serious aid or-

ganisation grew, both among free church mem-

bersandSwedishauthoritiessuchastheSwedish

International Development Agency and the

MinistryforForeignAffairs.However,itwasthe

Christian conviction of the necessity of a just

sharing of the world’s resources and the call to

standalongsidesufferingandafflictedpeoplein

theworld,thatdrovetheorganisationforward.

SFCA has become a tool for chan-

nelling solidarity and financial

support to people who, in different

ways, have been hit by natural

disasters. This little girl in South

Africa, for example, has been given

the chance for a life of dignity.

5�

chapter 2

Organisation

”you can trust diakonia. Therearenootherintereststhanawilltodosomething

goodforhumanity.”SosaidLenaHjelm-Wallén,MinisterofInternationalDevelop-

mentontheoccasionofDiakonia’s25thanniversary.43

Thesocial aid effort thattheSwedishFreeChurchCouncil(sfcc)decidedtoini-

tiatein1966(sfcc’sau1966§57)grewintoDiakonia.Tothepresentday(2005)theor-

ganisationcontinuestogrowandhasbecomeoneofSweden’swell-establisheddevel-

opmentagencies.Theorganisation’soriginalSwedishnamewasbothaproclamation

andapromise–FRIKYRKAN HJÄLPER – literally‘FreeChurchAid’.Throughout

theyearsSwedishFreeChurchAid (sfca)hasbeenable togive support to local

partnersworkingfora lastingchangefor theworld’smostvulnerablepeople.For

many,theorganisationhasalsobeenachannelforcommittedinvolvementandcare.

Thedecisiontostartuptheworkwasneverhardtomake.sfccwasalreadyheav-

ilyinvolvedinsocialissues,andassuchDiakoniabuildsuponahundredyearoldtra-

ditionoffreechurchworkforchangeinSwedishsociety.Theperspectivehadbeen

widenedandcountriesfarawaywereaddedtothework.Inorganisationaltermsit

wassimple.ACommitteewasformedundertheauspicesofsfcCtotakedecisions

onquestionsrelatingtoSwedishFreeChurchAid.Inadministrativetermssfccal-

11 people were sent from

Sweden to participate in

the school building pro-

ject in Bangladesh

58 5�c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

readyhadpersonnelandwellfunctioningfinancial

managementsystemsthatcouldbemadeuseof.

sfcc rented office space from Frikyrkliga

Studieförbundet (fs) – the study association for

non-conformistchurchesinSweden.

The work of Diakonia around the worldThroughout sfca/Diakonia’s 40 years, partner-

ships between sfca and local partners around

the world have continued to form and grow giv-

ingshapetothework,inthemannerdescribedin

Chapter1.People’sneedshavebeenhighlyvaried

innature.Allovertheworld, thereareorganisa-

tionsandpeopleofactionpreparedtogetinvolved

and it is amongst these thatsfca/Diakoniahas

itspartners.

Anders Kompass44 confirmed this when he

thoughtbackonhistimeintheorganisationand

said that he perceived Diakonia’s fundamental

roleasbeingtounitesolidarity,commitmentand

the will for change with a deep Christian and

highlyecumenicalpathos.

Sadly, it is not possible to describe all the

worksupportedovertheyears, insomanycoun-

tries.Instead,fourcountrieshavebeenchosento

illustrate thework:Bangladesh,Palestine,South

AfricaandElSalvador.Itishopedthatapresenta-

tionoftheworkinthesecountrieswillprovidean

impression of how long term partnerships have

beenbuiltuparoundtheworld,withpeopleand

organisationsstrivingtochangeaharshreality.

ClosedialoguebetweenDiakoniaanditspart-

nershasalwaysbeenacharacteristicfeatureofthe

workandhasbuiltrelationshipsbasedonmutual

trustandinformationsharing.Throughthisclose

cooperationwithpartnersintheSouth,Diakonia

haslearntthatpoverty,violenceandoppressionare,

aboveallelse,causedbyalackofdemocracyand

ofrespectforhumanrights.Regardlessofwhether

theproblem is seen in food shortages, abuseand

violence,destructionof theenvironment,or lack

of housing, health or education, it is impossible

toovercomeinthelongtermwithouttacklingits

fundamentalstructuralcauses.45

Thisinsightledsfca/Diakoniatogobeyond

disaster relief.Relief isvitalandsfca/Diakonia

hasonmanyoccasionscontributedlargeamounts

toreliefefforts, forexampleduringthedrought

inIndiain1966(throughwhichsfca cameinto

being),theterriblefamineinEastAfricain1983,

HurricaneMitchinCentralAmericain1999and

thetsunamithatsweptintoSriLankaandSomalia

in2004.

Intheseandotherdisastersituations,thereal

challengehasbeentokeepworkingwhenthedif-

ficultprocessofrebuildingbegins.Theconceptof

help for self­help hascharacterisedsfca/Diakonia’s

support over the years. People’s life situations

havebeenchangedthroughsmall-scaleinterven-

tions thathaveenabled themto live adignified

life. Through its strap-line, People changing the

world,Diakoniahopestopresentitsworkinaway

thathighlightstheimportanceoftheindividual

inallworkforchange.

Diakonia’spositionondisasterreliefisthatit

is only possible to carry out effective disaster re-

sponseworkifstrongrelationshipsexistwithpart-

nersintheareabeforethedisasteroccurs.Diakonia

hasthereforesometimeschosentowithholdfrom

involvementinrespondingtoaparticulardisaster

becausetherehasnotbeenacooperatingpartner

present. On such occasions, Diakonia has often

beenabletochanneldonationstooneormoreof

thedenominations.

Since1997,Diakoniahasaimedforthefollow-

ingfour themestocharacteriseallof itsworkto

changethefundamental structuralcausesofpov-

erty:Democracy,HumanRights,EconomicJustice

andGenderEquality.(1997§45)

The concept of help for self-help has characte-

rised SFCA/Diakonia’s support over the years.

People’s lives have been changed through small-

scale interventions. The joy this woman from

Burkina Faso feels over her successful onion

harvest can’t be misinterpreted.

�0 �1

I Bolivia stöder Diakonia

en organisation

som arbetar för

hembiträdenas

rättigheter.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

DemocracyFrom itsownexperienceofbeingpartofapeo-

ple’smovement,Diakoniahasunderstoodtheim-

portanceofaffectedpeoplegettinginvolvedand

organising themselves, in order to change their

societies.Peoplemustgainaccess to toolsneces-

sary to influence and participate in building up

theirsocieties.

Thatiswhyitisimportanttohavefunction-

inginstitutions.Alivingdemocracyisdependent

uponademocraticculture,astrongcivilsociety

thatcanrespondtopeople’sneedsandawill to

listen amongst decision makers. In this context

interventions such as adult education, civic edu-

cationandmobilizationhaveplayedanimportant

role. Work has also focused on how to conduct

meetings, organisational development, legisla-

tion, educationof leaders–not leastofwomen,

andotherworktostrengthenpeople’s identities,

competenceandself-confidence.

InregionssuchasWestAfrica,democracyhas

playedaveryimportantroleintheextensiverural

development programmes and organisational de-

velopmentworksupported.Thousandsofvillage

groupshavefunctionedasschoolsfordemocracy.

Reconciliationisakeywordinworkingwith

democracyinseveralregions.Thisistrueforexam-

pleinSouthAfrica,Mozambique,SouthAmerica

andCentralAmerica.Abouttenyearsago,these

regionswerecharacterisedbycivilwar,low-level

terrorism and political violence. Reconciliation

meansrebuildingtrustforoneanother.Itisabout

opposing groups seeing and becoming aware of

howtheyneedeachother,sothatafunctioning

societycanbebuilt.It isaboutcreatingasocial

contractbuiltontrustinsteadoffear.46

Human Rights AllofDiakonia’spartnersworktostrengthenhu-

man rights. Some focus specifically on minority

groupsandindigenouspeoples,otherscarryoutciv-

iceducationandeducationoneconomic,socialand

culturalrights.InconflictzonessuchasGuatemala,

Colombia,PalestineandtheDemocraticRepublic

ofCongo,mappinganddocumentingincidentsof

abuseareimportanttasks,asaretheeducationof

‘barefootlawyers’andlegalassistance.

In Burma, where all expressions of protest

areforbidden,Diakoniaprovidessupporttoeth-

nicminoritiesinruralareasviathechurches.The

work includes agricultural development, health-

careandeducation.Theaimistomobilizepeople

sothattheythemselvescandemandtheirrights

andinfluencetheirlifesituations.

InBolivia,Diakoniahasgivensupporttoan

organisation working for the rights of domestic

workers. Their work focuses on participating in

the development of new labour legislation and

seeingtoitthatdomesticworkers’rightsaresafe-

guarded. It also involves reaching out to thou-

sandsofdomesticworkersaroundthecountryto

informthemabouttheirrights.Theprojecthelps

themtoorganisesothattheythemselvescanpress

theirdemands.

For Diakonia, the aim is to support human

rightsworkinawaythatdirectlyrelatestoactual

socialdevelopments.Whenaccesstoschools,health

careandcleanwaterisexpressedintermsofrights,

theargumentsaresharpened.ManyofDiakonia’s

partnersareamongtheleadersinworktodevelop

methods for formulating human rights in terms

of policy and in monitoring implementation.47

InthedistrictofPuntlandinSomalia,forex-

ample, Diakonia has supported a programme to

educatethepoliceforceandsupportthejudiciary.

In Bolivia Diakonia sup-

ports an organisation

working for the rights of

the domestic workers.

�2 �3

Genom ett

projekt i Kongo

har Rebeccas

Luishi fått ett

nytt liv.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

Economic Justice In order for the poorest of the poor to be able

toparticipate in influencingsocialdevelopment,

certain basic needs must be met. Without food

fortheday,healthcareandbasiceducation,itis

hard for people to become mobilized for social

action.This iswhypovertyeradicationandeco-

nomicjusticearekeyphrasesinDiakonia’swork

and why sfca/Diakonia has always supported

projectsatlocalandnationallevelinordertoen-

ablepeopletobecomefinanciallyindependent.

sfca/Diakoniahasalsobeeninvolvedinthe

major internationalcampaigns fordebtcancella-

tionforpoorcountries.

At national level, sfca/Diakonia has worked

closelywithotherorganisations.Oneofthesewas

Ecumenical Development Week, which was set up

by a decision taken at the National Conference

of All Christians in Gothenburg in 1972. Each

year development education materials were ecu-

menically produced for use by local congrega-

tions.Theseweeks,whichalwaysfell inthe last

weekbeforeadvent,wereverysuccessfulbothat

nationalandlocalleveluntiltheendofthe1980s.

ThankstoadecisionbytheChristianCouncilof

Sweden the last Sunday before advent has once

again become the churches joint Global Sunday,

focusingonanissueofsocialjustice.

Gender EqualityDiakonia’sworkwithgenderequalitybeganinthe

1980sthroughthenumerousandstrongwomen’s

movements supported at the time, not least in

SouthAmerica.Reportswerewrittenandconfer-

encesheld.Intheweekprecedingtheunwomen’s

conference in China in 1995, Diakonia gathered

representativesfromeachregiontoagendercon-

ference in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The guidelines

drawnupatthatmeetinggavedirectiontoallof

Diakonia’scontinuesworkwithgenderissues.

Several large seminars on the theme of gen-

der have been held for personnel and the Board,

involvingbothSwedishandinternationalspeakers.

Diakonia’sperspectivehasfocusedonhowgender

rolesarecreatedwithinpeople’ssocialandcultural

environments.Genderequalityisthusaquestion

ofthebalanceofpowerandnotofbiology.

Gender equality is not a women’s issue. A

democratic culture can only be created if both

womenandmenareinvolved.Iflong-termchange

is to be achieved, men must also participate in

the process. Because of this Diakonia wants to

strengthen both men’s and women’s self-confi-

dence, knowledge and opportunities to partici-

pateinthelifeofsociety.

Diakonia’s policy on gender equality was fi-

nalisedin2001.Amongstotherthings,workwith

genderequalityhasincludedtheeducationoffe-

male leaders, education in basic health/diet and

reproductive health, strengthening of women’s

rights, income generating activities for women,

the education of journalists, increasing the in-

volvementofmeninworkforgenderequalityand

fightingviolenceagainstwomenanddiscrimina-

torylegislation.48

Diakonia’sgenderworkseeksforwomenand

men to have equal access to basic social services,

includingeducationandhealthcare.Theyshould

haveequalopportunitiestoparticipateinpolitical

andeconomicdecisionmaking,equalpayforequal

workandthesamerightstolegalprotection.

In2003aprojectworkerwasemployedtofo-

cusspecificallyonDiakonia’sworkwithgender.

Number of partner countries:

Year Africa Asia CentralAm. MiddleE. SouthAm. total

1969 1 3 2 6

1974 4 4 1 2 11

1979 4 4 1 2 8 19

1984/85 19 8 4 4 9 44

1989/90 15 11 5 2 9 42

1994/95 18 9 5 6 9 47

1999 15 9 5 6 5 40

2004 13 8 5 6 4 36

Through a project in the

Democratic Republic of

Congo Rebecca Luishi has

found a new life.

�4 �5

Diakonia has always had a small number of Swedish workers placed abroad. This, of course, is because the operative

development work is carried out by partner organisations. (Photograph from Burkina Faso)

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

The international departmentWhen the vision that led to the foundation of

SwedishFreeChurchAidtookonaconcreteform

the need for a structured organisation became

clear.Asthenumberofprojectsincreased,extra

personnel were needed at the office in Sweden

and regional offices needed to be set up around

theworld.

In1977tworegionalsecretarieswereappoint-

ed to work with Africa and with Asia plus the

MiddleEast.Thepostswerebasedattheofficein

Älvsjö, Stockholm. In 1979 another regional sec-

retarywasappointedforLatinAmerica.Initially,

LatinAmericawastreatedasasingleregion,but

in1981theextentoftheworkledtoitbeingsplit

intotworegions,CentralAmerica(withanoffice

inCostaRica),andSouthAmerica(witharegion-

alofficeinPeru).

In2000,Africawasalsodividedintotwore-

gions:oneforSouthandEastAfricaandonefor

WestandCentralAfrica.TheMiddleEastbecame

a region of its own in 1984. In 2005, Africa and

LatinAmericabecamesingleregionsagain,with

tworegionalsecretariesworkingoneachregion.

Oneregionalsecretaryhasresponsibilityforeco-

nomicandadministrativeissuesandtheotherfor

methodologyandprogrammeplanning.In1996a

coordinator was appointed for the international

work(1996§82.2),apostthattodayholdsthetitle

HeadofInternationalDepartment.

Theworkoftheregionalsecretaries,whoare

basedattheofficeinSweden,haschangedoverthe

years.Inthebeginning,theirtaskwastoleadand

beaccountablefortheworkintheirregion.This

responsibilityhasincreasinglybeentransferredto

the regionalmanagers,basedat the respective re-

gionalofficesaroundtheworld.In2005,theBoard

decided that the regional secretaries should have

responsibilityforpersonnelissues,administrative

issuesandtheoverallprogramme.(2005§8)

In 2005, the Regional Secretariat at head office in­

cluded:

1HeadofInternationalDepartment

6RegionalSecretaries

1hiv&aidsadvisor

1Genderadvisor

1 Project Officer working on development education re-

gardingtheDemocraticRepublicofCongo

Employees in the regions Inrelationtothescaleofitswork,sfca/Diakonia

hasalwayshadasmallnumberofpersonnelplaced

overseas.Thisisofcourseduetothefactthatthe

operationalworkiscarriedoutbypartnerorgani-

sations.Thepersonnelhavehadthetaskofmain-

tainingcontactwithpartners,nationalauthorities

andtheSwedishMinistryforForeignAffairs/Sida

countryoffices,andofpreparingapplicationsfor

andreportingontheworktoDiakonia’sofficein

Sweden.

In conversations with previously employed

overseaspersonnel,allofthemhaveemphasizedthe

importanceofthesupporttheyreceivedfromHead

OfficeinSweden.“Wewereshowngreatthanksfor

whatwedid”,saidAnna-KarinGauding49.During

his time with Diakonia Lars Franklin coined the

phrase”thetaskistowalkalongsidethepeoplewe

support”. Many also emphasized the importance

ofvisitsfromSweden–fromdelegationsfromthe

Board,thedenominationsandvoluntarycongrega-

tional/regionalrepresentatives.

When Sida changed its rules for expatriate

�� ��

The collected personnel group in Asia 2004.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

employees in 1988, the conditions for receiving

Sidavolunteergrantsalsochanged.Diakoniathen

reworkeditscontractswithexpatriateemployees.

This, amongst other things, involved changing

theirtitles.

In addition to the Swedish personnel em-

ployedatthevariousregionaloffices,thenumber

oflocalemployeesatregionalofficeshasincreased

significantly.Thisisseenbothasanadvantagein

itself and a necessity, as the contract period for

expatriate Swedes has been shortened. Through

these locally employed the capacity of the staff

wasbroadenedaswellasthecontinuanceofthe

work.

– When I in the 1970s and 1980s traveled in Africa and

Central America I noticed the young ones sent our by

sfca/Diakonia.Iwasimpressedbytheirsacrificialwilland

burning solidarity, said the Swedish Minister of Foreign

Affairs,PierreSchori54

Thetotalnumberofemployeesatregionaloffices

in Spring 2005 was 136, of whom 25 were from

Sweden.118employeesonprojectcontracts,who

untilDecember2005worked inKurdistan,must

beaddedtothis.

AsiaIn 1972, Swedish Free Church Aid employed

Bengt and Sol-Britt Sundberg as volunteers to

workatthechildren’shomeinBohla,Bangladesh

(seeChapter3page93).Assfca couldnotthen

apply for volunteer grants from Sida whilst the

denominationscould,ÖMtookonpersonnel re-

sponsibility and employed the Sundbergs. Bengt

Sundberg’sjobwas,inpart,toinvestigateoppor-

tunities for sfca to continue providing support

toworkinBangladesh.

This reconnoitering work led to the school

buildingproject.LeoLiljengrenwasemployedas

projectleaderinMay1973,withhiswifeGunnel

joininghimasaccompanyingspouse.

Theworkgrewandinbudgetyear1975,when

thenumberofSwedesemployedwasat itspeak,

there were 11 volunteers in post at the various

projectsinBangladesh.Therewere,inaddition,a

largenumberoflocalemployees. 50

The office in Dhaka, which doubled as the

projectleader’shome,wasnotonlythecentrepoint

foralltheadministrationandallcontactwiththe

authorities but also formed a gathering place for

Swedishpersonnel.IdaRenman,oneofthemany

volunteers,confirmedthisinaconversation.

We felt as though Roland and Ingegerd Einebrant51 were

ourparents.TherewerefiveofusinMymensinghandwe

knewthattheirdoorwasalwaysopenforus.Sometimes

they didn’t even know we were coming. And the train

didn’talwaysrunasyouexpectedandthatcouldmeanthat

weknockedontheirdooratfouro’clockinthemorning.

ButIngegerdwasthereandalwayssaid“Verywelcome!”52

Asthenumberofpartnerorganisationsandcoun-

tries being worked in increased, it was suggested

thattheofficebemovedfromBangladesh.In1992,

aregionalofficeforAsiawasopenedinChiangMai,

Thailand.AcountryofficeremainedinBangladesh

at which Tomas Das and later Sultana Begum

workedascountryrepresentatives.

In2005,11peoplewereemployedattheAsia

officeinChiangMai:OneSwedishregionalman-

agerand4Swedishprogrammeofficers,together

with5localemployeesbearingresponsibilityfor

finances, project management, reception, com-

puters and care-taking. In addition there were

country representatives for Burma/Thailand,

Bangladesh,India,CambodiaandSriLanka,one

ofwhomwasplacedattheregionaloffice.

Number of Swedes employed in the work in Asia 1974 7

1979 9

1984/85 2

1989/90 3

1994/90 3

1999 4

20045

�8 ��

SFCA /Diakonia has

supported organi-

sations working to

transform an inhuman

slum into a housing

area fit for habitation.

Prateep Ungsongtom

Hata received support

for her work to change

the situation for the

children in Klong Toey,

Bangkok.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

South AmericaIn 1974 it was decided to open a local office for

sfca in Colombia in order to keep up contacts

with the big rubbish dump project there. Inger

Björk was the first volunteer employed. In 1976

shewassucceededbyAnna-KarinGauding,who

remainedinpostforDiakoniainSouthAmerica

until1990. 49

Whentherubbishdumpprojectconcludedin

1997,sfcahadbecomeinvolvedinextensivework

withrefugees,demandingeffectiveadministration.

The office that was initially placed in Medellín,

Colombia, was moved first to Ecuador and then

after just one year to Lima, Peru (1987 §74). The

reason for moving was to improved communica-

tions,andbecausethesituationinPerudemanded

a more intensive and permanent presence from

sfca .Theofficewaslocatedinthesamebuilding

astheScandinavianSeamen’sMission(1979§145).

In1992thesecuritysituationinPeruworsenedand

theofficeurgentlyneededtobemovedagain.The

newlocationwasLaPaz,Bolivia(1991§41).

TheextensiveworkinSouthAmericameant

that, from 1982, the region needed two offices.

InadditiontotheofficeinPeru,anewofficein

Chilewasopened.A-KGaudingmovedthereand

premiseswererentedfromtheMethodistChurch

(1982§120).Theofficewasgivenresponsibilityfor

contacts with partners in Chile, Argentina and

Uruguay. In 1995 the offices were amalgamated

againandhavesincethenbeenbased inBolivia

(1992§17).OversomeperiodsindividualSwedish

programmeofficershavehadtheirpostsbasedin

PeruandColombia.

Number of Swedes employed in the work in

South America

1974 2

1979 2

1984/85 7

1989/90 11

1994/90 9

1999 4+2projectworkers

2004 5

In2005,theofficeinBoliviahadthefollowingper-

sonnel:Oneregionalmanagerand3programmeof-

ficerssentfromSweden,5localemployeesbearing

responsibilityforadministration,projectmanage-

ment,bookkeeping,receptionandtransport/care-

taking.Inadditiontherewerecountryrepresenta-

tivesforBolivia,Paraguay,ColombiaandPeru.

The Middle EastFrom 1968 until 1977 Arnold Hjertström, the

Swedish consul in Jerusalem, received an hono-

rariumascontactpersonforsfcapartnersinthe

region.Healsomanagedabankaccount,through

whichallgrantswerechannelled.

In1975,BerntEkholmtravelledtotheWest

Bankasavolunteertoworkwiththeplanningof

aprojectforchildrenwithlearningdifficulties.

Asthenumberofprojectsintheregionbecame

sizeable and the scale of financial support large,

astrongneedforanownpresenceintheregion

wasfelt.In1984DesmondCarraghermovedfrom

hispostasRefugeeSecretaryforsfcCtobecome

programme officer for the Middle East. He im-

mediatelybegan to investigate thepossibilityof

openinganofficeintheregion.Thiswasachieved

fairly quickly in Cyprus, from where Carragher

was then based. A country office for Lebanon

was opened in Beirut in 1986. Journalist Barbro

Elfströmworkedtherefortwoyears,andtheof-

ficewasclosedwhensheleft.

Theregionalofficewasclosedin1990andthe

post responsible for work in the Middle East re-

turnedtotheofficeinÄlvsjö,Sweden.

In connection with planning for the build-

ing of the Abu Raya Hospital (see page 147)

and the launch of the major Community Based

�0 �1

Abu Raya Hospital in Ramallah, Palestine.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

Rehabilitation(cbr)programme,IvanandAgneta

Magnusson were employed in 1989, in order to

managetheworkonlocation.Theirareaofrespon-

sibilitywaslimitedtotheWestBankandtheGaza

Strip.ContactwithothercountriesintheMiddle

EastwasdealtwithfromtheofficeinSweden.The

Magnussonscompletedtheirpostsin1995.

In 1995 the office in Jerusalem became the

regional office for the Middle East, holding the

same status as Diakonia’s other regional offices

around the world. In addition to the West Bank

andGazathegeographicalareaservedbytheof-

ficeincludedLebanon,JordanandEgypt.

KurdistanIn 1994, Diakonia began providing support to

KurdistaninnorthernIraqandtoanewlystarted

home for children with traumatic experiences

fromthewar.GretheGrimstadfromSwedenwas

employedfortheprojectandin1997herhusband,

Pherda Thorané, was also employed. They left

theirpostsin2003.In2005thereisoneSwedish

programmeofficerworkingontheprojecttogeth-

erwith13localstaffmembers.Theextensivework

withthechildreninvolved118employeesin2005,

all of whom will leave Diakonia’s employment

whentheworkisturnedovertostatecontrol.

In 2005, the Jerusalem office had the following person­

nel:oneregionalmanager,twoprogrammeofficers,

oneprojectworkerfortheihl Programme,7local-

ly employed coordinators for the Rehabilitation

Programme, one programme officer, finance

manager, an administrator and a caretaker. One

SwedishcountryrepresentativeforKurdistan.

Central AmericaWiththerapidriseofprojectsinCentralAmerica

theCommitteedecidedtoopenanofficeinthe

region. Head Office was given the task of look-

ing into where it should be located, and chose

San José in Costa Rica (1980 §22). Three people,

AndersKompassandAnkiandPerSundelin,trav-

elledtoCostaRicaas thefirstvolunteers tothe

region.

Securitywasthemainreasonforlocatingthe

office inCostaRica,as themajorityof thepart-

ners were located in other countries. For many

years,therewerehopesthattheofficemightmove

closer to the various partner organisations. This

wasmadepossiblebythepeacetreatyof1992and

theofficemovedtoElSalvador(1992§36).

Number of Swedes employed in the work in Central

America

1984/85 5

1989/90 8

1994/95 7

1999 5,5

2004 4

In 2005 the Central America Office had the fol-

lowing personnel: One regional manager and 3

programmeofficerssentfromSweden,plus7 lo-

calemployeeswithresponsibilityforadministra-

tion, methodologies, project management, book

keeping,reception,transportandcare-taking.In

additiontherewerecountryrepresentativesforEl

Salvador,Guatemala,NicaraguaandHonduras.

AfricasfcafirstvolunteerstoAfricawassenttoAngola.

Theyearwas1976andElisabethWiechelwasgiv-

entheroleofcoordinator(1971§31).

Sidaprovidedalargegranttosfcaforthework,a

grantwhichcanmostappropriatelybedescribed

asbeingadisasterrelief,asthecountrywasdev-

astatedbycivilwar.

Number of Swedes employed for the work in the

Middle East

1969 1

1974 1

1979 1

1984/85 1

1989/90 10

1994/95 3

1999 4

2004 5

�2 �3

Hanne Södahl, volun-

teer in South Africa

(right), confirmed the

importance of social

contacts and close

relationships to the

local population, as

seen here with two

women from the ecu-

menical movement.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

West AfricaThe terrible drought that hit West Africa in

1973 was the beginning of sfca ’s involvement

in the region. Initially, sfca support to the re-

gionwaschannelledthroughtheWorldCouncil

of Churches’ Sahel Team, which was located in

BurkinaFaso. In 1984,SwedishFreeChurchAid

decidedtohaveapresenceofitsownintheregion

andthefirstvolunteer,AnnasaraSvantesson,trav-

elledtotheoffice,whichopenedinSenegal(1982

§103).Whensheleftin1987,theofficewasmoved

to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where Lennart

andEvaKarlssonworkedformanyyears.

Atitspeaktheofficehadlinkswithpartners

ineightcountriesoftheSahel.

In 2005 the office in Ouagadougou had the follow­

ing personnel:oneregionalmanagerandonepro-

gramme officer sent from Sweden; 5 local per-

sonnel, one administrator/finance manager, one

receptionist/secretary/administrator, one chauf-

feur/handyman,onecleanerandwatchmen.

Democratic Republic of CongoIn 1998 mccs , bus and Diakonia established a

jointofficefortheirworkintheregion,withone

person employed for coordination and network

building(1998§10).mccs missionaryÅkeJohans-

son was employed and his primary focus was on

the development of a democratic culture. This

contract was renewed in 2005. Premises for the

countryofficearejointlyownedbymccs,busand

Diakonia(2005§37).

East Africa ThegroundforDiakonia’ssupporttoSomaliawas

preparedthroughcontactswithElsieLundeborg,

an Efs missionary. Lundeborg was employed in

1994,followingastudyintothepossibilityofpro-

vidingsupporttothecountry,whichwasseverely

hitbythecivilwar.Forsecurityreasonsshewas

placed at the office in Nairobi, Kenya, but also

hadaworkplace inGarowe,Puntland.Thefirst

grantgivenwastoanincomegenerationproject

focusing on handicraft production among local

women’sgroups.Aregionalofficewasopenedin

1994tomaintaincontactwithpartnersinSomalia,

Eritrea,EthiopiaandUganda.

In 2005, the regional office in Nairobi, Kenya had

the following staff: one regional manager and one

programmeofficersentfromSweden,2locallyem-

ployed programme officers, an administrator/fi-

nanceofficer,afinancemanager,asecretary/recep-

tionist, a chauffeur, a cleaner.Thecountryoffice

inSomaliahad15employeesinthespringof2005.

South AfricaDuringtheapartheiderasfcacouldnotofficially

placepersonnelinSouthAfrica.ChurchofSweden

Mission and its sister church the Evangelical

LutheranChurchofSouthAfrica(elcsa)there-

foreemployedUlfandHanneSödahlasvolunteers

forserviceinSouthAfrica.Thecontractbetween

the parties was signed in 1985 and they left for

South Africa in 1986. Officially their workplace

wasPortElisabeth.

ItwasnotuntilErikandAnnaLysén’speriod

ofserviceinSouthAfrica,whenapartheidlegisla-

tionwasreplacedbyademocraticconstitutionin

1992,thatDiakonia’sofficeinthecountrycould

beofficially registered. Itwas initiallyplaced in

CapeTownandin1996movedtoPretoria,where

itremainstoday.

In 2005, the Pretoria office had the following person­

nel:oneregionalmanagerandtwoprogrammeof-

ficers sent fromSweden,plus four local employ-

ees with responsibility for project management,

finances and administration, financial manage-

mentandcleaning.Therearealsocountryoffices

inMozambiqueandZambia.

�4 �5

One of Diakonia’s aid shipments arrives in Romania.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

Number of Swedes employed in work in Africa

1979 3

1984/85 2

1989/90 3

1994/95 5

1999 6+2projectofficers

2004 7

EuropeThe Committee of sfca and subsequently the

Board of Diakonia have taken repeated and reg-

ular decisions not to support projects and pro-

grammes in Europe (1991 §37). The basis for

thisdecisionhasoneachoccasionbeenthatthe

denominations within Diakonia have very close

contactsinbothCentralandEasternEurope.The

only occasion on which this principle was devi-

atedfromwasinconnectionwiththefallofthe

Romaniandictator,Ceausescu.Whentheborders

wereopened,thesystematicoppressionthatthe

population had been subjected to was revealed.

For several years, Diakonia provided grants for

emergency relief, primarily focusing on physi-

cally and mentally disabled children through

the Romanian organisation ahncr . Courses for

teachersof thedisabledandforparentswerear-

rangedtogetherwiththeDepartmentofSpecial

PedagogyatGothenburgUniversity.53

How are contacts made? Looking at all the partner organisations that

sfca/Diakonia has worked with, there are few

cases in which Diakonia has initiated the con-

tact.Requestshavealmostexclusivelycomefrom

theorganisationitselforfromsomeoneinclose

contact with it. Most commonly an application

has been handed to sfca/Diakonia’s representa-

tiveintheregion.Afterthisathoroughprocess

isinitiatedinwhichthetwopartiesgettoknow

oneanotherafterwhichDiakoniatakesadecision

about whether the organisation fulfils the fixed

criteriaDiakoniahasforitspartners.Ifthesecri-

teriaaremetthencooperationbegins,mostcom-

monlywiththesigningofacontractforaperiod

ofoneortwoyears.Afterthisthecontractperiod

canbelengthenedtothreetofiveyears.

Global coordination meetings Theneedtocoordinate,engageindialogueandex-

changeexperienceledDiakoniatocallallSwedish

DiakoniapersonneltomeetforfourdaysinJune

1990.Personnelaroundtheworldneededtolearn

aboutthedirectionoftheworkinotherregions

andabouttheworkbeingcarriedoutinSweden.

Theprogrammealsoincludedconversationswith

membersofDiakonia’sBoard(1990§29.2).Since

thenallSwedishpersonnelhavemet,firstlyeve-

ryotheryearandtheneveryyear.Inadditionto

these gatherings, there have been annual meet-

ingsforthemanagersoftheregionaloffices.

Ascountryrepresentatives(whoarenotSwed-

ish)alsoneedtoparticipate in jointmeetings it

wasdecidedthat,from2005onwards,globalthe-

maticmeetingswouldbearrangedandheldinthe

regions. All personnel working with the respec-

tivethemesareinvitedtothese.

Peace PrizeInMay1978,thesfcaCommitteedecidedtoin-

stituteaspecialprizeforworkforreconciliation

anddevelopment.Theprizeaimedtodothefol-

lowing:

�� ��

Per-Arne Aglert left the post of General Secretary in 1�85.

Here he is being thanked by Karl-Axel Elmquist.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

Theprizeisgivenwiththeaimofstrengtheningandcall-

ing attention to high quality work to promote develop-

mentfocusedupon‘helpforself-help’forunder-privileged

groups.(1977/78§163)

Theprizehasbeengivenontenoccasions,mostre-

centlyin1994totheCatholic BishopsConference’s

Commission for Social Work in Guatemala, when

Archbishop Girardi came to Sweden to receive

theprize.

Uponreceivingtheprize,hesaid,”Thefight

against poverty and for peace is an obligatory

servicewhichourchurchmustperform”.55

Alistofthoseawardedtheprizecanbefound

intheappendicesonpage271.

Personnel in SwedenWhen sfca was founded, Karin Nordqvist was

employed[from1963]asadministratorandbook-

keeper,apostthatsheleftin1983.Baptistpastor

SimonÖbergheldthepostofsalariedexecutive

secretaryforthreeyearstotheendofAugust1967.

Birger Davidsson was the Swedish Ecumenical

Council/Swedish Free Church Council’s unpaid

treasurerfrom1952to1980.

AssfcC’sfieldofworkexpandedwiththear-

rivalofSwedishFreeChurchAid,thequestionof

employingafulltimegeneralsecretaryarose(au

1967§8).BaptistpastorPer-ArneAglertwasem-

ployedfrom1September1967assfcc ’sGeneral

Secretaryandheldthepostuntil1985.

In1972thequestionofincreasingthestaffing

aroseagain.TheworkinVietnamwastobebuilt

up, applications to Sida needed to be prepared

bothforBangladeshandtheWestBankandfinal

reports were due for several existing projects, in-

cludingreportsforSwedishRadioAidandSvenska

Journalen.Aprogrammeofficerpostwastherefore

introduced. Leo Liljengren who had previously

beenemployedas campaign secretaryona short-

termbasisfilledthepost.HewassucceededbyLars

FranklininNovember1973(1973§91).

The volume of work grew and in 1974 the

questionofadditionalpersonnelaroseagain.On

thisoccasion,thepostsconcernedandrelatedto

informationforsupportersinSwedenandanad-

ditionalsecretary.Asaresult,OrvarAlinderwas

employedasinformationsecretaryandMargaret

BäckmanasasecretaryinSeptemberofthesame

year(1974§47).Bäckman’sresponsibilitiesalsoin-

cludedpurchasingsocalled’MaterialAid’.Aftera

coupleofyearsAlinder’spositionmovedtosfcC

ashebecameinvolvedinworkforrefugees.Imy-

self filled the post of information secretary in

Septemberof1980(1979/80§276).

In personnel terms 1977 became an important

year.Karl-AxelElmquistwasappointedassfca ’s

ExecutiveSecretary,andMargaretBäckman’spost

changed.Shebecamethefirstregionalsecretary

– for Africa (1977 §47). In the same year, Göran

Jonssonreturnedhomeafteraperiodof service

in Bangladesh and was employed at the office,

firstwithresponsibilityforinformationwork,but

laterasregionalsecretaryforAsiaandtheMiddle

East.LatinAmericagaineditsregionalsecretary

in1980withtheappointmentofAndersKompass

(1980§286).

WhenPer-ArneAglertleftthepostofGene-

ralSecretaryatsfcCin1985,Karl-AxelElmquist

filledit,butlaterleftin1989inordertoworkfull

timeasDiakonia’sDirector(1989§109).Elmquist

retiredin1994andwassucceededbyBoForsberg,

whoatthetimeofwritingstillholdsthepost.The

titleofDirectorwaschangedin2005toGeneral

Secretary.

Unfortunately it is impossible to name all

thosewhohaveworkedandtodayworkatDiako-

nia’sheadoffice.Therehavebeenmany,ascanbe

seenfromthefollowingstatistics.

Number of employees at SFCA/Diakonia’s office

in Sweden

1969 2

1970 4+ 1persononNationalService for conscien-

tiousobjectors(ncso)56

1971 9+1ncso

1984/85 14+1ncso

1989/90 16+4short-termprojectstaff

1994/95 19+4short-termprojectstaff

1999 22

2004 22+1shorttermprojectstaff

2005 26

�8 ��c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

Office Premises When Swedish Free Church Aid was founded,

sfcCrentedanofficefromthestudyassociation

fornon-conformistchurchesinSweden(fs)at15

MälartorgetinStockholm’soldtown.In1972,fs

began building an office in Älvsjö and Swedish

FreeChurchAidwasaskedifitwouldliketorent

officespaceintheproperty.

Intheearly1990sdiscussionsabouttheforma-

tionofaSwedishecumenicalcouncilintensifiedand

the question of sharing an office building arose.

Diakoniawasgiventheopportunitytorentpremis-

esat18LästmakargatanincentralStockholm,whe-

re the Christian Council of Sweden was to have

itsoffices(1993§31a).Themovetowhatcametobe

knownastheEcumenicalCentretookplacein1994.

When the six-year rental contract was rene-

gotiated, the whole Ecumenical Centre was for-

cedtoseeknewpremises.Amovetoofficesat11

Starrbäcksgatan,Sundbybergwastheresult.Diako-

niamovedthereearlyinthesummerof2001.

FinancesThroughouttheyears,thefundamentalprerequisite

forsfca/Diakonia’sworkhasbeenthefundsthat

private individuals, congregations and businesses

have donated and continue to donate. In order

tomakethelargescaleworkpossible,sfca/Diako-

niahastakenitasagiventhat“grantsfromorgani-

sations and state development assistance bodies

shouldonlybeacomplementtoandnotareplace-

mentforprivatedonationsandfundraising.”57The

followingtextistakenfromminutesfrom1972:

“TheOffice”[authorsnote:heremeaningPer-ArneAglert

and Leo Liljengren] considered that funds raised should

bestretchedoutusingfundsfrombothSidaandSwedish

RadioAid(1972§49).

In the discussion paper Faith is Action the ques-

tionofstatefundingwastakenupanditisclear

whatDiakoniaconsiders:

The State is our collective way of organising collective

fundsforcollectiveneedsandtasks.Takingourviewofde-

mocracyasthestartingpoint’thestateisusandours’,there

shouldbenodifferenceinprinciplebetweendevelopment

assistancerunbycivilsocietygroupsandthatrunbythe

state.Civilsocietygroupsarenotbeggarsatthedoorofthe

state,but rightful custodiansof collective resources.The

principleisthatStateandcivilsocietydrivendevelopment

assistancearetwoequallyvaluablepartsofthetotalityof

Swedish development assistance. That state authorities

require monitoring and reporting systems for how their

fundsareuseddoesnotcontradictthisprinciple58.

Sidagave itsfirst grant toSwedishFreeChurch

AidinJune1973,foritsschoolbuildingprojectin

Bangladesh.Thegrantwasfor1.9millioncrowns.

Since then grants from Sida have made up the

majorityofthetotalbudget.Inanswertoworried

voices, who have claimed that sfca/Diakonia

is effectively controlled by Sida through these

grants,theanswerhasalwaysbeenthat“ourown

judgementsandpriorities formthebasis forour

applicationsandourwork”59.

During the 1970s there was a debate about

whetherchurchesshouldacceptstatefundingor

not. This debate never influenced Swedish Free

ChurchAid’sposition.

Financial summary:

Fundraising SidaGrants

1969 501993

1974 2755902 ca4million

1975 2681195 10405000

1984/85 8700000 76710688

1989/90 6842000 155951000

1994/95 8974956 170300000

+7518747crownsworthofgoodssenttoNicaragua

1999 11017373 205049750

2004 12100000 251128000

+ 6.5 million from the Children of the World fundraising

campaign

Sidafundingwasfirstgivenintheformofgrants

to development projects. Swedish Free Church

AidalsoreceivedgrantsfromSida’shumanitarian

fund in connection with support for the libera-

tionstruggleinSouthAfrica.Thesamefundalso

gavemajorgrants towork inSouthandCentral

America. The annual report of 2004 states that

DiakoniareceivedgrantsfromthefollowingSida

departments: Unit for Collaboration with ngos

(seka),HumanitarianAssistance(Hum),Region

Latin America (rela), Democracy and Social

Development(deso),Disaster(Kat),Cultureand

Information(Info).Eachofthesegrantsincludes

apercentagetocoveradministrativecosts.

ThehandlingofSidaapplicationsandreports

has varied considerably over the years. Initially,

each application was handed in separately to

80 81

SFCA /Diakonia has always desired to be well known both

within the denominations and amongst the general

public. This photograph shows Karl-Axel Elmquist being

interviewed on the national news by Pia Brandelius.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

theresponsibledeskofficeratSida.Today(2005)

Diakoniaproducesonestrategicplanfor theen-

tire international work for a three-year period.

TheSwedenDepartmentproducesitsownappli-

cationforInfo.Additionalapplicationsareofcour-

se made when emergencies and disasters occur.

When Sweden joined the eu , hopes were

raisedthatDiakoniamightbeabletoseekgrants

from the eu ’s development assistance funds. In

theannual report toSida for 1998,great frustra-

tion is expressed over the very slow handling of

matters by the eu , which led Diakonia to wait

longperiodsforaresponseandthenonceadeci-

sionhadbeenmade,waitagainforpaymenttobe

made.Thegrantfromtheeuin2004wasonly1.2

millioncrowns.

InadditiontoSidaandeugrants,Diakonia

has in recent years received funding from other

financiers including the Norwegian Association

ofDisabledandmulti-lateralbodies suchas the

UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(undp).

Financial CredibilityThe question of auditing financial statements

from international projects in developing coun-

trieswastakenupintheCommitteeforthefirst

timein1970,inconnectionwithtwofinalreports

fromIndia.Itislikelythattheissuearoseasthe

result of the oft-repeated question of whether

moneycollectedfordevelopingcountriesactually

arrivesatitsintendeddestination.Itwasdecided

to introduce financial statements, audit reports

andthedischargingofliabilityforallinternation-

alprojectsperfinancialyearorwhenaprojectis

concluded(1970§53).

Thankfullyneithersfca norDiakoniahave

fallenfoultoanysignificantfinancialscandals.In

retrospect, the mistakes that were made can be

seenascostlylessonsfortheorganisation.

Themedia’snegativeportrayalofwhathap-

penstodevelopmentassistancefunds,forexample

”Charitydonationsfraud”,”Putcharitymoneyin

ownpocket”(1985/86§15,§122),ledtheCommittee

toraisethequestionoffundraisingethicsandtac-

ticsandtogiveheadofficethetaskofpreparing

proposalsforabroaderplanofactionconcerning

fundraisingfordevelopmentassistance.Diakonia

wasalreadyamemberoftheSwedishFundraising

Council (sfc) at the time. In autumn 1986, the

Swedish Fundraising Council adopted ethical

guidelines for fundraising organisations. These

have sincebeenaltered, as fundraisingmethods

andchannelsarecontinuallychanging.Theaim

is for fundraising to be characterisedby respect,

openness,credibilityandquality59.

In autumn 2004 the Swedish evening newspaper

Aftonbladetpublishedanarticleonthesalariesof

directorswithinthecharitysector.Diakonia’ssala-

rylevelstoodoutasexemplary,beinglessthanhalf

thesalaryofthemosthighlypaiddirectors.60

WhenSwedishFreeChurchAidwasfounded

itsadministrationwaspartoftheoveralladmin-

istration of sfcC. Since becoming an independ-

entorganisationin1993Diakoniahasrecruitedits

ownadministrativepersonnel.

In 2005 the administration department included:1HeadofFinances1 HeadofPersonnel

4 DeskOfficers

–economy

–wagesandaccounting

–projectandaccounting

–IT

1 officeassistant

Care-takingandtelephoneservicesareboughtinfrom

theEcumenicalCentre.

The Sweden DepartmentUntil 1988, one person carried out the informa-

tion work in Sweden. A second person was then

appointed as Diakonia’s magazine Dela med and

othermediarelatedworkrequiredafulltimepost

(1987§18).

In 1978 Zachias, aproject initiatedbypersonnel

in Bangladesh involving purchasing developing

countrygoodsforsaleinSweden(seepageXXX),

resulted in someone being appointed to take re-

sponsibilityforpurchasingandsales.

Exchangeofexperiencebetweenpartnersin

differentpartsoftheworldhasalwaysbeenneces-

saryandasourceofinspiration.In1987thisneed

wastransformedintoaSidafinancedinformation

and evaluation project. Lars-Ove Ljungberg was

appointed (1987/88 §183) and when the project

concluded in 1991, four editions of the journal

Development Mirror61had been published and dis-

tributedtoregionalofficesandpartners.

82 83

The image on the folder and on the pos-

ter printed following the Six Day War in

the Middle East in 1���. Observe that

SFCA had not yet adopted its current logo.

(Diakonia’s archive A2:1)

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

sfca/Diakoniahasalwayssoughttobewellknown

bothwithinthedenominationsandamongstthe

generalpublic.In1992itwasdecidedtointroduce

amarketingpost(1992§82).Thiswasextendedin

1997withtheintroductionofafundraisingpost.

In1994aprojectpostfocusingspecificallyon

youthwascreatedinclosecooperationwiththe

denominationalyouthorganisations.Theproject

wascalled’Ung Gnu’.Theaimwastoenableyoung

peopletomeettodiscussinternationalissues,in

particular human rights and democracy. When

theprojectendedin2000itwasfeltthatthework

hadcreated”agoodbasisforfuturedevelopment

educationworkamongyoungpeople”62.

The need for a programme officer to work

with lobbying and with eu issues was resolved

with the appointment of Magnus Walan, when

hehadfinishedashortterm’leavecover’postat

Diakoniain1995.

In1998thetitlegiventotheworkdoneinSweden

was changed from Information to Sverigearbete,

literallySwedenwork.

TheworkoftheSwedendepartmenthasfo-

cused on the need for more developed strategic

thinkingandbetterdefinedgoals,methodologies,

follow-up, evaluation and continued collabora-

tioninternallyandexternally.63

Gradually, itbecamenecessary tohaveaco-

ordinator for the Sweden Department. A post

wasintroducedin2000withthetitleHeadofthe

SwedenDepartment.

Overtheyears,theSwedenDepartmenthas

had a number of short and longer-term project

postsconnectedtovariouscampaignsandexhibi-

tions.

In spring 2005 the Sweden Department included:

HeadoftheSwedenDepartmenttogetherwith11program-

meofficershavingthefollowingareasofresponsibility:

• Development education and work with congrega-

tional/regionalrepresentatives

• Contactwithcongregations

• Marketingandcampaigns

• Fundraising

• Lobbyingandpublicopinion

• Debt/prs64

• Trade/wto

• PressOfficer

• WebEditor

• A project post for information and lobbying work

relatingtoIsrael/PalestineandDemocraticRepublic

ofCongo.

Information work in Sweden ProvidinginformationtoSwedeshasalwaysbeen

importantforsfca/Diakonia.Inadditiontopro-

vidingfinancialsupporttoIndiaforthedrought

of1966,aninformationfolderwasprintedimme-

diatelyandsenttothecongregations.Likewise,a

folderwasdistributedonrefugeeworkafterthe

SixDayWarin1967.Theextensivedevelopment

educationmaterialsproducedfortheannualcam-

paignsmeantthatwithinjustafewyears,anad-

ditionalworkerwereneededattheoffice.In1974

OrvarAlinderwasemployedonafulltimebasis

asthefirstInformationsecretary.Ifilledthepost

on1September1980.

As sfca/Diakonia is rooted in the member

denominations, their congregations have been

the most important channels for information

materials.Ithasbeenthroughtheiractivitiesthat

thegeneralpublichasmetsfca/Diakonia.Inor-

der to spread information in the most effective

waytheBoarddiscussedtheformationofagroup

ofrepresentatives.

The first time it was suggested that sfca

should have regional structures within Sweden

was aspartof the in-depth studycarriedout in

1974(1974§47).AspartoftheRefugee 86campaign,

a network of local representatives from partici-

patingorganisationswasformed.Thoseinvolved

in the network continued to receive informa-

tionfromtheofficeinÄlvsjöafterthecampaign.

However,onlyin1992(1992§11)wasitwasagreed

thatDiakoniaandthedenominationswouldwrite

84 85

One of the spring campaigns that received the

most coverage was the one in 1��� on the theme

”Stop Aid to Sweden” (Diakonia’s archive B1B)

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

tothecongregationsandchallengethemtoelect

alocalrepresentativeforDiakonia.

It was primarily mccs and bus congrega-

tions that responded and registered representa-

tives.Theclosecooperationoftheotherdenomi-

nationswithBröd till Bröderand/orErikshjälpen

meant that their congregations decided not to

elect representatives. At the time of writing in

2005thereareroughly500namesintheregister

ofcongregationalrepresentatives.Therearealso

aroundsixtyso-calledPartner Congregations.The

SwedenDepartmenthasclosercooperationwith

theseandtheyarepartofanactivenetworkfor

developmenteducationandcampaigns.

Inadditiontocongregationalrepresentatives

there are around twenty regional representatives

around the country. They are responsible for ar-

ranging regional educational events and repre-

sentativesmeetings.

Theabsolutebestwaytoeducatecommitted

people about Diakonia’s work is through study

visitsandmanyofthesehavebeenarrangedover

theyears.TheBoard,churchleaders,women,con-

gregational/regional representatives, pastors and

farmers are among the groups to have been in-

vited toparticipate in thesevisits.Thesegroups

have visited one of the regions where Diakonia

supportspartners.Theprogrammeshave includ-

edvisitstoanumberofpartnersthathaveshared

theirsituationandpresentedtheirwork.”Itisen-

countersthatwon’tletgoofyou,longafteryou

havereturnedtoSweden.Imagineifwecouldbe

thisprophetic,thisconcrete,takethegospelthis

seriously”. So said one participant, ransacking

himselfafteroneofthemanyvisits.65Information

and knowledge from the visits are passed on to

others.Statistics showthateachparticipanthas

spokenabouttheirvisiton7-28occasionsandto

1000-1500listenerseach.66

Itwasinconnectionwithavisitforcongre-

gational representatives to Burma in 1997 that

Diakonia began working with journalist Petter

Karlsson and photographer Robban Andersson.

Since then they have regularly visited Diakonia

partners, contributing materials to Diakonia’s

publications and the People Changing the World

exhibition.

Anothertypeofknowledgeandinformation

sharinghasbeenwhenforeignguests,exhibitions

orpersonnelhavevisitedcongregationsandtheir

visitors,schoolsandotherinstitutions.

Song is a weapon that sfca/Diakonia has

oftenused.Manyartistshavebeeninvolvedover

the years. Tomas Boström, Börge Ring, Ingemar

Olsson, Edu Bumba and Ingemar Johansson are

justa fewof those thathavegoneonshortand

longtoursaroundSweden.AfteravisittoLatin

America Tomas Boström wrote the musical The

journey to La Paz.67

In 1987 Diakonia gave a grant to the youth

choir of Johanneberg Church, Gothenburg for

their visit to Nicaragua. The visit inspired work

onboththeNicaraguanandSalvadorianFarmers’

Mass,whichhassincebeensungbymanychoirs

inSweden.Thelyricscreateanunderstandingof

the situation in these deeply scarred countries.

TheyouthchoirofImmanuelChurch,Stockholm

wasgivenagrantin2002totraveltoSouthAfrica.

This choir also shared information about work

supportedbyDiakoniainSouthAfrica.

On two occasions, Diakonia has arranged

concerts in Stockholm’s Concert Hall. The first

occasion was in 1991, for the organisation’s 25th

anniversary,andthesecondwasin1994whendi-

rectorKarl-AxelElmquistretired.Oneofthepar-

ticipants to travel furthestwasSusanFernandez

from the Philippines, who participated in the

concertin1994.

The Spring CampaignsAsallofthedenominationshavetheirownannual

fundraising campaigns for various purposes, the

Committeedidnotjointlysetasideanyattractive

8� 8�

One result of cooperation with

the Gothia Cup was that girls

in Burkina Faso started playing

football.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

dates for fundraising for sfca/Diakonia. In the

earlyyearsthecampaigntookplaceintwoweeks

inMayandinrecentyearstheyhavebeenovertwo

weeksattheendofApril/beginningofMay.The

Committee/Board has chosen dates and themes

for the campaigns. During the campaigns sfca/

Diakoniahashadafreehandtosendinformation

andappealsforfundstobothcongregationsand

thedenominationalmagazines/newspapers.

Thespringcampaignsof1997-2002werecar-

riedoutinclosecooperationwiththedenomina-

tions,bothintermsofplanninginformationma-

terialsandactivitiesandintermsofsharingfunds

betweenthosearrangingtheactivities.

Dela medInordertokeepdonorsinformedabouthowthe

money isbeingusedsfcabeganpublishingthe

informationsheetDela med, whichmeans’share’.

Thefirstissuewaspublishedin1980anddistrib-

utedfreeofcharge,asitstillis,tothosewhohave

madeadonation.Dela med continuestobeavery

important channel for information and inspira-

tion.ItfocusesondevelopmentsinDiakoniasup-

portedprojectsaroundtheworld,andoneducat-

ing and sharing Diakonia’s standpoint on major

internationalissuesofsocialjustice.

Foranumberofyearsinthemid1980s,Diakonia

cooperated with the free church pensioners’ or-

ganisation,rpg ,anditsmagazine.Sincethe1990s

DiakoniahascooperatedwiththemagazineTrots

Allt.

FundraisingTheheartofsfca/Diakonia’sfinanceshasalways

beendonationsfromthepublic.Theresponseto

appealsforfundswasgreatrightfromthebegin-

ning. A large number of congregations and in-

dividualshave showntheir faith in theworkby

givingregularlyintheformofcollections,direct

debitsandpostalorders.

However,itmustbesaidthattherehavebeen

concerns about fundraising in some years when

thebudgetedamountshavenotbeenreached.

Inspring1988theinternationalgroupinSköv-

de Mission Covenant Church suggested that the

denominations should include an offering enve-

lopeforDiakoniatogetherwiththeirownoffering

envelopes.Theproposalwasrejected(1988§178).

Congratulatory and memorial gifts have

brought in large amounts each year. For many

yearstheletterofthanksforsuchgiftsboreanil-

lustrationpaintedbytheartistGideonEriksson.

Cooperation with Swedish Radio AidSince1968,grantsfromSwedishRadioAidhave

providedanincomethatisalmosttakenforgrant-

edbysfca/Diakonia.Grantshavebeengivento

projects around the world linked to a wide vari-

etyofthemes.Thelongestrunningcampaignhas

beentheVärldensBarn(ChildrenoftheWorld)

campaign,whichstartedin1997andconcludesin

2006.

Cooperation with the Gothia Cup and otherssfca/Diakonia has also cooperated with other

organisations, resulting in the distribution of in-

formationmaterialsandinthereceiptofvarying

proportions of funds raised. The Gothia Cup, a

bigfootballtournamentforyoungpeopleheldin

Gothenburg, has been one of these. Money con-

tributedbyparticipantsintheGothiaCupenabled

afootballprojecttobestartedupinOuagadougou,

thecapitalcityofBurkinaFaso.

88 8�

Imagine being invited to dinner by someone on

the other side of the world. Marit Paulsen gives

this message in the foreword to TH E WORLD´S

KITCH EN cookbook. It was published in connec-

tion with the spring campaign of 1��4, which

took the theme Shared Bread, Renewed Life.

(Diakonia’s archive B1B)

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

ExhibitionsSincetheorganisation’sformationtouringexhibi-

tionshavebeenusedasonewayofraisingaware-

ness about work supported by sfca/Diakonia

aroundtheworld.

ThebiggestexhibitionwasCome along to Banbazar,

anexhibitionwhichwasproducedtogetherwith

fs .ABengalivillagewasbuiltupwithalifesize

hut as the biggest eye catcher. Read more about

thisonpage126.

At the well wasanotherbigexhibition,which

wasdisplayedinmanyplacesaroundthecountry

overaneight-yearperiodinthe1990s.Amongst

other places, it was displayed at denomination-

al conferences and four different Kvinnor Kan

(Women can) exhibitions. Through the exhibi-

tion Diakonia wanted to highlight the situation

ofwomenaroundtheworld.

See the world as it iswasanon-screenexhibi-

tioninwhichthevisitorwasabletomeetthree

peoplewhoeachrepresentedaDiakoniasupport-

edproject.

People changing the world isthemostrecently

producedexhibition.Itisaphotographicexhibition

usingmaterialfromphotographerRobbanAnders-

son and text by journalist Petter Karlsson. The

exhibitionwasondisplayforovertwomonthsat

theMuseumofEthnographyinStockholmin2004.

Development Education sfca/Diakonia has always sought to be a chan-

nel for participative, informative development

educationmaterials.Thishasperhapsbeenmost

clearlyvisiblewhencommittedlocalpeoplehave

usedmaterial fromsfca/Diakonia in studyand

discussiongroupsinorder,ifpossible,torelateit

totheirownday-to-daylives.

Walter Persson described14 how study visits

begantobearrangedtopartsoftheworldwhere

sfca/Diakonia were providing support through

closecooperationwithfsanditsrectorHerman

Holmgren. ”Through these visits we could cel-

ebrateeachotherswork, see things in the same

lightanddeepenourcooperation.”

Muchofthedevelopmenteducationworkhas

takenplacethroughcooperationwithfs/theedu-

cational association Bilda. The most recent pro-

ject called Glokalforum aimed to increase aware-

ness,knowledgeandcommitmenttoamorejust

worldthroughstudycircles, lectures,debateeve-

ningsandvariouskindsofcampaigningactivities.68

Publications Even if sfca/Diakonia hadn’t been involved in

sales,itstillhasreleasedanumberofpublications.

Themostwellknownarethewallanddeskcalen-

darswhich,since1984,havebeenimportedfrom

theEnglishpublishers,NewInternationalist.

Another much appreciated publication was

thecookbookVärldens Kök(The World’s Kitchen),

that was published for the spring campaign of

1994.IthadthethemeShared Bread,Renewed Life.

Staffattheregionalofficesprovidedrecipesfrom

theirrespectiveregions.Photosandtextfromthe

bookwereturnedintoanexhibitiondisplayedat

theMuseumofEthnographyinStockholm,inthe

summerof1995.

Anumberofbookshavebeenproducedover

theyears.Thepublicationshavechiefly focused

onatopicalsituationinacountryorintheworld,

orontellingthestoriesofseveralpeople’slives.

Filmsandslideshowshavealsobeenkeyprod-

uctsforsharinginformationandcreatingaware-

nessaboutsituationsintheworldandforgiving

insights into how support from sfca/Diakonia

hascontributedtochange.

Lobbying and public opinion sfca Aid hadn’t been in existence long before

theorganisationstartedtogetinvolvedinissues

of social justice. At Christmas 1969, Swedish

Free Church Aid participated in the Alternative

Christmas campaignand the springcampaignof

�0 �1

In early July 2005 the leaders of the world’s rich countries

gathered and in the run up to their G8 meeting Diakonia

and many other organisations around the world got in-

volved in the Make poverty history!-campaign.

c h a p t e r 2 o r g a n i s a t i o n

1977titledStop Aid to Swedenreceivedagreatdeal

ofcoverageandpublicattention.

Thecampaignfor1%ofGrossNationalPro-

duct(gnp)tobegiventodevelopmentassistance

has been part of the organisation’s agenda since

1966, when sfca got involved, together with a

number of other organisations. Since then there

hasbeenonecampaignafteranotherfor1percent.

Andperhapsnowthetargetiswithinsight,asthe

governmenthasdeclareditselfabletosetaside1per-

centofgnifordevelopmentassistancein2006.

sfca/Diakoniahasalsobeenveryactiveon

campaigns for public awareness of the situation

andsocietiessystematicallyviolatingthehuman

rightsincountriessuchasSouthAfrica,Vietnam,

Chile,Afghanistan,Iraq,Palestine,Burma,Demo-

craticRepublicofCongoandColombia-toname

justafew.

Muchofthelobbyingandworktoinfluence

public opinion carried out in recent years has

taken place in cooperation with other national

and international organisations. For example,

Diakonia played a leading role in Sweden in op-

posingtherichcountriesofoecd inrelationto

their stand on the Multilateral Agreement on

Investment(thesocalledMAI process)in1988.An

agreementsuchasthiswouldhavehaddevastat-

ing consequences for issues of democracy and

development. The international campaign suc-

ceededinstoppingtheagreement.

Jubilee 2000 was another international cam-

paign that Diakonia participated in, this time

for the cancellation of poor countries’ debts.

The campaign developed into an international

organisationwithbranchesthroughouttheworld.

Diakoniawasoneoftheorganisationswhopartic-

ipatedingatheringnamesforthepetitionhanded

to theG8countriesat theirmeeting in 1999,as

thenewmillenniumapproached.

ConclusionThechallengeofreachingthepoorestofthepoor,

regardless of their religious or political convic-

tions has characterised sfca/Diakonia’s work

fromitsformationtothepresentday.Thebasic

approachhasalwaysbeentopromotea ’bottom-

up’perspectiveondevelopment.Thoseimplement-

ingtheprogrammesandprojectshavealwaysbeen

local organisations that understand local condi-

tions, organisations that allow people to partici-

pateandinfluencetheshapeofthework.sfca/

Diakonia quickly realised the importance of fol-

lowingwithdevelopmentsinthecountrieswhere

programmes are in place through a relationship

to partners characterised by an ability to listen,

flexibilityandhumility.Despitethemajorexpan-

sionthathastakenplaceintheorganisation,this

approachtotheworkremainsintact.

sfca/Diakoniahas,throughitsinformation,

lobbying and development education work in

Sweden been a strong Christian voice in public

debate.

�3

chapter 3

Bangladesh

many natural disasters willfindaplaceinworldhistory.Duringsfca/Diako-

nia’stimetwosuchdisastershavetakenplaceintheIndianOceanandtheBayof

Bengal.The tsunami thathiton the26 December2004wasone.Theother took

placeon12November1970whenthecoastalareasofEastPakistanweresweptbya

terriblefloodwave.sfca/Diakoniahasbeenveryactiveinreconstructionworkfol-

lowingbothofthesecatastrophes.InEastPakistanwewerepartofbuildingwhatin

1971becameanewcountry-Bangladesh.

WhentheCommitteeofsfca(henceforthreferredtoastheCommittee)met

justoveraweekafterthenaturaldisasterhitEastPakistanin1970,thedisasterwas

ofcourseontheagenda.Per-ArneAglerthadcontactedtheNorwegianorganisation

formissiontotheSantalpeople69,whichwasworkinginthearea. Itwasdecided

toplace200,000crownsattheirdisposalimmediately.Inadditionitwasagreedto

sendoutapressreleaseandanappealtoallfreechurchcongregationsaskingthem

tocollectmoneyforEastPakistanduringservicesontheSundaybeforeadvent(1970

§80).

�4 �5c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

How Bangladesh was formedIn1970thecountryofBangladeshdidnotexist.It

wasthenapartofPakistan.Amapfromthetime

shows how strange the geography of Pakistan

was: a country located in two completely sepa-

rateparts,WestandEast,withadistanceofmore

than1500kilometresbetweenthetwo.Intermsof

populationsizethetwoareaswereroughlyequal.

Howeverthereweremajoreconomicandcultural

differences.Alldevelopmentworthyofthename

had taken place in the West. The East had raw

materialsbutindustrieswerebuiltintheWest,as

wastheentiremilitarypowerbase.EastPakistan

received only a fraction of the international de-

velopmentassistancetoPakistan.

Thebasisforthedivisionwasreligious.Con-

flictsbeganasearlyasthe13thcenturywhenIslam

becameestablishedintheregion.ThispartofAsia

was then Hindu and the newly arrived Muslims

were not accepted by the Hindu population. In

1947thecrowncolonyofIndiawasdividedintoan

Indianstate,withanoverwhelmingHindumajor-

ity, andaPakistani statewithaMuslimmajority.

Thedivisionofthecountryinvolveddividingthe

stateofBengal,asbothHindusandMuslimslived

there.WestBengalwithaprimarilyHindupopu-

lationbecamepartofIndiaandEastBengalwith

itsMuslimmajoritybecamepartofPakistan–and

becameEastPakistan.

Another important historical fact is that

European influence over this part of Asia began

in1498whenVascodeGamaarrivedinIndiaand

began trade between Europe and India. Private

EastIndiacompanieswereestablishedinthe17th

CenturyinGreatBritain,HollandandFrance.(An

EastIndiacompanywasalsoformedinSwedenin

1731.)Duringthe18thcenturytheBritishsucceeded

inclaimingexclusivetradingrightsandtheBritish

EastIndiaCompanybeganthemercilessexploita-

tionoftheIndianpopulationandofthecountry’s

naturalresources.Thiscontinueduntil1858when

theBritishgovernmenttookcontrolfromtheEast

IndiaCompany.From1877thecountrywascalleda

imperialpower.Botheconomicallyandculturally

IndiabecamemorecloselytiedwithGreatBritain.

By aligning themselves with the major landown-

ers,whoamongstotherthingsgainedthefunction

oftaxcollectors,theBritishlaidthefoundations

fortheunequaldivisionoflandthatexistsinrural

Indiatothisday.70

A third important aspect of the historical

backgroundistheChristianmissiontotheregion.

Accordingtooraltradition,Jesus’discipleThomas

travelledtoIndiaandfoundedthefirstChristian

churchinthecountry.AtthetimeofSwedishFree

ChurchAid’sformation,fiveSwedishfreechurch-

eshadmissionwork in India.Thusanetworkof

churchesandcontactpeoplewerealreadyinplace.

Work begins 1966Thefirstgrantsweregiventotheregion incon-

nectionwiththeseveredroughtinIndiain1966

[whichpromptedtheformationofsfca].Ofthe

largeamountsraisedforthedisaster,theÖrebro

Mission was allocated a grant of 125,000 crowns

foritsworkinUttarPradeshandWestBengal.

öm ’s missionary Jean Malm described the

positiveresultsofthegrant:

I don’t have any statistics on how many people have

received food and help yet, but it is many thousands.

Ploughingandotherworkwillcontinueusingthetractor

and its equipment. Those who receive help will pay the

runningcosts.Thesameappliestothepumps.Wealsobe-

lievethattheboreholesandwellswillgiveresults.

Wehavenotyetcompletedthepurchaseoftheland

inBarhajwhereweaimtohaveanurseryforriceandother

plantstoimprovefarming.RectorPDayalinBarhajisan

Terrible disasters in the region have

always hit the already poor popula-

tion very hard.

�� ��c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

agronomist.BothheandEmmanuelGunnarareinterested

indeveloping‘helpforself-help’forpoorvillagefarmers.

MaytheLordblessthegiftsfromSwedenandourefforts

tochannelthem.71

Thishopefuldevelopmentintheregionwascom-

pletelydestroyedinOctober1968whenanother

disasterhitnorthernBengal.

Overathousandpeoplearefearedtohavediedintheter-

rible floods and landslides caused by the violent rain in

Northern Bengal over the last five days, according to re-

ports reachingNewDelhionMonday.Anareaof 18000

square kilometres, bordered by Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan

andEastPakistaniscompletelyseparatedfromtherestof

Indiabythemassofwater.72

Through öm ’s representative in the Committee,

sfca came into contact with the organisation

Cooch Behar Refugee Service, cbrs , in theCooch

Behar region of northern West Bengal. Its coor-

dinator was Norwegian missionary doctor Olav

Hodne who had been responsible for the cbrs

project since 1967, on behalf of the Lutheran

World Federation. He received his salary from

Women’s Mission Workers (wmw) in Sweden.

sfca received an application which stated that

wmw ’s mission had “been given the task of as-

sistingintherescueandreconstructionworkthat

wasunderway“bytheauthoritiesinCoochBehar.

Hodne led this work. The Committee agreed to

aninitialgrantof30,000crownsforprojectsfor

thedroughtstrickenareas(1968§31,andappendix

to1971§49).

When the Committee met in September

1970, a final report from Olav Hodne was pre-

sented.Forty-sevenfamilieshadreceivedhouses,

land,waterpumps,apairofoxenandaplough.In

addition,therehadbeenenoughmoneytobuild

a handicraft and workshop centre in Khadi for

28womenandforotherhandicraftworkerswho

received‘helpforself-help’intheformofequip-

mentgrants(1970§46).

Tidal WaveOnthe12November1970thefivecoastaldistricts

of Chittagong, Noakhali, Bakerganj, Patuakhali

andKhurnainEastPakistanweredevastatedbya

terriblecyclone.Thetidalwavewasapproximate-

ly9metreshighandreachedaspeedof200km/

hour.73 Approximately400,000peopledrownedin

thewaters.

The Committee decided to send out an ap-

pealtolocalcongregations,containingthefollow-

ingtext:

TheconsequencesofthedreadfulnaturaldisasterinEast

Pakistan cannot yet be fully seen. However, everything

points to it having been the largest natural disaster to

hittheworldinmoderntimes.Afterthedevastatingand

deadlytidalwave,anenormouswaveofhelpisnowneed-

ed.WebelievethatallthefreechurchpeopleofSweden

andallthosewhogatherwiththematservicesonSunday

willwanttotakepartingivingabiggiftthroughanextra

collection, additional to the previously advertised collec-

tionforsfca .

Maythemessageofthegospel,“Iwashungry,thirsty,

homeless,nakedandsick”receiveapracticalanswerfrom

allofSweden’sfreechurches,inatidalwaveofhelptoEast

Pakistan.74

Theresponsetotheappealwashuge(1971§12).

Political Unrest TheterribletidalwaveinEastPakistanrevealed

thecentralgovernmentsunwillingnessandinabil-

itytohelp.Widespreadpublicunrestforcedthe

government toannounce thecountry’sfirst free

election,whichtookplaceinJanuary1971.InEast

Pakistan, theNationalAwamiPartywona land-

slidevictory,andwithitseatsinparliament.Their

manifesto included the demand for self-rule for

EastPakistan,whichpoliticiansinWestPakistan

ledbyZulfikarAliBhutto,refusedtoaccept.West

Pakistanitroopswereputintoactionagainstthe

opposition in East Pakistan. The leader of the

AwamiParty,SheikMujiburRahman,wastaken

prisonerinMarch1971.

TheCoochBehardistrictofIndiabecamea

destinationforrefugeesfromEastPakistanafter

theterriblefloodingof1968.Thepopulationdou-

bledto1.4million.Therefugeeslivedinextreme-

lydifficultconditions.Thenewflowofrefugees

fleeing the civil war in 1971 naturally made this

situationworse.Missionary,EvertErikssonoföm

wrote:“tospeakofhoardsinthiscontextismis-

leadingintheextreme,therearemillionsofpeo-

plewhohavefledfromEastPakistanandabout

10,000morearriveeachday.75

Thewarcontinuedandforced10to12million

people intoflee to India.Whenthegovernment

of India failed to engage the un and superpow-

ersintheconflict,Indiadecidedtojointhewar

itself.IndiaattackedPakistanonthe3December

1971 and after three weeks of conflict the fight-

ingpartiescametoasettlementandannounced

theformationofthestateofBangladesh.Mujibur

Rahman was released and became the country’s

firstpresident.

�8 ��c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

Cooperation on a Children’s Home As part of its support to stricken East Pakistan,

ömsuggestedthatsfcashouldinitiatedialogue

withErikshjälpen,pmu andtheNorwegianSantal

Missionwithregardstobuildingachildren’shome

for around 200 orphans on the island of Bohla,

oneofthelargestislandsinthedeltaformedby

theriversBramaputra,GangesandMegnah.The

Committeeagreedtothesuggestion(1971§30).

Theaimoftheprojectwastohelpandreha-

bilitate children who had been orphaned by the

tidalwave.Theworkwastobeofapurelyhumani-

tariannature.Aspecialsub-committeewasformed

by the three Swedish organisations and a leader-

shipgroupwasinplaceinEastPakistantoleadthe

workitself.

When construction work was completed

in 1975and theprojectwasupand running the

Committeedecided towithdrawfromthecoop-

eration.

Refugee 71 Awareness of the terrible situation facing refu-

gees around the world led not only free church

peopletoact.ToitsmeetinginJanuary1971,sfca

receivedaninvitationfrom

SwedishRadioAidtoparticipateinajointNordic

fundraising campaign on 25 April 1971, called

Refugee71(1971§17).

The lead agencies were the Red Cross, Save

theChildrenSweden,ChurchofSwedenAidand

SwedishRadioAid.Flykting 71hadalreadybeen

promisedthenationwidecollectionfromChurch

of Sweden congregations. Even the Pentecostal

movement’spreachers’meetingexpressedsupport

foranextracollectioninPentecostalchurcheson

thesameday.

The Committee decided to accept the invi-

tationandtosendanappealtoallfreechurches

asking them to participate in the fundraising

campaign.Intheminutes it isnotedthat itwas

considered important that member denomina-

tions,viatheirmissionsecretariesinvestigatethe

possibility of submitting refugee projects. Olav

HodneinIndiawasalsotobecontacted.

AsthesfcaCommitteeexpectedamajorre-

sponsetothefundraisingcampaign,itwasdecid-

edtocancelthesfcafundraisingcampaignsetto

takeplacefrom21–31Maythesameyear(1971§18).

Thecalltoactionsentoutbythecampaignlead-

ershipsaid,amongstotherthings:

Many of the revolutionary events that have taken place

around the world over the last few years have been fol-

lowedbymajorflowsofrefugees.De-colonialisation,the

demand for self-rule and the struggle for independence

have,togetherwithpoliticaltensionsinmanyofthenew

states,resultedinacontinualriseinthenumberofrefu-

gees,particularlyinAfricaandAsia.

Itisestimatedthatover15millionpeopleareliving

asrefugeesintheworldtoday.Behindthenumbersarein-

dividualswhoneedfood,clothes,homesandmedicalcare,

butnotleastneedtofeelacceptedinthecountryinwhich

theyhavesoughtasylum.76

Theresponsetothechallengewastremendous.At

theCommitteemeeting inMay itwas reported

thatthefreechurchcongregationstogetherhad

probably collected in around 1.2 million crowns

(1971 §66). An application was sent to Swedish

RadioAidfor940,000crowns.77 sfcawasallocated

977,500crowns–morethanappliedfor.Amongst

otherthingsthegrantincludedanamountof112

500crownsforthereconstructionofBurhanuddin

village on Bhola and 300 000 crowns for cbrs ,

India.

Those responsible for planning the projects in Bangladesh. From the left: Leo Liljengren, Grace Marstorp, Per-Arne Aglert

and Bengt Sundberg.

100 101c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

First Sida application turned downsfcasentitsfirstapplicationtoSidainSeptember

1971. The application related to work with refu-

geesfromEastPakistanintheCoochBeharand

JalpaiguridistrictsofIndia,andwasforanamount

of2,700,000crowns.Theapplicationwasturned

down.

The Committee heard of its rejection with

regret.Thefollowingnoteisfoundintheminutes:

PS.Theapplicationincludedreferencetoaquestionthat

member of parliament, Birger Möller from Gothenburg,

hadplacedtotheForeignMinisterinrelationtorefugees

from East Pakistan. The answer had been that the gov-

ernment was prepared to provide major support to East

Pakistanirefugees.

AndersFosse,HeadoftheDepartmentofHuma-

nitarianAssistanceatSidagavethefollowingre-

plytotheapplication:

His Majesty has to date empowered Sida to allocate 26

millioncrownsingrantstowardsworkwithEastPakistani

refugees by Swedish ngos and the United Nations. Of

these, 2.5 million crowns have been paid in grants to

Swedishngos,includingsupportforworkundertakenby

TheCoochBeharRefugeeService(cbrs)(thoughnotvia

SwedishFreeChurchAid).

The remaining amount of 23.5 million crowns has been

paidasagranttotheunhcr ’sworkamongtherefugees.

Swedenhas judged it tobe important to strengthen the

un ’sfinancialandadministrativecapacitytoact ininter-

nationaldisastersituations.

There is currently no possibility of allocating addi-

tional fundstodisaster relief fromSida’s fundingframe-

workforbilateraldevelopmentcooperation.Sidaisthere-

foreunabletoapproveSwedishFreeChurchAid’sapplica-

tionforfundingtowardsdisasterrelief.(1971§82)

Strong public concern over the difficult situ-

ation in the newly formed country continued.

Informative articles appeared in both the gen-

eralandfreechurchpress.Thisconcern ledthe

CommitteetosuggesttoSFCCthatitshouldchal-

lengelocalcongregationstocollectblanketsand

moneyforEastPakistanonSunday14November,

inadditiontothebigfundraisingappealalready

carriedoutinspring1971.Theimportanceofcol-

lectingblanketswasmadeclearintheappealsent

tocongregations,whichexplainedthat refugees

often arrived with few possessions and almost

never more clothes than those they were wear-

ing.TheCommitteealsofeltthatacollectionof

thisnaturewould“giverisetoasenseofpersonal

involvementinthisworlddisaster,whichinthis

context is not an unimportant matter”78. 5,000

blanketsweredonated.

First personnel placed abroadExtensiveaidworkcontinued,withmajorfinancial

supportforbothemergencyreliefandreconstruc-

tion.Astimewentonthelargescaleofthework

and uncertainty about how the projects should

bedesignedledtheCommitteetodecidetopost

volunteers in Bangladesh. Bengt and Sol-Britt

SundbergwereappointedinMay1972foroneyear,

onavolunteergrantfromöm.Theirtaskincluded

carryingoutreconnaissanceworkinBangladesh.

In his first report to the Committee Bengt

Sundbergwrote,amongstotherthings:

OnmytravelsIhaveseenatleastsomeofthedevastation,

burnedvillagesandblownupbridges.Ihaveseenhungry

adultsandchildrenstandingenmasse,queuingtoreceive

afoodration.Ihaveseenmassesofpeoplewhohavelived

asrefugeesduringthewararriveinthecapital,Dhaka,and

campthereafterhavingcomehometofindtheirvillages

lootedandburntdown.

Theneedsareenormous.Indeedtheyaresobigthat

onedoesnotknowwheretobegin.Themostacuteneeds

are for transport systems to be built, for burnt and de-

stroyedvillagestoberebuilt,forthedistributionoffood

tostarvingpeople,andforcaretobeprovidedforchildren

whoroamaroundwithoutknowingwhethertheirparents

andrelativesaredeadorwithoutknowingwheretheyare

(it is estimated that there are approximately 1.5 million

suchchildren)(1972§30).

The needs for help in the coun-

try were enormous, not least

amongst women and children.

102 103c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

In his second report Bengt Sundberg wrote the

following:

What I think that we should in the first place focus on

is thebuildingof the35 schools. Ihave spokentoSida’s

educationexpertandhethoughtthattheywouldbeable

togetinvolvedinfundingit.

PSIjustspokewithWiklundatSida.Hesaysthatthe

schoolsmustberecognisedbythegovernmentbeforeSida

canagreetofunding.Iwilltrytogetthemtomovequickly

onrecognisingtheschools(1972§98).

BeforetheCommitteemeetingof6June1972,a

letter arrived from Olav Hodne in which he in-

formedtheCommitteethathewouldnolongerbe

leadingcbrs .HesuggestedthatBengtSundberg

take over leadership of the Oodlabari project

within the scope of öm ’s work. He also warmly

recommended cooperation between sfca , the

Australian Baptist Missionary Society and the

Americanorganisationcare(1972§43).

The School Building Project Takes ShapeThepartnershipthatsfcaenteredintowiththe

AustralianBaptistMissionarySocietyin1972was

thestartofawholenewpieceofwork.Itwasalso

thebeginningofclosecooperationwithSida.

project.Theplanningandthenimplementationof

theschoolprojecttookplaceinclosecooperation

withtherelevantauthoritiesandwithSidaperson-

nelinBangladesh.

The application sent to Sida requested 1.75

millioncrownsplusthreevolunteersalaries.The

application,amongstotherthings,states:

It is urgent that this neglected region (Mymensingh) of

Bangladesh be provided with the necessary school build-

ingsinorderforteachingtoreachthestandardheldinthe

educationalsystemintherestofthecountry.Duringthe

civilwarin1971,thepeopleofthisborderareafledtoIndia.

Primaryandjuniorhighschoolbuildingsandtheprimary

teacherstraininginstitutewereusedasabaseandforstor-

agebythePakistaniarmy.Whentheylefttheregionthe

buildingswereburntdownordestroyedinotherways.

Thepopulationoftheprojectareaconsistsprimarily

ofindigenouspeoples,namelytheGaroandHajongpeoples,

andthemajorityMuslimpeople.Theschoolsandteacher-

training institute serve students from all of these popula-

tiongroups.Thebuildingoftheseschoolbuildingstogether

withadequateequipmentwillnotonlyfulfil the immedi-

ateneedforstudentstobeabletomovefromlearningin

theopenairandtemporarybuildingstoproperclassrooms

butwillalsogivethestudentsinthisdeprivedareatheop-

portunitytoattendschoolinsignificantlybetterconditions

thanbeforethewar.Aschildrenreceivecommoneducation,

The Australian Mission had begun its work

amongst the indigenous Garo people of East

Bengal at thebeginningof the20thCentury.As

therewerenoschoolsintheareaatthetimeand

thepopulationlackededucation,theMissionfo-

cused on school building and education. When

sfca came into contact with the Mission, the

GaroBaptistChurchwas responsible for admin-

isteringtheworkwithschools,butneededagreat

dealofexternalfinancialsupport.

Itwas reported to themeetingof June 1972

thataround1millioncrownshadbeenraisedfor

Bangladesh.But ifsfcaweretodecidetostarta

school building programme more money would

be needed. ‘The office’ [here meaning Per-Arne

Aglert and Leo Liljengren] felt that these own

funds shouldbestretchedoutusinggrants from

bothSidaandSwedishRadioAid.Theoffice, in

collaborationwithBengtSundberg,wasgiventhe

taskofdrawingupalong-termplanforsupportto

Bangladeshand,usingtheplanasabasis,ofpre-

paringfundingapplications(1972§49).InFebruary

1973theCommitteefinallydecidedtoenterintoa

schoolbuildingprojecttogetherwithGaroBaptist

UnioninMymensinghDistrict(1973§13).

Liljengren visited Bangladesh and the Sund-

bergsanddrewtogetherthedocumentsandinfor-

mationnecessaryforaneventual schoolbuilding

A school building project was started

together with Garo Baptist Union in

Mymensingh district.

104 105c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

many of the social, cultural and economic problems ines-

capableinthelimitedvillageenvironmentoftheirparent’s

generation,willbeeliminated.Allchildrenwithinthere-

gionwillhaveequalaccesstotheplannedschools.79

LeoLiljengrendescribedtheworkofprepar-

ingtheapplicationasfollows:

IhadmadegoodcontactwithSidaandIwastowritean

application.Ipreparedit.12copiesweretobehandedin

andItookthe12folderstothedeskofficerresponsiblefor

the decision. Comparing that application with applica-

tionstoday,itwasthin.ButIhadputtogetherallthein-

formationIcouldget.Wehadnoexperiencetobuildupon.

Themissionhadexperience,butwehadlittleotherexpe-

rience.IcanrememberthereactionatSida.Whenshehad

writtentheofficialresponse,onthecopyformeshewrote,

“Leo,areyouhappynow?”Iwasprobablypushy;Iwason

theirbacks. I thoughtwecouldachieve something -but

allIhadwasanidea,avision.Iwasnotechnician.Irelied

uponothersbeingabletodotheirjob.80

The first Sida grant approvedConcerningSida’shandlingoftheapplication,it

wasreportedtotheCommitteethattheGeneral

Director for Sida, Ernst Michanek81, had author-

isedthemanageroftheeducationdepartmentto

gatheragroupofexpertstopreparesuggestions

onthesizeofgranttobeallocatedandthenumber

ofvolunteersneededfortheschoolproject.The

expertgroupwas to includea representativefor

sfca (1973§92).

Sida decided to allocate 1.9 million crowns.

Thiswas thefirstSidagrant thatsfca received.

Thegrantwasfortheconstructionandequipping

of29primaryschools,sixsecondaryschools,one

rectorshouseandthesalariesofthreevolunteers

fortwoyears.

Abuildingcommitteewassetup,reportingto

theGaroBaptistUnionsEducationalBoard.The

Committee was to include representatives from

both sfca and from the Bengali school authori-

ties. sfca was to place a project leader, project

secretary and building manager at the projects

disposal.Otherpersonnelforadministrationand

production were to be recruited from the local

population.

WhenBengtSundberglefthispostintheaut-

umnof1973,LeoLiljengrenwasappointedproject

leader.Asithadpreviouslybeendecidedthatsfca

would not have personnel costs for employees

abroad, Liljengren was paid by mccs. The salary

paidwasthesameasthatformccsmissionaries.

Many peoplewere interested in the project.

TheParliamentaryCommitteeonForeignAffairs

was one of the many groups to visit Bangladesh

andsfca ’sworkthere.LeoLiljengrenwroteabout

thisinalettertoLarsFranklin:TheCommittee

on Foreign Affairs had been on a 4 day visit to

Bangladeshandhadspentonedaywithsfca .The

questionof“howmuchtimewithinthisproject

goestopreachingsermons”cameup.Theanswer

came unexpectedly from Sture Palm (a Social

DemocratmemberoftheCommittee)whoprom-

isedthatafterthisjourneyhewouldnolongerde-

mandthatgrantsshouldinthefirstplacealways

gototheRedCrosswithasmallersumgoingto

Christianorganisations.TheCommitteedecided

thatwhenpresentationsweretobemadeabout

the work of voluntary organisations, representa-

tives fromtheseorganisations shouldbe invited

to attend, in order for fuller information about

theworkandaboutthesituationsinthecountries

wheretheyworktobegained.82

Amassofcorrespondencehasbeenpreserved

inthearchivesshowinghowSidaanditsdeskof-

ficersbothinStockholmandDhaka,maintained

continuous close contact with sfca ’s personnel.

Thecorrespondencewasdirectandhonest.One

exampleisareportwhichBrisman,aDhakabased

Sidadeskofficerwroteabouttheprojectandthe

replywhichLeoLiljengrengave:

The Come Along to Banbazar

exhibition was shown at

MCC´s Youth’s big scout

camp ”Möt mä”. Sultana

Begum is seen here talking

her country and about the

support from Sweden.

10� 10�c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

Itcan’tbereasonabletosetasidesuchlargetechnicalandfi-

nancialresourcesforthebuildingof36schoolsinNorthern

Bangladesh. The project is creating primary school build-

ingsofastandardthatwillnotbeabletobereachedinother

villages intheareaforaverylongtime.Thelocalpopula-

tionarelearningnothingfromtheprojectasallthequali-

fiedbuildingworkersarerecruitedexternallyandmostof

thebuildingmaterialsareimportedtothecountry.

LeoLiljengrencommentedonthereportbyrefer-

ringtothefactthatBrismanhadparticipatedin

theplanninggroup’smeetings.Itwasalsothecase

that the type of building chosen for the school

wasthatdevelopedbytheMinistryofEducations

technical department, and not something sfca

hadcomeupwithitself.83

Later Lars Franklin, in one of his many let-

terstoLeoLiljengren,wrotethatSidawas100%

happywiththeprojectand its reporting. ”Ernst

MichanekwillrecommendthattheMinistryfor

ForeignAffairscontinuetheirsupport.”84

RegardingErnstMichanek,thefollowingtext

is found inareportwrittenbyDavidLagergren

afteravisittoBangladeshin1977:

[…]MyvisittoBangladeshcoincidedwithavisitbyErnst

Michanek, Sida’s Director General. […] The evening was

givenovertoadiscussionofdevelopmentassistance:mo-

tivations, goals etc. Amongst other things the question

ofhowweChristianscouldbecontent tofocusonlyon

aidworkandnotconductevangelisationcameup.Wean-

sweredthathelpingpeopleisanimportantpartofthetask

giventousbythegospel,even ifweareawarethat it is

onlyonepartofthistaskandthatourtaskinitsfullness

alsoincludessharingthegospelaboutJesusChrist.85

SidainformedtheCommitteethatarchitectCarl

Erik Fogelvik had been given the task of travel-

lingtoBangladeshtoassesswhetherthenecessary

conditions were in place for completion of the

school building project. Amongst other things,

he wrote that his overall opinion of the project

wasclearlypositive,andthattheincreaseincosts

was well motivated. He particularly highlighted

the personnel resources devoted to the project,

withoutwhichaninitiativesuchasthiswouldal-

mostcertainlybeimpossibletocompleteinthe

prevailingconditionsinthecountry(1975§13).

Onthebasisof this report, theCommittee

decided to apply to Sida for a grant to build a

further40 schoolsover threeyears.Theapplica-

tionwasforanamountof2,575,000crowns.The

amount awarded by Sida was 2,260,000 and the

reported costs after completion was 3,109,657

crowns.

RolandEinebrantwrotethefollowingabout

thesignificanceoftheschools50

[…]Ihavenotdoneathesisonhowthesituationofwomen

ischangedthroughtheschools,butonethingiscertain:a

schoolismorethanjustaschoolinavillageandthiscanbe

seenmoreandmoreclearly.Itis,asateacherpointedout,

noteasyforthestate,theRedCrossoranyoneelsetocome

andtalkaboutfamilyplanningunlessyouhaveabuilding

withwallswherewomencantakeofftheirheadscarfand

look,whereonecanaskwithoutbeingexposedinfrontof

thewholevillage,whereonecancarryoutexaminations.

Even operations are carried out in the schools. A Packa

school is something of a community centre. During the

bigfloodmanyof thevillagerscould savemuchof their

food and seed thanks to there being at least one sturdy

buildinginthevillage,whichinmanycaseswastheschool.

Ithardlyneedstobesaidthatitisanexcellentcontactfor

missionwork,butitisalsoagreatcontactpointthrough

whichvillagerscancontactus.Theyknowwhoweareand

ifwestartupruraldevelopmentandotherprojectswewill

bebuildingonthesecontacts.86

One of the many schools being constructed.

108 10�c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

SFCA Teachers Training ProjectTheleadershipoftheschoolbuildingprojectreal-

isedthatitwasnecessarytoraisethestandardof

teachingaswellasthestandardofthebuildings

and equipment, so they initiated a training pro-

grammeforteachers,TheSwedishfcaTeachers

Training Project. It was discovered that 40 per-

centofteachersinprimaryschoolslackededuca-

tionand that their teachingwasbuiltuponthe

methodoflearningbyheart,stronglyinfluenced

bytheoldcolonialschoolsystem.In1976thegov-

ernment,incooperationwithunesco ,developed

anewcurriculum,OpenAirEducation.ASwede

workingattheministrymadecontactwithsfca

andasked if theycould take responsibility fora

pilotproject.87

Theeducationalideawastochangethetradi-

tionalmethodofteachingandstartfromthepu-

pils’ daily environment. The pupils’ experiences

weretobeusedinschool.Schoolgardenswereto

belaid,inwhichthepupilswouldgrowcropsand

takeresponsibilityforharvestingandsellingthe

crops. The connection between education and

thepracticalitiesofdailylifeinthevillagewasto

becentral.88

200teacherstookpartinthe15weeklongpro-

gramme.AtrainingteamconsistingofaSwedish

volunteerteamleaderwithtwoBengaliassistants,

eightBengali instructorsandadriverwasrespon-

siblefortheprogramme.89 Thecurriculumlaterin-

troducedbytheauthorities in1980boreastrong

resemblancetothiseducationalmethodology.90

Cement is loveLeoLiljengrendescribedhowmissionarieshelped

theprojecttogetgoingthroughtheirmanycon-

tacts.Thesaying“nothingisimpossible,butthe

impossibletakesmoretime”wasofteninmind.

Throughtheworkofbuildingtheschoolwe

learnt that cement is love, continuedLiljengren.

There was no cement in the country so it was

imported from Bangkok. The cement came in

boxesbuiltofThairedwood.Thewoodwasused

tomakefurnitureandschoolbenches.Eachbox

weighed1tonne.

There are many stories about the transport

of the cement. It was very labour intensive as

thecargohadtobemovedfrombiggertosmaller

boats,andthencontinueitsjourneybytrainand

thenlorrytomoreboats.Peoplehadtocarrythe

loadovertheriverontheirheads.Thenintolor-

riesagaintofinallyarriveatthemainstoreandbe

transportedouttothe34placeswheretheschools

werebuilt.80

The Education Minister of Bangladesh is

quoted in a Sida report as saying that the coun-

try could only afford two types of schools - the

kindbuiltbysfcawhichstandfor25yearswith

nomaintenancecostsworthmentioningandthe

kindwhichvillagersthemselvesbuildandrebuild

every time they get blown down. Schools of a

quality somewhere in between, which require

regular maintenance in the form of rebuilding

walls,paintingeverythirdyearetc.wouldbevery

expensiveforthestate.

In1980thelastvolunteerslefttheirpostsin

both the school building project and the teach-

er-training programme. All work within these

projectshadthenbeentakenoverbyBengliper-

sonnel.

Support for the school building project and

teachertrainingcontinueduntil1982.Intotal156

schoolshadbeenbuilt,eachoneintendedfor200

pupils. 1800 teachers had taken part in training

programmes. The total cost for the building of

theschoolswas9,636,264crowns.

Theschoolbuildingprojectwashaltedbefore

it was fully completed. A thorough evaluation

wascarriedoutwhichshowedthatthechildrenof

thepoorestofthepoorwhowerenotthosebeing

educated.Theprojecthadthereforenothadthe

intendedeffect.Areprioritisationofsfca ’scon-

tinuingworkinBangladeshthereforetookplace.

There are many stories about the transport of the cement. People had to carry the load over the river on their heads.

110 111c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

Christian Health Care Project – CHCPsfcamadecontactwiththeNationalCouncilof

ChurchesinBangladesh,(nccb)soonafterarriv-

inginthecountry.Thenccbwasamongstother

thingsresponsibleforanumberofhospitals.

Acriticallackofmedicalsuppliesbecameap-

parentduringthecivilwarin1971,whensomany

peoplewereinjured.Thesituationwasespecially

difficultforthosesufferingfromorthopaedicin-

juriesorotherdisabilities.Therewasnoaccessto

rehabilitation or care, as there were neither ap-

propriateorthopaedicworkshopsnormedicaland

therapeuticexpertise.

On the initiative of a number of Christian

andotheraidorganisationsincludingsfca ,apro-

visionalorthopaedichospitalwasopened.Itwas

housedinapolioclinicinalargehospitalthatwas

stillintheprocessofbeingbuilt.Resourceswere

initiallylimitedto100beds,butthiswasgradually

increasedto250beds.Itwastheonlyorthopaedic

hospitalinthecountry.91

In1973itwasestimatedthat75millionpeo-

plelivedinBangladesh.Thecountrythenhadthe

eighth largest population in the world and was

one of the most densely populated countries in

the world. The birth rate was 47 and the death

rate 17 per 1000 inhabitants. With an annual in-

crease of 3%, the population was set to double

within23years.Inthe1970sand80s,supportfor

familyplanningwasoneofthewaysinwhichthe

widerworldtriedtocurboverpopulationinpoor

countries.Today(2005),thepopulationstandsat

130millionpeople.

In1974sfca appliedtoSidaforaChristian

Health Care Project focusing on family health.

The project was planned for a 5-year period as

itwasdeemedthat thiswas theminimumtime

neededtogain localexperience, andalsodue to

“incompetentpublicauthorities”asitisputinthe

application. Doctor Mina Malakar, a Bengli sen-

iordoctoratoneofthenccb ’shospitals,tookon

responsibility for the project. The project’s aim

wastointegratefamilyplanningwiththemother,

child and general health care services of seven

Christian hospitals and eight dispensaries, to-

getherwiththenationalhealthcareprogramme.

Healthcentresweretobecreated,locatedatthe

hospitalsweretobecreated.

An application for 7 million crowns was ap-

provedandincludedasalaryforaSwedishvolunteer.

InadditiontotheSidagrant,sfcaalsoreceivedmon-

eyfromZentralstelleFürEntwicklungshilfe(eze)

in Germany and Family Planning International

Assistance in the usa . In total the project was

budgetedtocost11millioncrowns.92

ItwasapparentatthetimethatSidahadno

reservationsaboutsfca ’sprojects.Sidamotivated

thelargegrantwiththefollowingpositivetext:

DuetotheprecarioussituationinBangladeshandthusthe

project’shighdegreeofrelevanceandassfcaisindirectly

contributingtotheproject,theBoarddeemeditjustifiable

todeviatefromtheprinciplethattheSwedishngoshould

themselvescontributeasignificantportionoftheproject

costs.93

chcp adoptedverybroadgoalsfor itswork, for-

mulating its vision with the words “ to fight all

The project’s aim was to

integrate family plan-

ning with the mother,

child and general

health care services of

seven Christian hospi-

tals and eight dispen-

saries, as part of the

national health care

programme.

112 113c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

thatstandsinoppositiontolife”.Thiswastohap-

penthrough

1. developingaconceptof‘thesmallfamily’asanormfor

patientsandinhabitantsinselectedcommunities;

2. encouragingcouplesofafertileagetousefamilyplan

ningandlimittheirfamilysizetotwoorthreechildren;

3. integratingabroadhealthprogrammeintoworkwith

familyplanning;

4. integratingthehealthcareprogrammewithsmall-scale

village development programmes such as weaving

projects, fish dams, chicken farming and jute process

ing/handling.

Anevaluationcarriedoutafterthefirstyearcon-

cluded that the project had not succeeded in

achievingthegoalsofthefamilyplanninginter-

vention. The most important reasons for this

werepartlythatthehospitalsandclinicshadtak-

enalongtimetogetgoing,andpartlythatitwas

hardtopersuadepeopleofthebenefitsoffamily

planning(1974§64).

Alarming reports on the results of studies

on the use of the contraceptive ”Depo Provera”

reached Sweden in the autumn of 1977. It was

injected intomusclesandgaveaguaranteedpro-

tectionagainstpregnancyfor threemonths,but

itbecameapparentthatitalsocausedseriousside

effects. Asia Secretary, Göran Jonsson, reported

thistotheCommitteeinSeptember.

Investigations had shown a connection be-

tween an increase in cases of cancer amongst

womenandtheuseof”DepoProvera”(1977§14).

Theinformationwaswidelycoveredinthemedia.

AseminarwasarrangedincooperationwithSida

towhichDrMinaMalakar,amongstothers,was

invited.

In 1980 Sida decided to cancel its deliveries

ofDepoProvera.sfca endedsupportforthepur-

chaseofDepoProveraattheendof1982,asSida

no longer approved financial support for such

purchases.Supportfor chcp ceasedin1983.

Literacy projectAliteracyprogrammeforadultswasdevelopedin

connectionwith chcp .Themethodologyused

wasbasedonaliteracyprogrammeforpoorpeo-

pledevelopedbytheLatinAmericaneducational-

istPauloFreire.

Göran Jonsson wrote the following to Sida

onthesubjectofPauloFreire’seducationalmeth-

odology:

PauloFreiremaynotbe fromBangladesh,buthecomes

fromanotherdevelopingcountry,Brazil,andthemethod-

ologyhehasdevelopedisentirelybasedonthedeveloping

countrycontext. Its startingpoint is thatoppressedpeo-

pleshouldrecognisetheirownabilitytoovercomepoverty

andnotdependuponexternallyinspiredideologies.94

The handicraft project that became SackeusThroughthefamilyplanningprojecttheideafor

a handicraft project that would sell products to

Swedenarose.Asthenumberofchildreninthe

familydeclined,sodidthestatusofwomenand

their workload. The women needed alternative

114 115c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

work.RolandEinebrantwrotetoSwedensuggest-

ingthathandicraftscouldbeameansofimprov-

ingwomen’sstatus,enablingthemtocontribute

tofamilyincome.”Thisisthebackdoorwaytoget

Bangladeshiwomenoutintheopenandintoaso-

cialsetting”hewroteandcontinued:

My idea is that the villages but also chcp , could be to

a certain extent self supporting through these sales. We

are not to set up industries but enable the work being

carriedoutat thehomes in thevillages.Theclinics and

hospitalswouldcollect inproducts,wewouldorganisea

quality check,packinganddistribution, either inDhaka

orChittagong,asappropriate.ThenyoucreatetheBangla

SwedishTradeCorporationLtdandthedistributioncan

begin.95

TheideatookshapeandinJune1976theCommittee

decidedtoallocate36,000crownsasagrantforstart-

upandrunningcoststotheHandicraftCentrevia

theChurchofBangladesh.Itwasalsodecidedthat

a test order of goods from India and Bangladesh

wouldbecarriedouttogetherwiththeBritishor-

ganisationTearFund(1976§§26,27).

The first goods were imported in 1976 for

theproject,whichfromtheoutsetborethename

Sackeus – an SFCA project for fair world trade. In

Augustofthesameyearaletterwassenttocon-

gregationsinvitingthemtoparticipateinthetrial

projectbybuyinga‘standardpackage’.

Itiseasierforarichwesternertogiveapoorpersonfroma

developingcountryfiftyorahundredcrownsthanitisto

givehimajob.Butjustimagineifwecoulddoboth!This

iswhatsfcaisgoingtotrytodothisAutumnthrougha

campaigntoselljutehandicraftsfromBangladesh.96

Anti-diarrhoea Programme In1980sfcareceivedagrantof5millioncrowns

from Sida to provide three years of support to

the Bangladeshi organisation Bangladesh Rural

AdvancementCommittee(brac)foritsanti-diar-

rhoeaprogramme.Diarrhoeawasoneofthecauses

ofhighinfantmortality.Theprogrammefocused

uponteachingeachhouseholdinfivedistrictsto

giveasimplesugar-saltsolutiontochildren,when

they got diarrhoea. When the programme was

completed in 1987 it was estimated that around

7 million households had received this practical

training.97Sultana Begum, Diakonia’s country of-

ficerforBangladesh,saidthatthesupportforthis

campaign was the best support sfca/Diakonia

hadgiven.TodayallBengalisknowhowtotreat

diarrhoeaandeveryonehasatinofsaltandsugar

athome.98

The Lathyrism ProgrammeIn 1978 sfca applied for and received a grant

of over a million crowns from Sida for work

amongst people affected by the paralysing dis-

easeLathyrism.Inadditiontothoseaffected,pa-

tients’familymembersandotherlandlesspeople

fromthesamesocialclasswerealso included in

thetargetgroup.Theorganisationresponsiblefor

Sackeus – A SFCA project for fair trade.

11� 11�c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

theprojectwasBangladeshBhumyhynSramajibi

Sangathan(bbss),atthetimeoneofsfca ’snew

partnerorganisations.

Lathyrismisadiseasecausedbythepoison-

ousplantkhesari,whichwastheonlystaplefood

for many poor people in northern Bangladesh.

Duringtheseveredroughtof 1974the incidence

ofthediseasehadrisenrapidly.Manylandowners

paid their labourers with the plant. It appeared

thatprimarilymenandboyswerethoseaffected

beingparalysedfromthewaistdown, rendering

themunabletoworktosupportthemselvesand

their families.ThemajorityofLathyrismsuffer-

ersweremeninthe15-45agegroup.Femalehor-

monesarethoughttogivewomenmoreresistance

tothedisease.

Thediseasepresentstwochallengesthatbe-

camethefocusofbbss ’swork:1.Tospreadinfor-

mationonthedangersofeatingthekhesariplant

and ensuring that people have another staple

food.2.Findinganincomegeneratingoccupation

fortheparalysed.Workinggroupswereformedto

implementtheprogramme,with20-35peoplein

eachgroup.

As silk was one of the raw materials in the

areaandmanypeoplegainedtheirincomeinthe

silkindustry,itwasthoughtthatworkingwithsilk

wouldbeagoodalternativeforincomegeneration

for the paralysed. Some families were given the

taskoffarmingsilkworms,whilstothersworked

with spinning. A hand-operated spinning wheel

wasconstructedandbecameanimportanttool.

Projectideasthatcomefromtheoutsideof-

ten turn out wrong. Working with silk was not

thepatients’ownidea,butcamefromforeignfao

experts.WhentheSidaapplication99 for1985/86

was handed in the whole programme was rede-

fined.Theprogrammewasnowtobebasedupon

grouporganisationandpatientsolidarity,andsilk

farmingwasreducedtooneofseveralsocio-eco-

nomicdevelopmentopportunities.Theaimwas

now to build up a well functioning project and

patient organisation, which in time would have

thecapacitytoleadtheworkitself.

Someaspectsof theworkwithsilkwerere-

tainedandadecisionwastakentobuylandand

buildaweavingfactory.Accordingtothenotesof

apersonnelmeetinginDhakaon22October1987,

approval had been given in Sweden to the pur-

chaseandregistrationoflandinDiakonia’sname.

This was however only to be temporary and in

1990thelandandfactoryweretobewhollyhand-

edovertothelocalbbssgroup’sownership.100

Thefactorywashoweverneverhandedover.

BeforeTomasDaslefthispostwithinDiakoniain

1995,hedecidedtosignoverthefactorytobbss .

Theproblemwasthattheorganisationhadsplit

into several organisations, none of which had

been registered with the authorities. The ques-

tionsincethenhasbeenwhichorganisationthe

factorywassignedoverto.Thecaseisnow[sum-

mer2005]beforetheHighCourtandadecision

isawaitedshortly.Asnoworkisbeingoperated

fromthefactoryatthemomentandthere isno

legalregistration,thecourtwillprobablydecide

tohand the factoryback toDiakonia. If thisbe

thecase,Diakoniahasdecidedtohandthefactory

totheorganisationPartner.

The work of the Lathyrism project was re-

structured in 1993, when Partner took over re-

As silk was one of the raw mate-

rials in the area and many people

gained their income in the silk

industry, it was thought that

working with silk would be a

good alternative for income gen-

eration for the paralysed.

118 11�c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

sponsibility.Diakoniaalsosupportedthisorgani-

sation.

SultanaBegumhasconfirmedthatawareness

raisingandworkwithlathyrismhasledtothedis-

easebeinglargelyeradicatedfromthecountry.98

The work develops further sfca quickly learnt that the best ways to help

poorpeoplewastoencouragepeopletousetheir

owninitiative,sothattheycouldsolvetheirprob-

lemsthemselves,usingtheirownresources.101 The

focuson‘helpforself-help’alwayssetthetonein

decisionsonprovidingsupport.

Inretrospect,onemightthinkthatthepath

sfca took in its work in Bangladesh was a self-

evidentone.Whatbeganwithdisasterreliefand

continuedwithworkamongstrefugeesduringthe

warturnedintorebuildingafterthewar.Contact

and close cooperation with people in the villag-

eswhereschoolswerebuiltandhealthcarewas

supportedledtoare-evaluationofthedirection

of thework.Poor landlesspeoplewere living in

deprivedandoppressedcircumstanceswithhigh

levels of illiteracy and unemployment. In order

forthistochange,thepeoplethemselvesneeded

tobepartofthework.New,nationalngossought

andreceivedsupportfromsfcaforprogrammes

supportingvillagedevelopment.

The Bengalis responsible for the various pro-

jectsrealisedthatifthevulnerablesituationofpoor

peoplewastobechangedtheunderlyingcausesof

povertyneededtobetackledattheirroot.Thisin-

sight led theentiredirectionofsfca support for

Bangladeshtochange.Theimportanceofensuring

thatsupportreachestheverypoorwasrealised.It

became clear that working with big national vol-

untary organisations did not produce the desired

results. This cooperation was therefore gradually

phasedoutandsupportwasinsteadgiventosmall-

er,localvillagegroups.Thesenewpartnerorgani-

sationsraisednewissues,suchasthepossibilityof

enablingpoorlandlessfarmworkerstoorganiseor

offormingaprogrammetoraiseawareness.

In1983thesechallengesledsfca toinviteall

ofitspartnersinBangladeshtoaseminar.Thisled

toaprocessofchangeresultingintheformation

oftheSocialAssociationforRuralAdvancement

(sara).Teachersworkingwithintheschoolbuild-

ingprojecttooktheinitiativetoformtheorgani-

sation,whosememberswereindependentgroups

oflandlesspeople.102

Nowadays,Diakonia’sworkinBangladeshisprimarilyfo-

cusedonsupportfororganisationsthatworktoorganise

thelandlesspeopleofthevillages.Astheresultofanac-

celerating process of impoverishment, the landless now

formafull60percentofthepopulationinthecountryside.

Bybuildinginterestgroups,thelandlesscanresistfurther

exploitation (through, for example, introducing savings

schemesasanalternativetothemoney lender),demand

theirlegalrights(e.g.accesstocommunalvillagelandand

foodaid)andcontributetothegroup’seconomicdevelop-

ment(through incomegeneratingactivities,activities to

increase wages etc.) and increased social status (through

educationandsocio-politicalactivities).103

Oneresultofthenewdirectionintheworkwas

thatsfca ,inadditiontotheSwedishpersonnelat

theofficeinDhaka,begantoappointBangladeshi

country officers. Tomas Das joined in 1983 and

SultanaBegumin1985.

InaninterviewwithSultanaBegumonhow

she viewed sfca/Diakonia’s support to Bangla-

deshshesaidthattherewasagreatneedtosup-

port forhealthcareprogrammes,educationand

schoolbuildinginthenewlyformedstate.

Supportingthiswastherightthingtodothen.Rehabili-

tation was needed. But if you want to build a nation, a

country,youalsoneedtobuildpeople.Thiswasthechal-

lengethatledsfca/Diakoniaintotheprocessitembarked

upon.97

The support focused increasingly on organising

landlesspeople.Theyformedinterestgroupstode-

mandbettersocialandeconomicconditions,high-

erwages,a justshareofstateresourcesandstate

assistance. As the organisation of groups quickly

The nationally employed personnel in the mid 1��0s.

120 121c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

took on the character of a people’s movement,

thesecollectiveactionswereoftensuccessful.

The groups’ own savings schemes enabled

themtogetbankloansforvariousincomegenera-

tionprojectssuchasfishfarmingindams,thresh-

ingofrice,bicycletaxis,handicrafts,chickenand

goatrearing,vegetableproductionandtheproduc-

tionofsilkthread.Basiceducationforbothchil-

drenandadults,vocationaltraining,cooperative

trainingandleadershipdevelopmentwerelinked

tothis.Theaimwastoreducethevulnerablepop-

ulationgroup’sdependenceuponthevillageelite,

thelarge-scalefarmers,themoneylenderandthe

grocer,andinsteadcreateopportunitiesforfinan-

cialself-sufficiencyandsocialrespect.

When, in 1986, the Bengali government de-

cided to divide government land (referred to as

Khas land)104 amongst landless families, the land-

lesspeople’smovementsplayedanimportantrole.

Theimplementationofthelandreformdepended

upon cooperation between district councils and

voluntaryorganisations.Thecouncilgaveland,the

ngowasresponsibleforbuildinghousing,andthe

stategaveloansforfarmingtheland.Butthevol-

untaryorganisationhadtotakeresponsibilityfor

organisation,awarenessraisingandfollow-up.105

The organisations supported by Diakonia

aimed to strengthen peoples’ ability to organise

themselvesandthusshapetheirownfuture.The

methodologyusedwasadulteducationandaware-

nessraising.Particularweightwasgiventoeducat-

ing and organising women. The villagers formed

villagecommittees,whichtogetherformedawork-

ers’movementatregionalandnationallevel.106

The organisations supported by Diakonia

joinedtogetherin1989toformagroupforexperi-

enceexchange,evaluationandtrainingofproject

personnel.Theprimarytaskoftheorganisations

was to enable landless people to organise. They

could never represent landless people directly,

as the representatives of the organisations were

notlandlessthemselves.Theythereforebeganto

work towards landless people being able to take

overtheprojects.107

Inrecentyears,Diakoniahasworkedwithlandlesspeople

whoneedtobegivenopportunitiestoinfluencedevelop-

ment in Bangladesh. In order for this to happen people

need an awareness of their own situation in relation to

thepoliticaldecisionsbeingtakeninthecountry.Astrong

democraticpeople’smovementisalsoneeded,inorderto

have the power to create change. Together with around

tenngo ’sinBangladesh,ademocraticpeople’smovement

isnowbeingbuiltupfromvillagetonational level.The

organisation has been formed, and works independently

withoutexternalfinancialsupportandhasaround40,000

members. At the same time the various ngos continue

workinnewareastoeducate,organiseandstructuregroups

ofpeoplewhowanttojointhepeople’smovementbeing

built.Todaytherearearound250,000peopleorganisedin

groups at village level. The aim is that the independent

people’smovementwilltakeoverworkwiththesegroups

withinthreeyears.The‘landlesspeople’smovement’will

then be the largest democratic people’s movement in

Bangladesh.108

Inordertoavoidlong-termdependence,Diakonia

decidedattheendofthe1980stousethephase

out method for its work in Bangladesh. In the

Sida application for1990/1 this was described as

follows:

ForseveralyearsDiakonia,viaaround50partnerorganisa-

tions,hasaimedtobuildupapeople’smovementforand

with the landlesspeopleofBangladesh. In 1990 thefirst

five organisations will begin to hand over their work to

the landless.Afiveyearplanstarting in 1990details the

variousstagesofthephasingoutoftheorganisationscon-

cerned,inorderforthenewpeople’smovementtobebuilt

up.109

When Sultana Begum was appointed as country

officeratDiakonia’sofficeinDhakain1985,she

came fromapost in anationalwomen’sorgani-

sation.Shedescribedhowdifficult itwas toget

malecolleaguestounderstandtheimportanceof

workingtostrengthenthepositionofwomen.At

thetime,womeninBangladeshfacedaverydif-

ficultsituation,livingwithoppressionrootedas

muchintraditionasincultureandreligion.Girls

did not have the same opportunities as boys in

relation toeducation,healthcareorposition in

society.Now,shesays,somuchhaschanged.

WorkwithgenderissueshasledallofDiako-

nia’spartnerstofocusontheparticularsituation

and needs of women in their work. The partici-

pantsreceiveeducation,trainingandsupportto

become aware of their problems, the causes of

theseproblemsandtoseepossiblesolutions.The

education provided includes basic reading and

writingskills,butalsoseminarsongenderaware-

ness,healthissuesandfarmingmethods.Savings

are encouraged and credit is given to income

generatingprojects.Trainingingenderissuesfor

teachersandstudentsissettobeheldinanumber

ofschools.110

Programmes instead of projectsThisnewdirectiontothework-supportingpoor

people’s struggle for a more just society instead

of ‘projects‘- led the work to become increas-

122 123c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

inglyfocuseduponthemesorprogrammes,such

asgenderequalityanddemocracy.Fromtheout-

setoneproblemwasfindingandtrainingpeople

withthenecessaryleadershipskillstoenablethe

programmetodevelopatgrassrootslevel.

Thenewdirectionoftheworkledoftheor-

ganisationstofeeltheneedto learnmoreabout

thecontentandmeaningsoftheunDeclaration

of Human Rights, legal aid, and the laws of

Bangladesh.Thefirstseminarontheseissueswas

held in 1988. The first publication in Bangla on

humanrightswaspublished inconnectionwith

theseminar,apublicationthatdrewmuchpublic

attention.111

Thefollowingoverallgoalwasgivenforthe

workinAsia(Bangladesh)intheSidaapplication

of1998.Thetextisagoodsummaryofthedevel-

opmentthattookplaceandhasbeenincreasingly

refinedsincethe1980s:

Diakonia’sworkinAsiahas,aspreviously,concentratedon

worktoimprovethelivingconditionsofthemostvulner-

ablepeopleinsociety.ThroughDiakonia’spartnerorgani-

sations,thesegroupshavebeengiventheopportunityto

change their own situation through increased participa-

tioninlocaldecisionmakingprocessesandthusinchang-

ingsociety.Thesituationofwomenhasbeenparticularly

focusedupon.112

When the report to Sida was written in 2003 it

wasstatedthat

[…]theanalysispresentedintheapplicationformstheba-

sis for Diakonia’s work in the region. No major changes

have taken place in the region, but some trends deserve

tobehighlightedagainastheymayinfluencethefuture

ofthework.113

In relation to the major problem of poverty, it

mustbefoughtthroughbothnationalandglobal

changes.Policyon the redistributionof resourc-

es and strong measures against corruption and

nepotismwerementioned,butitwasalsoabout

creatingopportunitiesfortradeandjustformsof

investmentinordertogiveallthepoorpeopleof

Asiaopportunitiesfordevelopment.

Divisionsbetweenethnicandreligiousgroups

areincreasingatlocallevelandinmanycasesthis

makestheworkofDiakonia’spartnersmorediffi-

cult.Insomecases,divisionsrelatetoglobalpoliti-

caleventssuchastheinvasionofIraqbytheusa

anditsalliesandthewaragainstterrorism,that

havegeneratedtensionsbetweenreligiousgroups

inmanyareas.112

US foreign policy on terror has also influ-

enced the situation in Bangladesh. Divisions be-

tweendifferentethnicandreligiousgroupshave

increasedmakingtheworkofmanyofDiakonia’s

partnersmoredifficult.Sincethefundamentalist

BHPpartywontheelectionin2001,persecution

of minorities and attacks against women have

increased. The freedom previously enjoyed by

partner organisations has been replaced by con-

trolfromtheauthorities.Itisnolongeradvisable

to write openly about the abuses taking place.

SultanaBegumlikenedthis toa“political tsuna-

mi”cascadingoverorganisationsworkingforde-

mocracy.”Thetidalwaveisdrowningtheprogress

we had made” she said.114 This had led Diakonia

toincreaseitssupportforworktostrengthenhu-

manrightsandthedemocraticculture.

Recurrent disastersBangladesh is hit by floods almost annually. In

recentyearsthewell-developednetworkofpart-

nerorganisationshasbeenable tocontributeto

providingimmediateassistancetothoseaffected

using a jointly developed disaster response plan.

Workhasprimarilyfocusedondistributingwater

purification tablets and sugar/salt solution, to-

getherwithmedicineandfood.115

The terrible tsunami in Bay of Bengal in

December 2004 missed Bangladesh almost com-

pletely.

Information in Sweden Time and again the minutes confirm that both

theBoardandDiakoniapersonnelunderstoodthe

importanceofinformingpeopleinSwedenabout

theworkinBangladesh,andofgivingapositive

pictureoftheworkbeingdone.Itwasimportant

bothtoconfirmforsupportersthatmoneyraised

hadbeenputtogooduseandtoincreaseawareness

about Bangladesh as a country. Denominational

leaders visiting Asia were often asked to visit a

projectareatoformtheirownimpressionofthe

worktakingplace.Thesevisitsoftenresulted in

highlypositivereportsandlongarticlesinthede-

nominations’magazines.

TheannualSpringCampaignoftenincluded

informationaboutthesituationinBangladeshand

information about the projects funded through

collectionsandstatefunding.SwedishRadioAid

hasonseveraloccasionsalsocarriedoutfundrais-

ing and shown tv footage from sfca/Diakonia

supportedworkinBangladesh.

In September 1973, the sfca Committee

decidedtoaskIngemarBerndtssonofömtopro-

duceafilmontheworkinBangladesh.Itwasenti-

tledA Source of Joyandcametomeanagreatdeal

inrelationtoawarenessof thesupportgivento

Bangladeshamongstthepeopleinfreechurches.

TheSidaapplicationof1975includedabudg-

124 125c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

et for a major information project My Golden

Bengal[theintroductorywordsofthenationalan-

them].Itincludedaslideshow,anewspaperanda

teacher’shandbook.Thismaterialwasaimednot

onlyatchurchesbutalsoatschools.

ThehandicraftprojectSackeus(seeHandicraft

Project,page113)alsoturnedintoaninformation

projectinSweden,astheproductpackagingcar-

ried stories about the people, raw materials and

cultureoftheproducingcountry.

The following text is from a press release

aboutSackeusfrom1976:

Trade for the sake of serving

Itisthesametoday.Theworldsystemoftradeisunjust,

because itbenefits richcountriesat theexpenseofpoor

countries.Throughthisprojectsfca ,likeSackeus,wants

to break with this unjust system. Trade for the sake of

serving-notforthesakeofprofitistheslogan.116

ThehandicraftprojectSackeuswasoftenthesub-

ject of questions at sfca Committee meetings.

Minutesfrom1979notethefollowing:

Indiscussions,mccs PresidentGöstaHedbergexpressed

the hope that special attention would be given to the

Sackeusproject’sconstitutionalstatusinrelationtoSFCC.

SAMPresidentEskilAlbertssonwantedopportunitiesto

ers.Onepastorexpresseditasfollows:“Wehave

two important tables in our church – the com-

muniontableandtheSackeustable.TheSackeus

tableisaconstantremindertousoftheworldand

ourcallinginit.”

The basic concept behind Sackeus was to

support local producers and create opportunities

forthemtofindmarketsfortheirproduce.When

Diakonia sold its shares, that intention was ful-

filled.

contribute to improved local saleofSackeusproducts in

thethirdworldtobeincludedinthestudy.(1978/79§195)

Thisledtotheformationofagrouptolookinto

thecontinuationofthework.Itwasreportedto

themeetingofMay1980that:

[…]productionandsaleofhandicraftproductshasastrong

positiveeffectforsomegroupsindevelopingcountries.In

additiontoprovidingsomemuchneededincome,thetra-

ditionalartofmakinghandicraftsispreservedanddevel-

oped.

In Sweden, products from developing countries help to

bring sfca ’s work to life and provide opportunities to

shareinformationaboutthesituationinvariousdevelop-

ingcountries(1980§285)

When Diakonia sold its shares in Sackeus in

December 2000 (2000 §108), a project that had

meantagreatdealinitsmostactiveperiodcame

to an end. The shares were sold to the Mexican

farmercooperativethatoverrecentyearshaspro-

ducedtheSackeuscoffee.117

ThegoodsfromproducersintheSouthhad

giventhepurchaserstoriesaboutincomegenerat-

ingactivitiesaswellascreatedincreasedselfcon-

fidenceandhopeforchangeamongsttheproduc-

The basic concept behind

Sackeus was to support

local producers and create

opportunities for them

to find markets for their

produce.

12� 12�c h a p t e r 3 b a n g l a d e s h

’Come along to Banbazar’In1976RolandEinebrantsuggestedtotheoffice

inÄlvsjöthattheyputtogetheranexhibitionon

villagelifeinBangladesh.118Itwassuggestedthat

theprojectbecarriedoutincooperationwiththe

company ab Informationstjänst (fs) (1979/80

§297). The driving force behind the exhibition

wasthethenrectoroffs HermanHolmgren.

’ComealongtoBanbazar’isabigandunusualexhibition.

Theroominwhichitisputuptakesonthecharacterofa

landscape.Avillageliesinthislandscape.Abamboohut

ispartof theexhibition (sizeapprox.3x4metreswitha

heightofapprox2.75metres).Thehutisthecentreofthe

villageandtheexhibition.

Thevillagealsoincludesanauthenticrickshaw(bicy-

cletaxi)andalargenumberofeverydayitems:fishingand

harvesting equipment, cooking and household utensils,

clothes,toysetc.

Life sizephotographs, slidedisplaysand indigenous

musicgivefurtherlifetothevillage.

Essentially,theexhibitionseekstoshoutoutthecall

toChristianservice,athomeinthecongregationandout

intheworld.119

DrMinaMalakar,leaderofthe chcpprojectin

Bangladesh,wasinvitedtocometoSwedenforthe

openingoftheexhibition.Onhertwo-weektour

ofSwedenshemanagedtovisitaround20differ-

entcongregations.Theexhibitionwasshownfor

aperiodofover10yearsatalargenumberoflo-

cations in Sweden. The visually rich exhibition

leftanunforgettableimpressiononmanyvisitors

bothyoungandold,andreceivedlotsofcoverage

inthelocalmedia.

IntherunuptotheunYearoftheChildin

1978,aninitiativewastakentocollect instories

fromBengalichildren.Theresultingpublication,

entitledSikina collects rubbish, included learning

materialsonBangladesh.

Study visitsManyindividualsandgroupshavevisitedBangla-

deshover theyears and seen for themselves the

worksupportedbysfca/Diakonia.Thesepeople

havethenpassedonstoriesabouthowsituations

ofgreathardshipcanbechanged.

In1981avisitfor17peoplewasarrangedto-

gether with fs . One comment afterwards was:

“Experiences of a developing country leave you

with a duty. Feelings of guilt, insufficiency and

frustrationovertheinjusticesdonotceasewhen

youarrivehome.”120

ConclusionThe support, which began as disaster relief for

thedrought,hasdevelopedintolong-termdevel-

opmentworkthroughlocalpartners.Thesupport

giventoBangladeshhasalwaysbeenextensive.In

2005,sixpartnersinthenorthandnortheastof

thecountryaresupported.Support isstillgiven

tothepoorestandleastdevelopedregionsofthe

country, today including marginalized groups

fromtheGaros ethnicminority. Itwas through

thelarge-scaleworkinBangladeshthatsfcaand

Sida came into close contact and the first Sida

grantsreceived.

Manyyearsofsystematicworkwithpartners

tostrengthenthepositionofwomenandtochange

men’s attitudes to women and women’s partici-

pation have given concrete results. Previously it

was impossible to see men and women working

together.Today this is a reality inmanypartner

organisations. Through the work to organise

groups, many groups have succeeded in getting

women representatives elected to posts in the

community.

TodaytheorganisationssupportedbyDiako-

niahave,togetherwithotherlocalorganisations

andauthorities,succeededindevelopingdisaster

preparednesssystemsintheareaswheretheyare

operative,sothattherecurrentfloodingdoesnot

havesuchdevastatingconsequencesforpeoplein

thearea.

Theextensive informationworkaboutBang-

ladesh,carriedoutinSwedenduringthe1970sand

80s,hashadasitsresultthatthegeneration,that

grewupinfreechurchcongregationsduringthat

time,stillhasastronginterestinBangladesh.

Many years of systematic work with

partners to strengthen the position of

women and to change men’s attitudes

to women and women’s participation

have given concrete results.

12�

chapter 4

Palestine/Israel

”help for the victims of war in israel and the middle east

Thewar intheMiddleEast isoverandacease-fire isnowinplace.Wefeelgreat

thankfulnessandjoyforthat.Asalways,severeneedandshortagesfollowonthe

heelsofwarandhumanitarianassistanceisurgentlyrequiredfromallwhoareable

tohelp.”(ExcerptfromaletterfromtheSwedishFreeChurchCouncil,sfcc ,tothe

congregations,June1967)121

Short historic backgroundIfwearetounderstandtheeventsleadingtothewarin1967weneedtolookbackin

time.LetourstartingpointbethetimeafterthefirstworldwarwhenGreatBritain

governedPalestinewithamandatefromtheLeagueofNations.Thistaskwashand-

edovertotheunin1947.AUnitedNationsSpecialCommitteeonPalestine(un-

scop)puttogetherarecommendationforthecreationoftwostates:aJewishstate,

controlling55percentofthelandareaofPalestineandanArabicstatecontrolling44

130 131c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

percentoftheland.Jerusalemwastobean“inter-

nationalenclave”underuncontrol.Onthe14May

1948thenewstateofIsraelwascreated,adecision

acceptedbytheJewsbutnotbythePalestinians,

northesurroundingArabstates.122

ThewarthatbrokeoutbetweenIsraelandthe

surroundingArabstatesin1948resultedinIsrael

takingoverlargeareasoflandintheNorth(Galilee)

andintheSouth(theNegev).Attheceasefirein

1949Jewshadoccupied77percentoftheintended

Palestinian state. 725,000 Palestinians had fled to

Jordan,EgyptorotherneighbouringArabstates.123

Attheendof1966,skirmishesbetweenIsrael

and its Arab neighbours increased alarmingly.

In order to pre-empt an Arabic attack, Israel at-

tackedfirst.Inlessthanaweek,intheso-called

SixDayWar(6-12June1967),Israelhadoccupied

thewholeofSinai,theWestBankincludingthe

OldTowninJerusalem,andtheGolanHeights.In

1967,theunGeneralAssemblyadoptedResolution

242,givingPalestinians the right to returnor to

receivecompensationonconditionthattheylive

inpeacewiththeirneighbours.Theunorganun-

rwa wasformed,withresponsibilityforlooking

afterPalestinianrefugees.

Israelrefusedtogivewaytotheundecision

and instead began to build settlements on the

WestBank,ontheGolanHeightsandinGaza.125

Israeli policy on settlements has involved the il-

legalexploitationofPalestinianlandeversince.

The war of 1967 and the following occupation of the

Palestinian area created a source of conflict that cannot

beresolveduntiltheoccupationhasendedandIsraeland

Palestinehavebeengivenguaranteesfortheirsecurity.126

Help for the victims of warsfcc ’saumeton9June1967,inthemiddleofthe

SixDayWar.Thewarwasnotontheagenda,but

under agendapoint ‘sfca ’ thequestionofwhat

could be done for “the victims of war in Israel

andtheMiddleEast”wasraised.Itwasdecidedto

“givethesecretariatthetaskofmakingallneces-

sarypreparations”(1967§94).

A letter was sent out to the congregations,

dated9Juneandwassignedbyallofthedenomi-

nations’MissionSecretaries.121On15June,40000

crowns was borrowed from the funds for India

andsenttotheSwedishRedCross,tohelprefu-

geesinAmman.

Itisclearfromtheletterthatthewritersassu-

medthatSwedesweremostinterestedinIsraeland

that it was therefore important to provide infor-

mationaboutthePalestiniansandtheirsituation:

The Christian does not ask who is friend and who is foe.

Naturally, the thoughtsofSwedish freechurchpeoplego

inthefirstplacetoIsraelandnaturallythosewhocan,will

send in gifts to help these people. But the wider Middle

East,withitsrefugeemasses,needssupportandhelpand

weasChristiansshouldalsodoasmuchaswecantosupport

thesepeople.121

The letter received a strong response and many

ecumenical initiatives tookplaceat local level to

organise fundraising efforts. This positive result

ledtheExecutiveCommittee,atitsmeetingon3

August,totakeupthequestionofhowtheyshould

act‘ontheground’intheMiddleEast.Shouldsfcc

buildupitsownorganisationorchannelsupport

through others? The Committee reaffirmed the

policy decision taken one year earlier, namely to

support ‘existing bodies’ already present in the

area(1967§6).Thiswaspointedoutinafolderpro-

ducedin1972:

sfca , throughcooperationwithnationalmissionorgani-

sationsandauthorities,hastheabilitytohelpthousandsof

people.Theprojectdoesnottakeonthecharacterofchar-

ity,buttakestheformofhelpforself-help,whichcreates

workandfoodforseveralthousandpeople.127

In addition to supporting the Red Cross, it was

decidedtoallocatefundstotheWorldCouncilof

Churches,viaChurchofSwedenAid,forprojects

infourrefugeecampsonJordan’sEastBank,with-

initsNearEastEmergencyProgramme.Thegrant

was for the purchase of medicines and food sup-

plements.

TheSwedishOrganisationforIndividualRelief,

soir , and the organisation Israel’s Barn (Israel’s

Children)alsoreceivedfundsfromsfca.Thelead-

erofIsrael’sBarnwrote ina letterofthankssay-

ing,“WemusthelpIsraeltohelpthePalestinians.

Theyneedfundsforschoolmealsintheirschools,

fundsfordayschoolsforArabicgirls,thebuilding

ofchildren’shomesandmuchmore”.128

Theologically sensitive territoryHardly any other part of the world evokes such

greatinterestastheHolyLandandtheissuesre-

latingtoit.“Palestineisthebiggestpoliticalissue

inSwedishChristianity”129 andthequestionsthat

generatedebate arehowwe, today, should inter-

pretthewordsofthebibleontheland,thepeople

andthemission.sfca ,withitsoriginalvisionof

helpingthepoorestofthepoorandthemostvul-

nerablehadnodifficultiesindecidingtoprovide

supporttotheregion.Butasthedenominations

withinsfca/Diakoniahavealwayshelddiffering

viewsontheconflictbetweenIsraelandPalestine,

thedebatehasalwaysbeenthere.

132 133c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

Whenastudyintothefutureofsfcawascarried

outin1975,aresultantproposalwasthat:

Itwould,forexample,bearelevanttasktotrytonuance

thedebateandtheinformationprovidedaboutthesitua-

tionintheMiddleEast. 130

Attheagm of2005asimilarissuecameupwhen

itwasdecidedtogivetheBoardthetaskofinvit-

ingthedenominationstoatheologicaldiscussion

ontheinterpretationofeventsinIsrael/Palestine

(agm 2005§15)

Sensitivityonthesubjectalsoledtheperson-

neloftheofficeinJerusalemtowritetotheBoard

inMarch1966(1996§51.5).

WeinJerusalemwanttohavecontactwiththedenomina-

tionsathomeinordertodiscusshowweshouldactandre-

act.Wefeelthatwefaceadifficultdilemma.TheChristian

Palestinians are hard pressed between the Jews and the

MuslimsandfeelhurtbywhatChristianZionistsdoand

saybothhereandintheWest.Canweencouragepeople

tointercessoryprayerinourchurches?Canwemakestate-

mentsaskingforajusthandlingofthePalestinians?Can

wesendamessageofgreetingtotheChristians?

TheresponsefromtheBoardwasput inthefol-

lowingtermsinapressreleasealsopublishedin

thedenominationalmagazines:

We,themembersofDiakonia’sBoard,havewithgreatsor-

rowfollowedtherecentreportsongraveactsofterrorin

Jerusalem.Ourthoughtsatthistimegoofcoursefirstlyto

thefamiliesandfriendsofthevictims,whoselivesinthe

spaceofafewsecondswereturnedupsidedownandfilled

withpain,immeasurableterriblesorrowanddespair.

Wehavealsolistenedtoreportsandwitnesstestimony

fromDiakonia’sownpersonnel–SwedishandPalestinian

in Jerusalem. They have described the fear felt by both

IsraelisandPalestiniansthatthecurrentpeaceprocesswill

collapse. They have pointed out the particularly special

anddifficultsituationofChristianPalestinians.

LetussurroundthepeopleofIsraelandofPalestine

inprayer.Letusprayforreconciliationandrespectforlife,

fordemocracyandforapeacefulco-existence.131

Work with disabled people Arnold Hjertström, the Swedish consul in Jeru-

salem, became sfca ’s contact person on the

spot in 1967. He had a strong commitment to

disabled Palestinians. Through his negotiations

sfca began supporting work through the Arab

Blind Organisation (abo), whose primary task

wastocreateworkopportunitiesforblind,adult

Palestinians in Jerusalem, Nablus and Hebron.

The workers ability to carry out their work was

worseneddramaticallyafter theSixDayWar, as

the Israeli authorities banned abo from import-

SFCA supported work done

through the Arab Blind

Organisation, whose primary

task was to create employment

opportunities for blind adult

Palestinians.

134 135c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

ingtherawmaterialsneeded.Insteadtheywere

instructedtobuytheirworkmaterialsonthelo-

calmarketatahighprice.Inordertobeableto

continue to provide ongoing employment they

weredependentuponaccesstorawmaterials.132

sfca continuedtosupportthisworkforsix

years.Usingthefundsgrantedtotheorganisation

asignificanteducationalprogrammewascarried

out, which contributed to the further develop-

mentofthework.

Thiswasthelimitedextentofsupporttothe

MiddleEastintheyears1968to1970.Thedrought

inIndiain1968,thetidalwaveinBangladeshin

1970andrefugeework inBiafra in 1970 tookall

the attention and received the largest grants in

thoseyears.

sfca rapidlygainedagoodnameasdonoror-

ganisationinGazaandtheWestBank.Thiswas

illustrated for example when the social authori-

tiesontheGazastripcontactedsfcain1968to

askforsupportforblindPalestiniansinthearea.

The Committee decided to continue providing

supportfirstlytoabo ,secondlytoeducationfor

blindgirlsinNablusandthirdlysupportinGaza.

(1968§46)

AnotherillustrationwasthatGeneralSecre-

tary Per-Arne Aglert was called to the see the

ambassador of the United Arab Republic (now

EgyptandSyria)inStockholminApril1969,who

describedforhimtheneedforaidgeneratedby

the fighting in the area around the Suez. Large

number of refugees from Gaza and Sinai had

crossed the Suez Canal and were now gathered

inrefugeecampsonEgyptianland.Thelocalau-

thoritieswereunabletoprovidefortherefugees

andwerenowappealingforSwedishsupport. It

was decided to pass the appeal on to the World

CouncilofChurches(1969§42)

Grant from Swedish Radio AidIn1970sfca appliedtoSwedishRadioAidfora

grant of 150 000 crowns for a vocational school

for blind Palestinian girls in Gaza to be set up.

SwedishRadioAidrespondedbyallocating75000

crownsnotingthat”thegrantshouldbeseenas

beingaoneoff”.133

Inordertocovertherestofthefundsneeded

sfca contactedthemagazineSvenskaJournalen

and they decided to print and distribute an 8-

pagefolderonthesituationofblindPalestinians

for their readers. It was also minuted that fs

wastakingincollectionsforthebenefitofblind

PalestiniansonitsstudyvisitstotheMiddleEast

InadditiontobeingincludedintheSvenska

Journalen,thefolderFrom darkness to lightprinted

in1971wassenttocongregationsinthehopethat

theinformativetextwouldleadpeopletogetin-

volved. sfca/Diakonia’s information has always

been like this. There have never been texts and

photosappealingtopeopleto‘feelsorryfor’and

be ‘charitable’. It has however been hoped that

factual information would result in increased

internationalinterest,includinggivingaswayof

beingfinanciallyresponsible.

In 1972 the school – the Gaza Strip First

RehabilitationCentrefortheBlind–wasinaugu-

rated. Israeli Minister of Social Welfare Michael

HazaniandArnoldHjertströmattendedtheinau-

guration.

Refugee 71

FollowingthehighlysuccessfulSwedishRadioAid

fundraisingcampaign,Refugee71 (See chapter 1

page41),theCommitteeaskedArnoldHjertström

togiveapresentationonrefugeeprojectsinthe

area.Previously,LeoLiljengren,whohadbeenap-

pointed as Campaign Secretary, had made a rec-

onnoitring visit to the Gaza region and met up

withHjertström,whointurnenabledcontactto

bemadewiththoseresponsibleatunrwa .In1967,

followingLiljengren’sreporttotheCommittee,it

hadbeendecidedtoimmediatelyallocate100,000

crownstotheirwork(1967§33).

Now, the Committee decided to give 515,000

crowns of the Swedish Radio Aid grant to un-

rwa ’srefugeeworkamongstPalestinianswithin

theIsraeliadministeredterritories(1971§89).The

moneywassentviathebankaccounthandledby

Hjertström.

Liljengren returned to Gaza and the West

Bank in June 1971, in order to plan the work to

be done. As a result a health clinic including a

maternity unit was built in a refugee camp in

Gazaandchemistryandphysicslaboratorieswere

equipped at high schools in Gaza. In addition,

the Society for the Care of Handicapped Children,

alsooperativeinGaza,receivedagranttobuilda

preschool for children with learning difficulties,

the Sun Daycare Center. There was also enough

money for the purchase of prosthetics, hearing

aids,wheelchairsforthoseparalysedinthewar,

and for grants or loans to individuals, groups or

cooperativeswhosetupbusinesses that in time

couldenablethemtobeself-sufficient.134

Aglertalsovisitedthearea.Werethefrequent

visits questioned? Perhaps that is why the min-

utesrecordthatFS´stravelagent, ‘Programresor’,

paidforhisvisit.HisreporttotheCommitteein-

cludedthefollowingtext:

13� 13�c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

helpisnotonlypersonalhelpforthepeoplereceivingit,

butalsohastheeffectofcreatingreconciliationbetween

peoples.”(1972§51)

MissionSecretaryGöstaHedberg,mccs ,request-

edasummary“ofalltheprojectsinwhichsfca

has been involved to give to the leaders of the

denominations” (1972 §74). Unfortunately there

isnonoteofthemotivationforhisrequest.Was

Hedberg having difficulty in defending sfca ’s

strongpresenceinthearea,orwasitthenumber

ofprojects,theirfocusorthetargetgroupforthe

projects’workthatrequiredfurtherclarification?

FollowingHedberg’srequest,theCommittee

decided that it was necessary to distribute in-

formation on sfca ’s current and planned work

amongst Palestinians. It was decided to print a

folder. In addition to sending the folder to the

congregations it was also to be distributed to

Swedish tourists in Israel. The material was col-

latedandonceagainSvenskaJournalenpaidfor

theprinting(1972§102).

A drawn out processTheextenttowhichsfca ’sworkwasappreciated

was highlighted in 1972 when both the occupy-

ing power and Palestinian organisations asked

sfca to take over responsibility for an institu-

tionforchildrenwithlearningdifficultiesonthe

WestBank.TheArab Orthodox Benevolent Society

(aobs)hadbegunbuildingavocationaltraining

schoolinthevillageofBeit-Jala,nearBethlehem.

The project was planned to include a boarding

school for around 100 Palestinian children with

learning difficulties, a day care centre and voca-

tionaltraining.However,alackoffundshadled

toconstructionbeinghalted.aobswasprepared

tohandoverconstructiontoanorganisationwith

theabilitytocompletethework,buthopedtobe

abletoparticipateasmuchaspossible.Thesocial

authoritieswerepreparedtosupporttheproject

onacontinuingbasis.Itwasestimatedthathalf

a million crowns were needed to complete con-

struction.Theproposaltosfcawasthatitshould

take part in running the project for five years,

withahandovertothelocalauthoritieshappen-

ingprogressivelyoverthoseyears(1972§50).

There was a drawn out process before the

planned institution was built. On this occasion

financeswerenottheproblem.Onthecontrary,

Sidawasverypositiveabouttheprojectfromthe

outset. The difficulty was in finding a suitable

partnerorganisation.Afteroneyearofplanning,

aobs withdrew. They had decided to take back

andcompletethehalfbuiltpremisesandstarta

tobaccofactoryinit.

Anewpartnerorganisationwasfound-the

voluntary organisation An Nahdah in Ramallah.

Theyhadworkedforalongtimeinthewholeof

the West Bank with social activities including a

day centre for children with learning dificulties.

Apartnercontractwassignedandthemoneyde-

manded back from aobs was transferred to An

Nahdah[orAnnahdaWomen’sAssociation,asit

cametobeknown].

Itwasdecidedthatanewbuildingandare-

”Swedenandsfca areinastrongpositiontocarryoutrec-

onciliationworkaspartofitsaidworkamongstthepopula-

tionofboththeWestBankandtheGazastrip.Palestinians

do not gladly receive help from Israel. unRWA isn’t par-

ticularlypopulareitherasitisseenasstandingfortheusa .

Swedenontheotherhandisacountryonegladlyreceives

helpfrom.InpartSwedenhasresourcesandinpartthere

isnofearofSweden’saideffortsbeingmotivatedbyany

significant political interests. sfcc ’s General Secretary

therefore hopes that the work with various projects for

PalestiniansintheIsraeliterritorywouldcontinue,asthis

SFCA have strong opportunities to facilitate reconciliation through aid work amongst the population of both the West

Bank and the Gaza Strip.

138 13�c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

Afive-yearapplicationfor8.6millioncrownswas

senttoSida.135Theapplicationwasturneddown

“due to the premises having an inappropriate

architectural design and to a lack of clarity and

uncertaintyabouttheproject’slongtermfinanc-

ing” (1976 §52). Aglert and Hedberg travelled to

theMiddleEastandhadthe taskofnegotiating

alternativesolutionswithAnnahda.Anewappli-

cationwasapprovedin1977andinthespringof

1980thenewcentrewasinaugurated.

Thestorycontinues.TheSidaapplicationof

1983reportsthatthebuilding,financedwithsup-

portfromsfca wasonlypartiallybeingused,due

tofinancialproblems.Inadditiontheorganisation

haddifficultiesincoveringtherunningcosts.136

Diakoniastill(2005)supportsAnnahda.

The Committee VisitsIt grew to be important that members of the

Committee visit the organisations being sup-

ported. Therefore, a visit to Syria, Jordan, Gaza

andJerusalemwasarrangedforMarch1976.Due

tounrestintheregion,thegroupwasdeniedper-

mission to visit Ramallah and the projects sup-

portedthere.BirgerDavidsson,HU,whopartici-

pated,describedhowheexperiencedthevisitas

politicallybiased.

HU’s theological interpretation was that Israel is God’s

chosen people, whilst Sigbert Axelson, who led the trip,

believedthatthecongregationisthepeopleofGod,unre-

latedtothestateofIsrael.sfca ’sworkwasfocusedonthe

Palestiniansandfromtheoutsettheprinciplewastosup-

portthosewhowereinmostneed.Andthatwasthedisa-

bled. Intheareawevisited itwasrevolutionarytospent

time with the disabled. People were almost embarrassed

bysomuchattention.Butthefamiliesgainedanotherper-

spectiveonthechildren.Andsfca/Diakoniahasdonea

really good deed in highlighting this and getting people

thinkinnewways.9

The work grewTheHeadofSocialServicesinGazahadtheim-

pressionthatsfcahadastrongcommitmentto

thesituationofchildren.Thisledhim,in1972,to

requestthatrefugeechildreninGazabeenabled

toattendholidaycamps.Thecampsweretotake

placedonIsraelilandandwouldgivePalestinian

childrentheopportunitytomeetIsraelichildren

andchildrenfromothercountries.Thisworkwas

fundedforseveralyears(1972§100).

TheworkoftheSun Day­care Centergrewand

in1976supportwasgivenforanextensioninclud-

ingfurtherclassrooms,anofficespaceandatrain-

ingworkshopforaround50children.Thecentre

hadapsychologistanda socialworker.Through

contactswhichStockholm’sDepartmentofSocial

Care,thesocialworkerwasinvitedtoSwedento

participateinasixmonthfurthertrainingcourse

in the care of people with learning difficulties

(1976§25).In1980theorganisation’sleader,Abu

Ghazaleh,wasinvitedtoSweden.

Another institution supported by sfca/

Diakonia for many years was the Four Homes of

Mercy.BerndtEkholmwasfirstcontactedwitha

requestforsupport.Hewrotehomeanddescribed

theprogramme,whichincludedcarefortheeld-

erly,chronicallyill,peoplewithlearningdifficul-

ties,andorphanedchildren.Theresultofthiswas

thatsfcasoughtSidafundsforacarehomefor35

childrenwithCerebralPalsy.Theamountgranted

wasjustoverhalfamillioncrowns.137

Atthistimesfcawasinclosecontactwiththe

MiddleEastCouncilofChurches,mecc .Thethree

newspapers, Christian in the Middle East,produced

in1980,weretranslatedintoArabicandplacedat

the mecc ’s disposal. One of the main issues cov-

eredwastheChristianpresenceandChristianwit-

ness in the conflict-ridden Middle East. In 1980

they arranged a conference on this theme and a

reportfromtheconferencewassenttosfca .The

Committee,togetherwithsfcc,decidedtoarrange

asimilarecumenicalconferenceinSweden.

vised programme should be planned. Personnel

fromtheDepartmentofSocialCareatStockholm

CityCouncilparticipatedinthework.Itwasim-

portanttohavearepresentativebasedinthearea

for the planning of the new institution. Berndt

Ekholm was appointed for the period 15/6/75 –

15/2/76inordertomanagetheworkwithprojects

intheMiddleEast(1975§61).

A group of girls

outside one

of the UNRWA

schools that

have received

support from

SFCA.

140 141c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

Information in SwedenInparallel tosupportingprojectsontheground

itwasextremelyimportanttodistributeinforma-

tion and raise awareness about the situation in

theMiddleEastinSweden.WhenGöranJonsson

returnedtoSwedenfromBangladeshin1977,he

wasemployedattheofficeinÄlvsjöamongstoth-

erthingstoproduceinformationmaterials.

Thespringcampaignof1978,themedFleeing

was an important opportunity to distribute in-

formationaboutthesituationofrefugeesinthe

Middle East. This group among others was pre-

sentedinafoldertookthattooktheformofan

worn out passport and in a poster exhibition. A

studymanualwaswrittenincooperationwithFS

lookingatwhypeoplebecomerefugeesandhow

refugeeslive.TheCommitteealsodecidedtopro-

duceaslideshow,Born Without Peace,onthesitu-

ationintheMiddleEast.Sidaprovidedagrantfor

theproduction.

It is apparent from the text accompanying

the slide show that it was assumed that many

Christians inSwedenwentontouristandstudy

tripstotheHolyLand.

ApilgrimagetotheHolyLandcanneverbereducedtoa

tripintothepast.Itplacesusinbrutalcontactwithwar,

unrest, political intrigues and suffering people. Things

werethesameinJesustime,nearlytwothousandyearsago.

Then it was Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus who were

withoutpeace,andfledtoaforeignland…(Slide6)

[…] Today it is the Palestinians, who are stuck be-

tweenpoliticsandastruggleforpower.Almostfourmil-

lion Palestinians, have been refugees for thirty years, of

these1.7millionhaveunrefugeestatus.(Slide7).

In1980theinformationmaterialswereexpanded

toincludethreepostersonthethemeChristian in

the Middle East,thatwereprintedandsenttocon-

gregations.Thefirstnewspapergaveanoverview

ofdevelopments in the regionfromJesus’birth

tothepresentday.Amapshowedthenumberof

Christiansineachcountry.Theseconddescribed

the emergence and splintering of the churches.

Thethirdnewspaperprovidedinformationabout

educationalprojectssupportedbysfca inwhich

ChristiansandMuslimsworkedtogether.

Development continuedsfca approved an application from the World

Council of Churches for financial support for

the periodical ‘Report on the Palestinians under

IsraeliRule‘,whichwasissuedbyaJewishpublish-

inghouseinParis.Reportsintheperiodicalwere

compiledfromnewsfromtheArabicandHebraic

pressanddescribedthesituationofPalestinians

inIsraelandtheoccupiedterritories.Theperiodi-

cal was distributed to organisations, universities

andjournalistsallovertheworld.Aconsultation

onJerusalemandtheMiddleEast,alsoontheini-

tiativeofthewcc ,receivedsupport.

Itwasatthistime,in1981,thatsfcabegan

togivegrantstoalocalfundtosupportfamilies

punishedbytheIsraelioccupiersonsuspicionof

politicalcrimes.Thepunishmentwasofteninthe

formofblowinguptheirhome.138

Support to theWestBankandGazacontin-

ued throughout the 1980s throughexistingpart-

nerorganisations.Thefocusremainedonchildren

withlearningdifficulties.

The MUMS ProgrammeFor many years the American Friends Service

Committee AFSC (the Quakers), in cooperation

withtheQuakersinSweden,operatedpre-schools

andaspecialprogrammeforthepupilsmothers.

Both of these initiatives received support from

sfca .Theworkwascharacterisedbyahighqual-

ityofcontentbutlackedsufficientmaterialsand

equipment.

The Quakers had begun looking into creat-

ingincomegeneratingopportunitiesthroughan

employment programme, such as a workshop or

small factory. It was hoped that the profit from

thiscouldbeusedtorunthepreschoolprogramme.

sfca thought this an interesting suggestion, as

it might create a future work place for some of

theyoungpeoplewith learningdifficultieswho

completed their education at the Sun Day-care

Center.

TheHebrewUniversityofJerusalemhadde-

velopedamethodforenablingmotherstoteach

smallchildrenvariousskills,theso-calledMUMS

Programme (Mother’s Understanding Method of

Schooling).Theprogrammeincludedtheability

toidentifycoloursandshapes,sizesandnumbers,

toorientthemselvesinaroomandtobuildupfine

motorskillswithscissorsandpens.TheQuakers

weregivenpermissiontotranslatethematerialto

ArabicandadaptittothesituationofPalestinian

refugees. It was important that small children,

whooften lived inhighlymeagreenvironments,

wereenabledtolearntheseskills.Skillstheywere

assumedtohaveuponstartingschool.

250childrenparticipatedoveraperiodof30

weeks. During the programme, project leaders

keptinclosecontactwithallofthemothers,and

the mothers received a workbook. It was impor-

tantthatthemotherstoplaytheirpartinthework.

Discussionplayedacentralroleintheprogramme

142 143c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

andimprovednotonlythechild’slanguageskills,

butalsothemother’svocabulary.Thisprocessled

the participating mothers to gain an increased

sense of self-worth and a sense of satisfaction,

whichinturnstimulatedtheirpersonaldevelop-

ment. sfca ’s support for the project continued

formanyyears.139ThemumsProgrammewasalso

carriedout at apreschool in a refugeecampon

theWestBank,againwithsupportfromsfca .

Therewereplanstoexpandthisprogramme

withanemploymentproject forwomen. Inaddi-

tion to creating work in the economically under-

developedGaza,thisprovidedacertainamountof

localincomefortheongoingprojects.Cooperation

withtheQuakerscontinueduntil1994.

The Ecumenical Youth Centre in Beit SahourEcumenicalyouthworkhadbeen setup inBeit

Sahourwithparticipantsfrommostoftheortho-

doxandprotestantchurches.Mostchurches,how-

ever,lackedchildren’sandyouthworkandyoung

peopledidn’thaveagrouptofindsupportorto

feelathomein.Thiswasan importantneed,as

the occupation created enormous psychological

pressuresonyoungpeople.Whensfcacameinto

contactwiththegroupitcomprised150Christian

youngpeople.

The work included bible studies and discus-

sionsabout theChristianfaith.Theaimwas to

increase the young people’s awareness of their

Palestinianidentity,enablingthemtofeelproud

of being Christian Palestinians and of living on

‘holyground’. Itwashopedthat thismighthelp

prevent young people from emigrating to other

countries,aprocesswhichhadseriouslyaffected

thePalestinianchurches.Theworkalsoaimedto

reachouttotheIsraelioccupierswithChristian

love,nothate.

sfcaapprovedanapplicationforsupportforan-

otheryouthcentre.There,Christian,Muslimand

Jewishyoungpeoplecouldaccesslanguagecours-

esinArabicandHebrew.

The education was primarily run by unpaid vol-

unteers. They had received permission to start

work from the Israeli Department of Education

inBethlehem,permissionthatwouldbegranted

foroneyearatatime.

The paperwork given to the Committee for

theirdecisiondescribesthythesupporthadtobe

interrupted:

Theapplicationwasduetobehandedinduringthefirst

weekofDecember1981.On14Novembersomethinghap-

pened that changed everything. Some Arab teenagers

threwhomemadepetrolbombs,knownasMolotovcock-

tails,attwoIsraelibusespassingBeitSahour.Inadditionto

theyoungpeoplebeingarrestedandlatertried,theIsraeli

armycarriedouttheirownreprisalsonthenightbetween

15and16November.Thehousesownedbytheparentsof

thearrestedteenagerswereblownup.

At midnight, soldiers came to the Rock family’s

houseandgavetheresidents2hourstomovethemselves

andtheirpossessions.TheIsraelis‘helped’withthemove

bythrowingthefurnitureoveratwometrehighdrop,re-

sultinginthefurniturebreaking.140

It was important for the moth-

ers to play their part in the work.

Conversations played a central

role in the programme and im-

proved not only the child’s lan-

guage skills, but also the mother’s

vocabulary.

144 145c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

Peace PrizeIn 1983, the sfca Committee decided to high-

lightthestruggleforpeaceintheMiddleEastby

awarding sfca ’s Peace Prize to the organisation

The Israeli Council for Israeli­Palestinian Peaceand

itsleaderAviOz.Thefollowingmotivationswere

givenfortheCommittee’sdecision:

1. Wewishtohighlightagroupstrivingforpeaceinthe

currentconflictintheMiddleEast.

2. WewishtoinfluenceSwedishpublicopinionbycall-

ingattentiontogroupswithinIsraelthatarestriving

forpeace,andthuscounteractacompletelynegative

imagebeingpaintedoftheJewishpeople.

3. We want to give the peace movement in Israel the

recognition it deserves in the difficult situation it

nowfindsitselfinafterthewarinLebanon.

In preparatory documents for the decision, sent

out in 1982, fears that the prize might lead to

coolerrelationsbetweensfcaandtheIsraeliau-

thoritieswerementioned.Itmight leadtosome

difficultiesfortheaidwork.Atthesametimeit

wasstatedthatsfcaalreadyhadafairlycoolrela-

tiontotheseauthorities,asithadinsistedonan

independentchoiceofprojectsandpartners,and

had then largely chosen to work with organisa-

tionswhichhadnotfoundfavourintheeyesof

theIsraeliadministration.WhenAviOz,Professor

attheUniversityofTelAviv,cametoSwedento

receivethePrizeitwasgivenoutinsfcc ’sname,

byitsChairpersonGöstaHedberg(1982§16).

Another visit by the Committee AsnewmembersjoinedtheCommittee,theneed

toformafirsthandimpressionoftheworkbeing

supportedaroseagain.Itwasthereforedecidedto

goona jointvisit to theWestBankandGaza in

May1985.Duetotheseverepoliticalunrestinthe

areathevisitwasdelayed.Itwasalmosttwoyears

beforethevisitcouldbeundertaken,inthespring

of1987.

New Swedish Radio Aid AppealThe extremely severe refugee situation across

theworld,partlycausedbydroughtinAfricaand

war in Afghanistan, together with very positive

memoriesfromthecampaignof1971,ledSwedish

RadioAidtoplananothercampaignfortheben-

efitofrefugeesfor1986.Diakoniawerecontacted,

aswereSavetheChildrenSweden,theRedCross

andChurchofSwedenAid.Diakoniaacceptedthe

invitationtoparticipate.TheCommitteedecided

toappointaproject leaderandtoallocatefunds

forinformationmaterials(1984/85§57,§135).

Thefundraisingwentverywell:65.5million

crownswereraised.OfthisDiakoniareceived15

million crowns. The annual report of 86/87 de-

scribeshowthemoneywasn’ttheonlyimportant

result. Information about the refugee situation

intheworldwasgivenagreatdealofcoveragein

themediaduringthecampaign.”Swedishpeople

realised that refugeeswerenot justan innumer-

ablemasswaitingtosweepinoverSweden’sbor-

ders. For many it was an eye opener to discover

thatonlyatinyproportionofthe15millionrefu-

gees living around the world come to our coun-

try”.ThecampaignalsomeantalotforDiakonia.

”Fromhavingbeenarelativelyunknownorganisa-

tion,manypeoplerealisedthatDiakoniawasabig

developmentagencywithmanyqualities”.141

Project development

Moredetailedinformationaboutthesituationin

GazawasgiventotheCommitteewhenanumber

ofprojectdecisionshadtobemadeattheirmeet-

ing in February 1986. By way of introduction it

wasstatedthatsupporthadalwaysbeengivento

projectsthatweretheinitiativeoflocalorganisa-

tionsandthataimedtoincreasetheeconomicin-

dependenceofthelocalpopulation.Supporthad

alsoaimedtohelpvulnerablepopulationgroups

with particular needs such as children, disabled

people, people with learning difficulties and

elderly people. During its 15 years in the region

unrwahad the taskofdevelopingprojects that

wouldenablethePalestinianpopulationtowards

economic independence. They had not succeed-

ed;unemploymentintheoccupiedterritorieswas

still very high. A positive initiative was a work-

shop producing school uniforms started by the

Quaker Service, in which Diakonia participated

byprovidingastartupgrant.Around30women

gainedworkatthefactory.

Anotherproject,alsomotivatedbyhighun-

employmentlevels,wassupportforthegrowing

and development of the Jojoba plant. Desmond

Carragher,Diakonia’sMiddleEastSecretary,was

in contact with the Arab Scientific Institute for

Research,whichworkedwithcreatingindustries

from the oil-bearing plant. The project applica-

tion presented a scenario in which the Jojoba

plant could play a whole new role within the

farmingsector.Theplantwassaidtobeatough

and profitable oil plant, as it was harvested ear-

lierthantheolivetreeandwasmoredroughtre-

sistant.Atthepointofapplication80,000plants

hadbeenplantedatanumberofnurserieswith

around20small-scalefarmersand10workersem-

14� 14�c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

ployed(1985/86§114).Theprojectcontinueduntil

themid1990s.

With the grant from Swedish Radio Aid

Refugee 86 fundraising campaign, Diakonia was

abletoprovidesupportforexistingprojectsand

establish new contacts. International Christian

Committee (icc) became a new partner. In the

village of Nuba, appropriate premises were pro-

vided for the village’s health care services with

Diakonia contributing 40 percent of the costs

andthevillagers60percent.iccalsochannelled

supporttoprovidewaterandelectricitysupplies

neededinfourvillages,necessarybothtoimprove

healthandincreaseincomes.

Cooperation with the Middle East Council

ofChurches (mecc)became increasingly impor-

tant. As an international development agency

theycouldinitiatenewactivitiessomethinglocal

organisationswere forbiddenfromdoingby the

Israeli occupiers. Using funds from Refugee 86,

theybuiltalanguage-learningstudioforEnglish.

Languagestudiescouldbeofferedtoallstudents

participating in mecc ’s vocational training.

Trainedacademicscouldalsobegiventheoppor-

tunityforlanguagelearningaspartofimproving

their ability to compete for work opportunities

bothwithinandbeyondtheGazastrip.

The first IntifadaThepoliticalproblemsoftheregionwerecompli-

cated. The Palestinian right to self-rule collided

with Israel’s right to safety and security. Israel’s

occupationoftheWestBankandGazastripheld

thePalestiniansinpovertyandmanypeoplelived

withouttheabilitytoevenhavetheirmostfunda-

mentalhumanrightsfulfilled.

ConflictsbetweenthePalestinianandIsraeli

authoritiesontheWestBankandGazastripinten-

sifiedinthelate1980s.In1987thePalestinianup-

risingknownastheIntifadabrokeout.Thefight-

ingwhich lasteduntil thebeginningofthe1990s,

betweenthewellequippedIsraeliarmy,andforthe

mostpart,stonethrowingPalestinianyouths, led

to thedeathofmanyhundredsofpeople and to

thousandsbeinginjured.Manyinjuriesledtolife

longdisability.Peoplewerekidnapped,heldincus-

todywithouttrialorexecuted.Peoplewereforced

tostayinbombsheltersforlongperiodsorlimited

intheirmovementsbycurfews.Thisledpeopleto

losetheirincomes.Forlongperiodspeoplelacked

accesstofood,water,heating,healthcareandsocial

assistance.Hundredsofthousandsofchildrenand

universitystudentslostfurtheryearsoftheirbasic

education.Moreandmorelosthopethattheirlives

wouldimproveinanymeaningfulway,andthose

thatcouldemigratedorfledtheirhomes.

Thevariousinternationaleffortstobringabouta

peaceconferencefaileddespitetheplo ’schange

inpositiontovariousunresolutions.Israel’sim-

migrationpolicyandbarelymaskedplanstoset-

tleimmigrantsintheoccupiedterritoriescreated

further barriers to the peace process and to the

peacefulresolutionoftheconflict.

Swedish Foreign Minister Sten Andersson

visitedtotheregioninspring1988.Thevisitled

himto inviteDiakoniatotakeresponsibilityfor

the establishment of a rehabilitation , centre.142

After much consultation Diakonia, Sida, the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Sweden and the

Patients Friend´s SocietyontheWestBankagreed

to enter into cooperation. This was to become

Diakonia’ssinglelargestprojectever.

”The region’s political crises and military

conflictshavecontributedtoworseningeconom-

ic,socialandculturalsituationforthemajorityof

thoselivinginthecrisishitareas”.143 Theneedfor

supportivemeasuresforthoseaffectedroseasthe

violenceescalated.Thephysicalinjuriesresulting

from the Intifada created the need for special-

isedhospitalequipment.Ahli Ahli Arab Hospital,

in Gaza, Makassed Hospital in Ramallah, and

the Princess Basma Jerusaalem Crippled Children

Centre (ICCC) received large grants for the pur-

chase of equipment. The grants meant a signifi-

cant increase in the volume of Diakonia’s work

andtheadditionofnewpartners.

Abu Raya Rehabilitation Centre

Theprojectbeganwithplanningfortherebuild-

ingandextensionofaschoolbuildinginRamalla

that had never come into use. After this equip-

ment was purchased for what would become

theAbu Raya Rehabilitation and Training Centre.

The total project cost was estimated at 23 mil-

lion crowns. Ivan Magnusson, together with his

wife Agneta, was appointed to lead the project.

Diakonia’sBoardwereconstantlyinformedofthe

work’sprogress.

Magnussonreportedthathehadbegunplan-

ning the construction work and that the whole

projectcouldbedividedintofourparts:

• DeliveryofcertainequipmenttoMakassedHospital

andtheCrippledChildrenCentre

• RehabilitationcentreinRamallah

• Swedishpersonnel

• Coordination and development interventions (1989

§186).

AnationaldirectorwasappointedandaBoard,in-

cludingMagnusson,waschosentoleadthework.

148 14�

Dr Dajhani at

Makassed Hospital

was one of those

treating the

physical injuries

resulting from the

Intifada.

c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

Throughouttheconstructionphase itwas impor-

tant toplanwithaviewto localpartner in time

taking over responsibility for the entirety of the

work. This hand over took place successively in

1993/94.

The rebuilding of the centre was begun at

the same time as the centre’s work programme

wasbeingplanned.ItwasdecidedthatAbuRaya

Hospitalwouldspecialiseinspinalinjuries,which

affectedanincreasingnumberofPalestiniansdue

togunshotwounds.

TheworktorecruitSwedishpersonnel(who

wereneededfromtheplanningstage)tookplace

simultaneously.3physiotherapists,3occupational

therapists, 2 nurses and a doctor were appointed.

They came to mean a great deal for the develop-

mentofthecentre.Localpersonnel(whoworked

in parallel with the Swedish personnel) were ap-

pointedatthesametime.In1995theworkwasen-

tirelyrunbyPalestinianpersonnelforthefirsttime.

WhentheGulfWarbrokeoutatthebegin-

ningof1991,thecentrewasclosedandforsecurity

reasonsSwedishpersonnelwerecalledhomefor

afewmonths.Duringthisperiodthecentrewas

usedasanaccidentandemergencyunit.

TheorthopaedicworkshopatPrincess Basma

Hospital(theorganisationhadchangednameinto

Jerusalem Disabled Children Centre)wasenabled

to send two Palestinian orthopaedic technicians

toSwedenfor5weeksofstudyandtraining.This

led to cooperation with the nursing/healthcare

collegeinJönköping,Sweden.Acooperationthat

was to last for several years. The rehabilitation

project was granted exemption from duties on

theimportoforthopaedicaids(1989§84).

Itbecameapparentthattherewasatotallack

of coordination between rehabilitation projects

in the region, something to which Sida also re-

acted.Thedifficultywasthattherewasneithera

clearpictureofthenumberofdisabledpeoplein

thecountry,noraclearpictureoftheneedforas-

sistanceandhowtheseneedscouldbemet.Atthe

same time there were a large number of institu-

tionsworkingwithrehabilitation.Itwassuggested

thatDiakoniainitiateastudytoidentifywhatthe

needs for assistance actually were. This was car-

ried out in cooperation with the universities in

BethlehemandBerzeit.Thisprocessledtoanation-

alcommitteeforrehabilitationbeingformed,com-

posedofexpertsandelectedrepresentatives.This

proved important in future coordination efforts.

It was during this study that Diakonia and

the Norwegian Association of Disabled recog-

nisedtheimportanceofcoordinatingtheirwork

withrehabilitation.Cooperationbeganandcon-

tinuestothisday(year2005).

The rehabilitation centre was opened at a

joyfulinaugurationceremonyattendedbyDiako-

nia’s director Karl-Axel Elmquist, amongst oth-

ers,on12June1991(1991§25).144 Initiallyonlyday

patientswerecaredfor,however,graduallythe34

bedspaceswerealsofilled.145 Theworkwashighly

successfulasitgeneratednewknowledgeandde-

velopedtreatmentmethodswhichhadnotprevi-

ouslybeenusedintheoccupiedterritories.

A rehabilitationcentre such as the one in Ramallah can-

notfunctioninisolation.Ifthereisnothing‘before’and

‘after’therehabilitation,thecentrewillbeunabletowork

150 151

One very positive contribu-

tion to the rehabilitation work

was the support given to The

Palestinian Federation for the

Disabled Sports.

c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

accordingtoitsstatedgoals.Itcaneasilybecomeaconva-

lescenthomeoralong-termhospitalinsteadofanactive

rehabilitationcentre.Ifthereisnofollowupwithpatients

intheirhomeenvironment,noemploymentcreationand

nosatisfactoryhousing,therehabilitationprovidedbythe

centrecanbetotallywasted.146

Wheneverythingwasupandrunning,theperson-

nel trained and the equipment installed the big

questionaboutsupportforfutureprojectsarose.

ElmquistsharedwiththeCommitteetheoffice’s

suggestion that, if future support for Gaza and

theWestBankwastocontinuetobebasedupon

Diakonia’s basic policy of supporting the most

vulnerable,projectsshouldfocusonchildren,re-

habilitationoftheinjuredandemployment(1990

§125). Rehabilitation referred not only to health

care and therapy, but also to adl-training, em-

ploymentcreation,vocational training,mobility,

homeadaptationsetc.Here,thenewmethodolo-

gyofcbr ,Community Based Rehabilitation,came

toplayaveryimportantrole.Diakoniapartnersin

othercountriesalsousedthecbrprogramme.

Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR)Theaimofthecbrprogrammeistoenabledisa-

bledpeopleandpeoplewithlearningdifficulties

toliveasanintegratedpartofsociety.Thecorner-

stoneofthecbrwayofworkingisthatvillages

and local communities own the process. Local

committeesareappointedinthecommunitiesto

leadthework.Theworkbeginswithknockingon

doors andmapping thenumberofdisabledpeo-

ple and their needs for assistance. Statistics are

drawnupfromthemappingandprojectsarethen

plannedon thebasisof these.People’s attitudes

todisabilityareinfluencedbyprovidinginforma-

tioninschools,day-care,preschoolsandtoteach-

ers, employers, community groups and the gov-

ernment.IntheWestBankandGazathismeant

Diakoniaprovidingsupporttoitspartnerstoedu-

cate disabled people themselves, their families,

neighbours and local community.147 How a poor

homecouldbeadapted foradisabledperson re-

turningfromAbuRayawasdiscussed.Wasitpos-

sible to build a rampfor the wheelchair? Could

the wheelchair get into the bathroom? cbr per-

sonneldiscussedtheseandotherquestionswith

thefamilies.148

In1990Diakoniabeganplanningacbrpro-

grammetobecarriedoutbyanexistingpartner,

butalsowithotherinstitutionsandorganisations.

The National Committee for Rehabilitation,

which Diakonia had initiated, gained an impor-

tant function in coordination. In cooperation

withBethlehemUniversity,acoursewasplanned

and a study guide put together. The university

gaveparticipantsacertificateoncompletingthe

course. Priority was given to participants from

Gaza,wheretheneedwasgreatest (1991§26). 16

people participated and became responsible for

the long term planning of the work. Paediatric

careworkwascarriedoutbasedatPrincessBasma

Hospital.

Oncetheworkhadgotunderwayitbecame

clear that thecbrprogrammeformedanatural

partoftherehabilitationprogrammeandthatthe

twoprogrammesshouldbeheldtogether.Theap-

plicationtoSidaof1994describesthisasathree

tieredstructure:local,regionalandnationallevel.

At the local level, where resources are most lim-

ited,thecbrprogrammeformsthemainpartof

theprogramme.Atregionallevelprimaryhealth

care is the most important aspect and includes

physiotherapy, certain institutions and special

schools.

Atthenationalleveltherewerethreeinstitu-

tions:AbuRayaRehabilitationCenter(primarily

for those with spinal injuries), Princess Basma

Center for Disabled Children and Bethlehem

ArabSocietyforPhysicallyHandicapped,acentre

forchildrenandadultsinBeitJala(1994§99).

152 153c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

InJune1994Sidaapprovedanapplicationforthe

entirerehabilitationprogrammeforathree-year

period,atacostof36,630,000crowns.Inthatyear,

thecbrprogramme in itsentiretyworkedwith

approx. 500,000 people through 17 different or-

ganisations.

One very positive contribution to the re-

habilitation work was the support given to The

Palestinian Federation for the Disabled Sports.

The need for free time activities was obvious

from all the young boys injured in the Intifada

whoreceivedcareatthecentreandthenreturned

to society. It appeared that the disabled were a

completely neglected group. Cooperation with

and support for the Palestinian disabled sports

movement was a much appreciated and impor-

tantcomplement to theothercareprovided.As

aresultyoungpeoplebornwithdisabilitiesalso

found the courage to get involved in disabled

sports(1994§100).Theactivitiesprovedtobeim-

portantinstrengtheninglocaldemocracywhilst

atthesametimeprovidingmuchneededmutual

supportandfriendshipinthegroups,andasense

of identityandself-worth.Oneofthemanyno-

table events organised was the wheelchair rally

onthestreetsofRamallah,anactivitythatwould

havebeenimpossiblebeforetheIntifada.

The Gulf War In September 1990, Carragher gave a detailed

report to Diakonia’s Committee on the situa-

tion caused by the so-called Gulf War. As Arafat

hadtakenthesideofSaddamHusseininthewar,

PalestiniansworkingasguestworkersinotherArab

stateswerethrownout.TheirreturntotheWest

BankandGazamadeanalreadydifficultsituation,

withsevereovercrowdingandhighlevelsofunem-

ployment,worse.Asguestworkerstheyhadbeen

abletosendmoneyhometotheirfamilies.Their

incomesdisappeared,asdidthefinancialsupport

thatotherArabstateshadgiventothePalestinians.

When the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

learnedaboutthisDiakonia,amongstothers,was

givenagrantof10millioncrownstobesharedbe-

tweenoldandnewpartners(1990§44).

AsaresultofCarragher’sreport,theCommit-

teedecidedtogiveheadofficethetaskofactively

monitoring developments in the crisis zone and

in the countries where guest workers had been

based.Ifnecessary,aspecialdisastergroupwasto

beformedattheoffice.

Whenthewarbrokeoutin1991,thesituation

becameverydifficultnotonlyinthewarzone,but

inthewholeMiddleEast.Severerestrictionson

communicatingandtravellingoutsidetheMiddle

East region were introduced. Elmquist reported

to the Committee that the strict censorship of

information in the war zone meant that no in-

formationwasgettingthrough.Hehadtherefore

made contact with the wcc and mecc in order

toreceiverapidmessagesaboutcomingneedsfor

aid(1991§72).

New partners addedAsisapparentfromtheearlierdescriptionofthe

Quakers’workinGaza,theoccupyingpowerop-

posed the development of Palestinian organisa-

tions that involve individuals in projects aiming

totakeresponsibilityforthestructuresandissues

faced by local communities. Such organisations

wereconsideredpoliticalandthereforeathreatto

Israel’sinterests.ThismotivatedDiakoniatofocus

itsdevelopmentassistanceworkintheMiddleEast

increasingly on organisational and leadership de-

velopmentinvoluntaryorganisationsandonsup-

port for partners working to influence local and

nationaldevelopment.Cooperation,coordination

and experience exchange between local and na-

tionalorganisationsreceivedincreasedsupport.149

Two new organisations received support

from 1991. One was Aid To The Aged (atta),

whichhelpedolderpeoplebyproviding‘Mealson

Wheels’ and healthcare via community workers,

mostofwhomwerevolunteers.Theotherwasthe

GalileeSocietyforHealthResearchandServices,

which worked with primary health care for the

Bedouin population in the Negev area. As they

livedinsocalled”unrecognisedvillages”medical

serviceswerealmostnon-existent.Thenumberof

disabledpeoplewithinthisgroupwashigh(1992

§66). Within five years, support from Diakonia

hadenabled14villagestobeequippedwithdental

clinics, two day-care centres to be set up and 21

villagestobeprovidedwithsewagefacilities.150

In 1991 apartnershipwasentered intowith

theGazaCommunityMentalHealthProgramme

(gcmhp). Unemployment, poverty, poor hous-

ingandsanitaryconditionsandterribletechnical

infrastructureaffected thementalhealthof the

population.AstudyshowedthattheIntifadahad

psychologicallyinfluencedmorethan50percent

of the people. Culturally, many questions were

askedaboutchildrenbornwithphysicalormen-

taldisabilities.Therewereparentswhoregarded

these children as a shame on the family. A pro-

grammeofgrouptherapywasprovidedforpeople

who were identified through home visits in the

community. gcmhp had set up four clinics, of

whichonewasawomen’sclinicatwhichvictims

ofviolence,primarilychildrenandyoungpeople

butalsoadultwomenwhohadbeensubjectedto

154 155

Through positive reading experiences the child-

ren could find help in dealing with their situa-

tion, discover new ways of imagining and play-

ing, be stimulated in their development and

generally improve their circumstances in life.

c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

aggressionfromhusbandsorsons,werereceived

andtreated.Theorganisationalsohadaneduca-

tional programme, primarily directed at doctors,

teachers and nursery school personnel, aimed at

preventingviolence.151

The children’s book projectIn 1991 another project that is still running was

started.AgnetaMagnusson,employedinJerusalem,

wrote a letter informing Diakonia’s Board (1992

§67)aboutthetotallackofchildren’sliteraturein

Arabic.ShefeltthataschildreninboththeWest

BankandtheGazaStriplivedwithsuchdifficult

experiences from the war the need for imagina-

tivestorieswasenormous.Children’sbookswould

also help develop children’s language and under-

standing.

MonaHenning,ownerofpublishersDalAl-

Muna in Djursholm, Sweden, had started pub-

lishing Swedish children’s books translated into

Arabic.Magnusson’ssuggestionwasthatagrantbe

givenforthepurchaseofthesebooks.Theresult

ofthisfirsteffortwasverypositiveandledtothe

project being significantly expanded. ”Through

positive reading experiences children can find

helpindealingwiththeirsituation,discovernew

waysof imaginingandplaying,bestimulated in

their development and generally improve their

circumstances in life“ stated the application to

Sida of 2004. The community outreach work of

thecbrprogrammealsoledtoalargenumberof

children and young people in remote forgotten

villagesgainingaccesstobooks.

The programme was expanded to include

three aspects:production,purchasingandactivi-

tiestopromotereading.Productionincludedboth

supportfor locallypublishedbooks,andcourses

for authors and illustrators. Books were bought

both locally and from Sweden. The country’s

national goal was for each child to have access

to one book. There was no strong habit of read-

ingandDiakoniagaveorganisationsandschools

support for readingcampaigns.152 Inrecentyears

thishas led to theformationofabroadlybased

referencegroupfocusingoneducationalmethod-

ology.Furthertraininghasbeengiventoauthors

ofeducationalchildren’sbooksatBethlehemand

Najjah Universities. The Ministry of Culture in

Palestinehasestablishedanationalplanforchil-

dren’sliteratureandthePalestinianauthors’asso-

ciationhasstartedpublishingchildren’sbooksin

complementtopublishersDalAl-Munas.Atday

carecentresandschoolsanincreasingfocusisbe-

ingplacedonreading.153

Palestinian Liberation Theology In 1996 a new partnership was formed with an

organisation called sabeel (meaning ”the road”

or ”the well”). sabeel is anecumenicalorganisa-

tionformedbyagroupoftheologianswhodevel-

opedaPalestinianliberationtheologytobespread

amongstchurchesintheArabworld.Thesituation

intheregionmadeitdifficulttobeaChristianand

asaresultthechurchesintheregionwereshrinking

duetoemigrationtotheWest.AsaChristianor-

ganisation,sabeel wasimportantwhenDiakonia

gatheredtogetherpartnersintheregionforjoint

consultations.TheparticipationofChristiansin

thefightagainstIsraelioccupationwasnotwide-

lyknownintheMuslimworld.Therewasaneed

to increase in trust and understanding between

ChristianArabsandtherestoftheArabworld.

The Palestinian State In1991,IsraelandPalestineenteredintonewpeace

negotiations. The usa succeeded in bringing the

twopartiestoaconferenceinMadrid.Whenthe

15� 15�

Several massive suicide bombs in February

1��� led to seven Palestinian cities being

blockaded and people being cut off from

work places, hospitals and schools.

c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

talks were aroused when the Nobel peace prize

was given to Arafat-Rabin-Peres in 1993. And of

coursetalkscontinueddespitealltheterrorattacks.

Butindividualpeoplecouldseenodifference.The

blockades of Gaza and the West Bank continued.

Thisbroughtaboutamajorriseinunemployment

asonlyafewPalestiniansweregivenpermissionto

enterIsraeltowork.In1993,Diakoniaenteredinto

apartnershipwiththeInternational Center for Peace

in the Middle East, icpme,inTelAviv,whichworks

tocreatetrustbetweenIsraelisandPalestinians.

The new government in Israel surprised many with its

hardstanceinrelationstothePalestinians.Continuedsup-

portfromthenewgovernmentintheusa amongstother

thingsintheformofunderwritingloansforsettlements

onoccupiedterritorywasalsosurprising.155

Inadditiontotheexistingstronginvolvementin

disabilityandsocialissues,Diakonia’ssupportto

the region became increasingly focused on pro-

grammes for human rights, democracy, non-vio-

lenceandreconciliation.

ThemurderofPrimeMinisterYitzhakRabin

in 1995 was the culmination of a long hate-cam-

paignagainsthispoliticsofpeace.In1996thepeace

processhaltedforlongperiodsandwaswrittenoff

asdeadonseveraloccasionsaftersomeoftheblood-

iest fighting in decades. The subsequent election

broughttheLikudpartyandNetanyahutopower.

ThethemeofDiakonia’sspringcampaignof

1996wasThey build where war hasdestroyed. The

textonthefolder,”withtearsandhopewebuild

ourfuture”summarisedtheattitudesandfeelings

ofthevulnerablepeopleoftheWestBank.156

Despite the halted peace process, the Pale-

stinianswereabletocarryouttheplannedelection

in1996.YassirArafatwaselectedpresidentwith87

percentofthevotes.Responsibilityforeducation,

culture,healthcare,socialcareandtaxationwastak-

enoverbythePalestiniansontheWestBank.Hope,

enthusiasmandfaithindemocracywere,however,

dampenedaspeoplesawthePalestinianauthority

develop in a highly undemocratic way – as a tra-

ditional ‘Arabdictatorship’withone strongman

controlling everything. Major internal conflicts

arosewithin theplo, suchas, forexample,when

thehumanrightsactivistand leaderof theGaza

Community Mental Health Programme, Eyad

Sarraj,wasarrested. Israelalsohadageneralelec-

tion in this year and Likud led by Benyamin

NetanyahuwonaslimvictoryovertheLabourParty.

Thetugofwarforfundsfromdonorcountries

wasintensive.HealthcareontheWestBankand

inGazahadlargelybeenrunbyvoluntaryorgani-

sations.Theseorganisationshadfewereconomic

LabourPartycametopowerin1992allnewsettle-

ment projects were halted. With the help of me-

diatorsfromNorwaythegovernmentnegotiatedin

secretwiththeploandinSeptember1993theso-

calledOsloAccordswassignedinWashington.The

agreement gave the Palestinians limited self-rule

ontheWestBankandinGaza.Theplo formally

recognisedIsrael’srighttoexistwithinsecurebor-

dersandIsraelrecognisedtheploasrepresentatives

ofthePalestinianpeopleforthefirsttime.

After the change of government in Israel

in 1993, relations between the Israelis and the

Palestinians hardened. The blockade of the oc-

cupiedterritoriesworsenedthesituationforthe

Palestinians and created even higher unemploy-

ment. The result was continuing Intifada activ-

ity. In addition to continuing to support work

withdisabledpeopleandrehabilitationforthose

injured in the war through previously estab-

lished partnerships, Diakonia entered into one

new partnership with a voluntary organisation

called Physicians for Human Rights (phr). phr

workedtofighthumanrightsabuses,particularly

in the field of medicine. They published stud-

ies highlighting the severe health issues facing

Palestinians. They also provided legal assistance

whenabuseshadbeencommitted.154

Many people’s hopes for intensified peace

resources and therefore had to coordinate their

work,orletthestatetakeover.Diakoniatriedto

contributetothedevelopmentofsimplemodels,

whichwererealisticforcommunitiesfacingfur-

therreductionsinaid.Evenifastrongstatewas

necessary,itwasimportantnottodeconstructthe

158 15�

The UN International Court of Justice in the Hague pointed out that the placing of the wall

on occupied territory is illegal and that Israel must demolish the wall and

compensate all those negatively affected.

c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

valuableinfrastructurebuiltupbythevoluntary

organisationstooquickly.

ForDiakoniaitwasalwaysimportanttoraise

awarenessabouttheworkintheWestBank/Gaza

and Israel and toengage in lobbying inSweden.

Twoimportantgroupsvisitedtheregionin1996.

Onewasagroupof11congregationalrepresenta-

tives.Afteratwo-weektouroftheregiontheyre-

turnedhometosharewhattheyhadlearntwith

theirlocalcommunities.

The other group was a delegation of parlia-

mentarians and voluntary organisations from

acrossEurope.Theyvisitedplacesworstaffected

by the fighting on the West Bank and in Gaza.

TenpeoplefromSwedenparticipated, including

halfoftheParliamentaryCommitteeonForeign

Affairs, and Bo Forsberg from Diakonia. This

group also aimed to spread information and to

influencethepoliticalinvolvementoftheircoun-

triesintheregion.

InDiakonia’sannualreportof1998,itstates

thattheMiddleEastregionischaracterisedbytu-

multuouspoliticsandalackofdemocracy.These

factors worsened the situation for marginalized

groups and contributed to an expectation that

theauthoritiesandsocietyatlargeshouldpriori-

tisetheneedsofthesegroups.Inorderforthese

expectationstobemetcivilsocietyneededtobe

strengthened. It was therefore important that

support be given to partners working with hu-

manrightsanddemocracy.

The peace process resurrected in 1999 after

achangeofgovernment inIsraelwascompletely

shattered on the 28 September 2000 when Ariel

Sharon walked up the Temple Mount. His walk

sparkedoffanewPalestinianuprising,sometimes

calledtheal-Aqsa-uprisingorthesecondIntifada.

Inlessthattwomonths200peoplewerekilledand

over5000injured.Inaddition,thousandsofpeople

losttheirhomesandlivelihoods.157 Ontopofthis,

thesituationofPalestiniansbecamebeennegatively

influencedbyUSledanti-terrorcampaignfollow-

ingtheattackontheWorldTradeCenterinNew

Yorkon11September2001,andbythewarinIraq.

The Israeli policy of building settlements

onoccupiedterritoryandillegallyexpropriating

Palestinian landhasbeen inplace since theend

of the war in 1967. New settlements have been

built with good transport and communication

linkstoIsraelicitieseversince.Today(2005),the

whole of Palestine is carved up by a network of

roadsandsettlementsthateconomically,socially

andpsychologically choke thePalestinian inhab-

itants.TheIsraeliorganisationB’Tselemreported

in2004thatsettlementscontrolled42percentof

thelandontheWestBank.157

The Wall In2002,theIsraeligovernmentdecidedtobuilda

securitywallaroundthewholeoftheWestBank.

Thedirectivereferredtoitas“Awalltoprevent

motor vehicles from passing”. Suicide bombers

were to be prevented from entering Israel un-

checked.WhenthedecisionwastakeninKnesset

itspurposewasstatedasbeing:“toimproveand

strengthenpreparednessandthepowertoactto

fightterrorism”.159

InthecityofQalqiliyathebarrierconsistsofaneightme-

trehighwall.Inotherplacesitisamilitaryconstruction60

to100metreswide,withinwhichfruitandolivetreeshave

beentornupandhousesdestroyed,withtrenches,electric

fencesandelectronicsensors,barbedwireandwatchtow-

ers.Oneachsidea100-metrewidesecurityzonehasbeen

establishedinwhichtheIsraeliarmypatrols.

Only15percentofthebarrierfollowstheGreenLine

-theceasefirelinefrom1949.Residentscanonlyenterand

leavethroughmilitaryposts,whichareclosedatnight,and

havetoapplyforpermissiontotravelbetweentheirhomes

andtheirplantations.16000farmersareaffected.

875 000 Palestinians will be negatively affected by

theconstruction.93,000peoplein63communitieswillbe

trapped between the wall and the green line or be com-

pletelysurroundedbythewall.160

1�0 1�1

One of the posters from the series Christian in the Middle

East (See page 140)

c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

On 9 July 2004, the un International Court of

JusticeinTheHagueissuedanadvisorystatement

on the Wall that Israel is building on occupied

territory.

Thecourtpointedoutthattheplacingofthewallonoccu-

piedterritoryisillegalandthatIsraelinpartmustdemol-

ish the wall and in part compensate all those negatively

affected. The court repeated that Israel’s settlements on

occupiedterritoryareillegal.161

Thisnewsituationradicallychangedthecontext

fortheworksupportedbyDiakoniainPalestine.

Even the day-to-day work of our partners work

hadtobeadaptedtomaintainapreparednessto

respondtoemergencies.Theblockadeofroadsby

the Israeli armedforceshasmade itmuchmore

difficultforpartnerstooperate.Blockadesmade

it difficult for personnel within the programme

togettowork,tocarryoutnecessarytransporta-

tionandtoprotectthemselvesfromtheprevailing

risks.Someoftheongoingworkwasadaptedto

providesupportinthewarsituation,particularly

theprogrammessupportingchildrentraumatised

byterrifyingexperiencesofattacksandbombings.

Despiteallthepolitical,economicandsocialtur-

moilandchange,Diakonia’spartnershavestrived

toachievetheprogramme’sobjectives.162

theprojectsarecompleted.163 Astrategyhasbeen

developedtogivedisabledpeopletheopportunity

toparticipate in societyanddemandtheir rights.

Thismethodologyisbasedondisabledpeoplebe-

ingabletoliveandparticipateincommunitylife

onasequal termsaspossible,withsupportfrom

their families and neighbours. The projects have

provided civil society organisations with tools to

influencethestructuresofsocietyandgivenpeople

support to change their own situations whilst si-

multaneouslystrengtheningdemocraticprocesses.

In 2000 the following overall programme

objectives were adopted for Diakonia’s work in

Palestine:

1. Toprovidecivil societygroupswithtools toenable

themtoinfluencethestructuresofsocietyandthere-

by influence their own situation whilst simultane-

ouslystrengtheningthedemocraticprocesses.

2. Tostrengthencivilsociety’sabilitytoparticipatein

and have influence over decision making processes,

andworkforlegislationbasedonrespectforthein-

dividual, with particular attention to marginalized

groups.163

Internationally established humanitarian law Israel,likeallstates,hasnotonlytherightbutalso

theresponsibilitytodefenditselfandestablishse-

curityforitscitizens.Internationallawmust,how-

ever,befollowedindoingso.Inordertoincrease

knowledgeofandadherencetointernationalhu-

manitarian law in Israel andPalestine,Diakonia

initiatedaprogrammefocusingonthisthemein

2004.Theprogrammeiscarriedouttogetherwith

theIsraeliorganisationtheAssociationforCivil

RightsinIsrael(acr)andthePalestinianorgani-

sation Al-Haq. The programme offers organisa-

tionsandthegeneralpublictraining inhumani-

tarianlaw.TheIsraelihumanrightsorganisation

B’Tselemparticipatesintheprogrammebymap-

pingandreportinghumanrightsabuses.

Diakonia’s continuing supportSupport for local organisations has continued,

centring upon the Rehabilitation and cbr pro-

grammes.Theconstantobjectivehasbeentosup-

portthemostvulnerableandweakbypromoting

and strengtheningdemocracyand respect forhu-

man rights. By involving large parts of the com-

munities concerned in carrying out the program,

Diakonia has hoped to create knowledge and ex-

periencewhichwillremainwithpeoplelongafter

Lobbying and public opinion in SwedenPart of Diakonia’s role in its very close coopera-

tionwithpartnerorganisationshasalwaysbeento

createawarenessinSwedenabouttheirsituation.

Informationworkhasthereforebeencarriedout

ona continualbasis.Articleshavebeenwritten

for the denominational and general press, post-

ershavebeenprinted,slideshowshavebeenput

together and study visits for politicians, church

leaders, decision makers and congregational/re-

gional representativeshavebeenarranged.Most

recentlyavisitforparliamentariansfromallthe

1�2 1�3c h a p t e r 4 p a l e s t i n e a n d i s r a e l

Swedish political parties was arranged in spring

2005.sfca/Diakoniahasconsidereditselftohave

a responsibility to participate in and influence

Sweden’spoliticalstanceonIsrael/Palestine.

InSpring2004,acampaignwasinitiatedon

thethemeFor a just peace in the Middle East­ End

the occupation of Palestine.Diakonia, theMission

CovenantChurchofSwedenandtheChurchof

Sweden,amongstothers,initiatedthecampaign.

Thecampaignmaterialsassertthat:

Inordertoachieveasolutiontothislongtermanddead-

lockedconflict,bothIsraelandPalestine’srighttoexistas

twoindependentstates,havingpeaceandsecuritywithin

internationallyacknowledgedbordersmustberecognized

andguaranteed.

Ajustpeacesuchasthiscanonlyberealisedwhen

international humanitarian law, human rights and inter-

nationalconventionsarerespected.

BoForsbergwroteinapressrelease:

Today,700roadblockspreventPalestinianmenandwomen

fromprovidingfor their families.Aid isusedto support

the Palestinian population, which has become poorer as

aresultofIsrael’soccupationpolicies.Theproportionof

poorpeoplehasincreasedfrom21percentto60percentin

thelastthreeyears.Intotal1.9millionPalestiniansliveon

lessthat2.1dollarsaday.

ItisimportantthatSwedishforeignpolicyemphasisesthe

importanceofstatestakingtheirresponsibilitiesandfol-

lowingtheconventionsthattheyhavesigned.164

Thehopeisthatincreasedawarenessofthecon-

sequencesoftheIsraelioccupationforthePalesti-

nianswill leadpeopletogetinvolvedininterna-

tional issues. This is in turn necessary if a just

peaceistobecomeareality.

ConclusionThechallengeto”Helpthevictimsofwarinthe

Middle East” has followed sfca/Diakonia since

1967. Those affected remain refugees from war

and people living on occupied territory. Their

right to a dignified life has characterised both

thesupportgivenandtheawarenessraisingand

lobby work that sfca/Diakonia has carried out

inSweden.sfca/Diakonia’spositionhasalways

beenboththeologicallyandpoliticallyloaded.

sfca chose right from the start to support the

physically disabled and those with learning dif-

ficulties,groupsthataredeeplyvulnerable.This

focushasremainedovertheyearsandgrowninto

extensive engagement to support everything

from village-based work to national health care

interventions.

Help to the victims of war is still

Diakonia’s mission in the Middle East.

1�5

chapter 5

South Africa

on 18 september 2004 the white church minister and anti-apartheid stalwart

BeyersNaudéwasburied.

WiththisfuneralhereintheAasvoëlkopDutchReformedChurch,acircleisbeingcompleted.The

man,whoyearsagowalkedherethroughadeepvalleyofrejectionandgreatloneliness,hascome

backwithhisfamilyandthousandsoffriends[amongwhomthereweretwoofusrepresenting

Diakonia]-SouthAfricansofallracesandwalksoflife–tocompletetheearthlypartofaremark-

ablelife.Love,faithandintegrityhavetriumphed.165

For34years sfca/Diakoniahasworkedthroughcloserelationshipswithpartners

inSouthAfrica.BeyersNaudéwasoneofthesepartners.Itisapparentfromdocu-

mentsandtestimoniesthatDiakoniahashadtheprivilegeofsupportingpeopleand

organisationsthathaveplayedacentralandimportantroleinSouthAfrica’sproc-

essoftransformation.Fromconversationswithpeopleinvolved,itisalsoclearthat

sfca/Diakonia’sfundingdecisionsweredaring.Theorganisationrecognisedboth

theneedsandthattherewerepeopleinSouthAfricawiththenecessarycapacity.

PerhapsstoriesaboutBeyersNaudé,FrankChikaneandJothamMyakacanhelp

ustounderstandthedevelopmentprocessSouthAfricahasgonethrough,which

sfca/Diakoniahashadtheprivilegeofsupporting.

1�� 1��

This picture of Beyers

Naudé was taken when

he was General Secretary

of the SACC.

Strong international protests are now, in effect, the only

force that might trouble the government enough to take

a softer and more just stance.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

Beyers NaudéBeyersNaudéwasborn in 1915.His familywere

Afrikanders, highly conservative and strict in

their religion. His father was a minister in the

Calvinist tradition. Naudé trained as a minister

and gained a position in the Dutch Reformed

Church.In1963hewaselectedmoderatorofone

oftheregionalsynods.

A question that concerned him greatly was

whySouthAfricawasnotgoingthroughthesame

changesasothercountriesinAfricainthe1960s,

withliberationfromcolonialpowers.Buthewas

unable to sharehis thoughts inhis church, as it

had takena stronglypro-apartheidposition, jus-

tifyingthisonBiblicalgrounds.166Hestudiedthe

bible but found no such justification for racial

segregation.”Formetherewasthennolongerany

choice,Ihadtostandupforwhatwasright.”167

Itwasatthispointthathecameintocontact

with the anc .168 The question he asked himself

was whether in the 48 years of the anc ’s exist-

enceanywhitechurchhadgivensupporttothe

organisationanditsaims,tothestrugglefor jus-

ticeandfreedomfortheblackmajority.Hesaid:

AsfarasIcouldseenotoneresolutionhadbeentakenby

anywhitechurchinthestruggleforjustice.Wemusthave

misunderstood our faith and our witness to faith, as we

lived in somekindof cocoon thatwehave spunaround

ourselves, warm and enclosed, where the outside world

didnotconcernus; it’s theirproblem. [Translationfrom

Swedish]169

In1960theWorldCouncilofChurchesarranged

aconsultationinCottesloe,SouthAfrica.Oneof

the many resolutions adopted related to church

membershipandstatedthatnoonewhobelieves

inJesusChristmaybeexcludedfromanychurch

on the basis of their colour or race. The Dutch

ReformedChurchrefusedtoadopttheresolution

and thus quit their membership of the wcc .169

However, somemembersof thechurch support-

edthewordingoftheresolution,amongstthem

BeyersNaudé.Thisgroupenteredintodiscussions

aboutthesituationinthecountrytogetherwith

members of other churches. These discussions

led to the formationof theChristian Institute of

Southern Africa,ciin1963.

Beyers Naudé was offered the post of direc-

tor.Hewasaccusedofbeingacommunist170and

sacked from his post as minister.171 The Naudé

familyfoundtheirnewspiritualhomeinablack

churchinAlexandratownship,wherehisgraveis

nowtobefound.

Godhaddisplayedhissupremesenseofhumourwhenhe

chose this Afrikander to stand up and declare apartheid

wrong.GodhadappointedNaudéthemidwifeinthebirth

of South Africa’s democracy. He gave the credibility of

Christianitybacktoblackpeople.172

Olle Engström put Beyers Naudé and sfca in

contactwitheachother, afterhisvisit toSouth

Africain1971(seepage52).

AttitudestotheSouthAfricangovernment’s

apartheid policies were not only split in the

churchesinSouthAfrica.InSwedenandonthe

sfcaCommitteethedenominationstookdiffer-

ingpositions.Threeofthese–sibu ,huandsam

– had mission work in South Africa. Davidsson

said9 that hu missionaries work with black con-

gregations.Theyfeltthat:“Ifweprotestagainst

theregimewewillbethrownoutofthecountry.

Bettertokeepquiet,thenwecanstay.”

When South Africa appeared for the first

timeontheagenda,theminutesrecorded:

Threedenominations,sibu ,hu andsam ,have refrained

fromapplyingforgrantsfrom sfcaduetothesensitive

1�8 1��

View of the township of Soweto

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

politicalsituationinSouthAfrica.Withregardtosupport

fornewprojectsrunbytheChristianInstitute,thework

oftheInstituteshouldbecarefullystudied.Thequestion

of whether the member denominations have work that

couldbesupportedinasimilarwayshouldalsobelooked

into.(1971§92)

None the less, it was decided to allocate 10,000

crownstoci .Itwas,however,notedthatDavidsson,

huandSundbring,sam ,whilstnotopposingthe

decision,didnotparticipateinit.(1971§92)

When sfca receivedinformationviaChurch

ofSwedenMissionthatthefinancialsituationof

theInstitutehadworsenedandthattheywerein

immediateneedoffurtherfunds,Aglertpaidout

afurther10,000crowns.ItwasheardthatBeyers

Naudé was to visit Scandinavia for 10 days. The

minutesshowahopethatifthemembersofthe

sfca committeewereabletomeethim,decisions

aboutgrantallocationswouldbecomemucheasi-

ertotake.(1971§118)

When the Committee met in November

1972,theissuewaspostponedonceagain,despite

anewletterhavingarrivedfromOlleEngström

inwhichhepleadedforgrantsfortheimportant

work. He pointed out that the free churches in

Swedenhadamoraldutytosupportthesefriends

inthefaith(1972§105).Thedecisiontoallocatea

furthergrantof10,000crownswasnottakenun-

tilFebruary 1973.Thegrantwasfor roughly300

women’s groups that were being taught about

nutrition, needlecrafts, farming, gardening and

administration. Reading and writing campaigns

werealsoincludedintheproject.

In1972theSouthAfricanpresidentformed

TheSchlebushCommission, inorderto”investi-

gate certain organisations”.173 In September 1973

the first reports of the investigation into repre-

sentativesoftheChristianInstituteamongstoth-

erswerepublished. sfca paidanextragrantof

$2000directlytotheInstitutetocoverthesignifi-

cantadditionalcostscausedbythetrail.

AtitsmeetinginOctober1971,sfcc wasin-

formedaboutthesituationthathadarisen.The

Councildecidedtoprepareastatementtobegiv-

entoSouthAfrica’sambassador.Itwasalsosent

to the congregations of the member churches.

sfcc encouraged sfca togiveafurther$2000to

theChristianInstitute(1973§149).

Excerpt from SFCC’s statement:

As we approach Ecumenical Development Week sfcc

wishes to focus the attention of the churches and the

general public on the political persecution that certain

churchesandChristianorganisationsinSouthAfricaare

currentlysubjectto.Thefreedomofmovementoforgani-

sationsandindividualsworkingforhumaneandjustrela-

tionsbetweentheracesareincreasinglyrestricted.Strong

international protests are now, in effect, the only force

thatmighttroublethegovernmentenoughtotakeasofter

andmore just stance towards theseorganisationsand in-

dividuals.

[…] As the race issue will be a central theme for

Ecumenial Development Week, the theme of which is

”Justicecannotwait”,sfccwishtosuggestthatthesitua-

tionofamongstotherstheChristianInstitutebethesub-

jectofprayerandpublicattention.174

On 13 November 1973 the legal process, which

lasteduntil19October1977,began.TheChristian

Instituteand17otherorganisationswerebanned175.

Thepersonnelwerealsobannedor arrested.For

1�0 1�1

Women are most com-

monly employed within

the informal sector, whilst

men operate within the

formal sector, but are often

unemployed.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

Naudé,oneofthebanned,thismeantthathewas

onlyallowedtospeaktoonepersonatatime.He

wasallowedneithertomakestatementsnortobe

quotedpublicly.InadditionNaudéwassentenced

to30daysinjail.Insolidaritywithhisimprisoned

comrades he declined to have his sentence com-

muted on payment of bail. His stay in jail was

howevershort,onlytwohours.Alocalpriestpaid

his fine.176 As a result of being a banned organi-

sation(AffectedOrganisation)theInstitutewas

not permitted to receive financial support from

outside the country.177 With the banning of the

Christian Institute, its work ceased. Contact be-

tween sfca andBeyersNaudéalsoceased.

In 1974anall-Africachurchconferencewas

held in Zambia and Lars Franklin from sfca

participated. In his opening address the coun-

try’spresident,KennethKaundasaid:”TheSouth

African government is suffering from moral

bankruptcy.Wehaveseenpeople,whocallthem-

selvesChristians,holdthebibleinonehandand

a pistol in the other. It is these people who are

todayresponsibleforhumansufferingthelikeof

which this continent has not experiences since

thedaysoftheslavetrade”.[Translationfromthe

Swedish]178

sfca ’sarchivesincludeaspeech,translated

to Swedish, written by Beyers Naudé in 1975. It

was probably smuggled out of the country and

senttopartnerorganisations.Here isasmallex-

cerptfromthis:

A glimpse in South Africa’s future

[…]Thereappeartobetwoprimaryfactorsthatwilldeter-

minethenatureandspeedoffuturesocialchangeinSouth

Africa.OntheonehandtheNationalParty,ifitcanand

wantstorespondpositivelytothedemandforchangethat

willleadtoajustsharingofpoliticalpowerandwealthin

the way demanded by black groups in South Africa. On

the other hand one must take into account the wave of

blackpeople’shopes,wishesanddemands.Thesearenow

supportedandstrengthenedbypressurefromsurrounding

countriesandtheworldatlarge,andthiswillstrengthen

theblackcommunity’sconvictionthatthesechangesmust

be carried out much more quickly than the white com-

munityiscurrentlywillingtoadmit.Istherestillanyhope

thattheseconflictinggoalsandhopescanbebroughtto-

getherinsuchawaythatcomprehensiveandfundamental

changes can be introduced without violence and armed

conflict?[TranslationfromSwedish] 179

Newsoftheappallingmassacreofschoolchildren

inSowetoonJune16,1976spreadquicklyaround

the world. sfca immediately decided to send

financialassistance.Thiswas sentvia theWorld

CouncilofChurchestotheSouthAfricanCouncil

ofChurches(sacc).Themoneyreceivedbysacc

atthattimewasusedtostartThe Asingeni Relief

Fund.Theaimofthefundwastoprovideassist-

anceforvictimsofboththeSowetouprisingand

othersimilaruprisings.

Peace Prize to NaudéTogether with Mouvement Social Lebanon, the

ChristianInstituteanditsdirectorBeyersNaudé

were in 1978 awarded the Peace Prize that had

been instituted by the sfca Committee (1978

§163) in May 1977. They received the prize for

work for reconciliation and development. The

award amounted to 25,000 crowns each. The

motivationforgiving theprize to theChristian

Institutewas:

BeyersNaudéhas,sincethemiddleofthe1960s,beenone

ofthekeyleadersofresistancetothepoliticsofapartheid

inSouthAfrica.Despite imprisonmentandotherrepres-

sivemeasuresbytheauthorities,hehasworkeduntiring-

ly to achieve change and gain equality for all citizens of

SouthAfrica.(1978§163)

sfcareceivedahandwrittenletterofthanksfrom

BeyersNaudé,dated24July1978.Ithadbeensent

with someone who had travelled to Europe. He

1�2 1�3

Missionsföreståndare

David Lagergren delar

ut Frikyrkan Hjälpers två

Fredspris för 1��8.

President David

Lagergren, BUS,

presents SFCA´s

two Peace Prizes

for 1��8.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

toldhowtheSouthAfricanpresshadpublished

newsabouttheprize.Whilsthehopedtobeable

to come to Stockholm to receive the prize, his

passporthadbeentakenfromhim.180 Hereceived

neitherapassportnoravisatotraveltoSweden,

andToreBergman,anemployeeoftheChurchof

SwedenMissioninSouthAfrica,insteadhanded

overtheprizetohim.181

ToreBergmanwritesinareporttothe sfca

CommitteethatwhilstNaudéwasnotallowedto

speakpubliclyhenone-the-lessinvitedthepress

inordertoshowthemthechequeandthewritten

motivationfortheprize.182

TVjournalistLennartWinbladwasstationed

in South Africa at the time. When Naudé was

awarded sfca ’sPeacePrizeWinbladputtogether

adocumentaryabouthim.AsNaudéwasbanned,

Winblad could not film an interview with him.

WinbladdidhoweveraskNaudétoprayinfrontof

thecamera,asprayerwasnotforbiddenandcould

be includedinthedocumentary.”Thereportage

clearlyshowsthatwefollowedSouthAfricanlaw

totheletter.Filminghimprayingwasacompro-

mise”,saidWinblad.183

LovingFather,IthankTheeforthisnewday

Adayofjoy,ofhope,ofpossibilities,oflife

Despitesomanyrestrictionsandproblemsthatsomanyof

usinourlandarefacing

WethankyouOhLordforyourgoodnessandkindnessto-

wardsus

Towardsusasfamily,asChristians,asfellowcitizensofour

country.

Blessallthosewhostriveforrighteousnessandjusticeand

reconciliation

LiberateusfromtheforcesofevilOhLord

Leadusintoanewdayofpeace,ofunderstandingandof

livingtogetherasyouintendedus

InChristname.Amen

sfca ’s continued contacts with South Africa

where in future channelled through the South

African Council of Churches, sacc . As neither in-

dividualchurchesnorsaccwereincludedinthe

banning, their work was able to continue, and

theywereabletohaveinternationalcontacts.

sfcabeganitspartnershipwithsaccin1974

throughagrantof5,000crownsforthetrainingof

pastorswithin the African Independent Churches.

Similarly sfcawasabletochannelmoneytothe

InstituteforRaceRelationsanditsOpenSchool

programme via sacc , money previously chan-

nelledthroughtheChristianInstitute.184

In 1964theSwedishgovernmentdecidedto

introduceagrantfor”humanitarianassistanceto

African refugees and national liberation move-

ments”. It was replaced by ”The Committee on

Humanitarian Assistance” in 1978, which also

thencoveredLatinamerica.185 In1982 sfcaandits

director Karl-Axel Elmquist were offered a seat

onthecommittee.(1982§104)

An application to Sida’s Committee on Hu-

manitarianAssistancefrom1984 includes thefol-

lowingdescriptionofthesituationinthecountry:

The terrible suffering caused by the repressive policy of

apartheidhasfurtherworsenedrecentlyduetothedecla-

rationofastateofemergencyincertainareas.Asaresult

therehavebeenincreasedclashesbetweenthepolice/mili-

taryandtheblackpopulationwith650peoplekilledand

10,000arrestedduringthelastyear.Severalthousandshave

beeninjuredandmany,notleastyoungpeople,arenowto

standtrial.186

In order to help families and individuals with

thecostslinkedtosomeonebeingkilled,injured,

imprisoned or of legal assistance, sacc founded

anationaldisasterfund(Dependants Conference).

sfca amongst others allocated money to this

fund. As the situationwas sodifficult for many,

fundscouldalsobeusedforfooddistribution.187

When Prime Minister Botha introduced a

newconstitutionthatmeantthatColouredsand

Asianswouldeachhave theirown ‘house’ along-

side the white people’s ‘house’ in a Tri-cameral

Parliament, opponents to apartheid united in a

joint organisation called the United Democratic

Front,udf . In 1985,astheudfgrewinstrength

andfatalclashestookplacebetweenZulusofthe

Inkathamovementandtheanc ,thegovernment

announced a national state of emergency. This

gave the military unlimited power. Knowledge

ofthesituationinSouthAfricaledtheusaand

many countries in Western Europe to introduce

economicsanctionsagainstSouthAfrica.Sweden

wasoneofthecountrieswheremanypeoplebe-

1�4 1�5

The apartheid regime forcibly moved

the black population to so called home-

lands where their lives were characteri-

sed by marginalisation and despair.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

cameactively involved insupportingthesesanc-

tions.

One issue that received much attention in

the international media was the authorities’ de-

cision to forcibly remove people of the Mogopa

tribefromtheHolgatfarminFebruary1984.sacc

actively participated in defending these people.

When they failed to influence the implementa-

tionofthedecision,landwasboughtforthepeo-

pletomoveto. sfca supportedtheprojectboth

by providing large grants and by channelling in-

formationtothemediainSweden.Thefightfor

therighttomovebackwaswonin1994,andwas

thefirstlandrightscasethatthenewgovernment

hadtotakeapositionon.188

Personnel based in the countryAs sfca ’s support grew, in tandem with the

growing violence, it became necessary to have

personnelbasedinSouthAfrica.In1983Margaret

Bäckman189cameintocontactwithHanneandUlf

Södahl, who then had been travelling in South

Africa.Duringtheirtimeinthecountrytheyhad

made occasional visits to organisations support-

ed by sfca , including Open School and Meals

onWheels.ThiscontactresultedintheSödahls

eachtakingonavolunteerpostfor sfcain1985.

Officially sfca was not able to have personnel

inthecountry,sothepostswereadministeredby

ChurchofSwedenMission,whichwasanorgani-

sationapprovedbytheSouthAfricanauthorities.

TheSödahlsmovedtoSouthAfricainApril1986.

OfficiallytheirworkplacewasinPortElizabeth.

InalettersenthometoBäckman,theSödahls

wrote,”IthinkIambeginningtounderstandwhat

youmeanbyembodyingoursolidarity.Theword

becameflesh…WearenotChrist,buthe isour

rolemodel!”190

In another letter, the Södahls describe how

complicated it was for sfca ’s partner organisa-

tionstooperate.Astherewasastateofemergency,

noworkcouldbecarriedoutopenly.Groupswere

oftenforcedtomeetintheeveningsoratnight.

Theycouldnotaffordtopaytoomuchconsidera-

tiontotherisks,astimewasshort.The ‘nextin

line’alwayshadtobepreparedtotakeoverwhen

someonewasarrested.Themostimportantwork

wastosupportawarenessraisingandthepolitical

educationof thepeople.Despiteall thedifficul-

ties,thiseducationwascarriedoutatfullpace.191

[…]Wehadaone-hourtalkwithBeyersNaudé.Westarted

totalkabouttheNationalEmergencyFund.Hesaidthat

theneedforsupportforpeopleaffectedinonewayoran-

otherbythestateofemergencyisenormous.Themoney

is channelled through the regional council of churches’

Dependants Conference, which has gained a widened

brief.Naudésaidthatheisdeeplygratefulforthemoney

receivedsofar,whilstat thesametimetheneedsareso

greatthatthefundwillneverbeabletomeetthemtothe

full.Thecostofbailisshootingthroughtheroof.Asthere

maybe20,000peoplearrested (due to the stateofemer-

gency),legalaidusesalotofmoney.

Incontrastwithotherregionssupportedby sfca ,

thedocumentationfromthe1970sand80sisvery

limited. It was dangerous to write openly about

the support given to the various organisations

aspostwas readandtelephones tappedandthe

homesofactivistswereunderconstantthreatof

beingsearched.

Dela med magazine published an interview

withoneofthesenumerousactivists.Heworked

at one of the many Legal Resource Centres sup-

portedbythesacc ,amongstothers.Heandthe

othersattheofficelivedinconstantfearofbeing

raidedbythesecuritypolice.Theyhadall,once

orseveraltimes,beendetainedunderthestateof

emergencylaws.Headmittedthathewasafraid,

butthatthestrugglemustgoon.192 Inanotherar-

ticleayoungstudentdescribedhowhehadbeen

1�� 1��

Through the organisation Meals on Wheels poor elderly people could receive one meal a day.AFESIS – one of the many legal advice offices to receive

support from SFCA.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

brutallybeatenbythepolice.”Theycandowhat

theylikewithus,butwehavenointentionofleav-

ingourorganisations.Treatmentlikethismerely

strengthensourconviction”,hesaid.193

Asthesituationwassodifficult,correspond-

ence between Bäckman and the Södahls had

to happen via coded messages. Each partner or-

ganisation was given a code name. These were

usedincorrespondenceuntil1991.IftheSödahls

homehadbeen searched thecodenameswould

have hindered the police from identifying the

recipients.Theword’sweets’wasthecovername

for ‘money’, and partners were given the names

of various kinds of sweets. In one letter Södahl

writestoBäckman:

Youshouldhavesaid”Yousweettooth!Yes,I’llsendMara-

bou’swholenutpistachiorumraisintrufflewithcloudberry

crisp”!

Duringaperiod in the late 1980spaymentswere

evenmadefromdifferentSwedishbankaccounts,

peopleandaddressesinordertopreventDiakonia

frombeing identifiedas thesourceofgrantspro-

vided.Södahlsalsodescribehowtheykeptallim-

portant papers under the bin bag in the kitchen

cupboard,inthehopethatnoonewouldlookthere.

That the support was sensitive is confirmed

byKarl-AxelElmquist’sstorythatonenightinthe

late1980sabreak-intookplaceinBäckman’sroom

attheofficeinÄlvsjö.Documentsrelatingtowork

inSouthAfricawerestolen.Inordertoprotectthe

relevantorganisationsinSouthAfricathebreak-in

wasneverreportedtothepolice,somethingwhich

Elmquisttodaysaysheregrets.194

Frank ChikaneIn1983anotherveryimportantpersonentersthe

story of sfca/Diakonia’s cooperation in South

Africa.HisnameisFrankChikane.Hewasborn

inJanuary1951.HisfamilywereChristians,anda

housechurchwithintheApostolicFaithMission

wasstartedupinhishome.195

Theteachingwhichheandotherblackchildren

receivedduringtheapartheidperiod(Bantuedu-

cation) included nothing about the struggle for

liberationwhichblackpeoplehadfoughtagainst

colonialism or about racist policies since the ar-

rivalofthefirstwhitesettlers.Neitherwasthere

any information about the anc . There was on

the other hand a thorough description of how

Europeansettlerscolonisedthecountry.196

At an early age Chikane started to ask the

questionofwhetherwhitesarerichbecauseGod

lovesthemmorethanblacks.Couldthewhitesde-

feattheblacksbecauseGodwasontheirside?Ifhe

was,couldtheoppressedpraytothesameGodthat

heshouldsavethemfromtheiroppressors?197

Chikanetrainedasapastorandtookhisfirstpostin

1976.Hiscongregationwasledbywhitemissionar-

ieswhosupportedtheapartheidregime.Itwasa

difficult time for him. He describes for example

thattheinfirstchurchheworkedinasapastorhe

wastoldnottousethetoiletintheofficecorridor,

buttousetheoneinthecellar198.In1981hewasex-

communicatedfromhischurch.Hewasaccusedof

beingacommunistashehadtakenapublicstance

against the apartheid regime in the media. His

family were ordered to leave their church house

andgivenadeadlineformovingout.Chikanewas

arrestedbeforetheyfoundanewhome.Thefam-

ilyreceivednohelpfromthecongregation.Instead,

adelegationofsixmencameanddemandedthat

1�8 1��

Frank Chikane received Diakonia’s Peace Prize in 1�8�. He is

seen here together with his two sons Obakeng and Otilli.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

thefamilymove immediately.Thefamilywas in-

steadhelpedbyotherChristians.199

Throughallofthesedegradingandhumiliat-

ingpersonalexperiencesChikanebegantounder-

standthemeaningofJesus‘wordsabout ‘loving

your enemies‘. He questioned God’s power and

howGodcouldallowpeopletotreathiminthis

way. He also understood that ”being the church

inthisworldmeansthatthechurchmuststand

against the dominating ideologies of power and

choosethewayofthecross”.200

Chikanebelongedtoagroupoftheologians

whoreflectedandexchangedexperiencesonthe

missionofthechurch.Itwasfromconversations

in this and other similar groups of theologians

that the Kairos Document201 took form. In 1981

these discussion groups were turned into an or-

ganisation,theInstituteforContextualTheology

(ict), with Frank Chikane as director. The aim

of the organisation was to give Christian South

Africanstheologicaltoolswithwhichtomeetthe

rulingpowerinthestruggleforajustsociety.It

wasfeltthattheestablishedchurchhadfailedto

providesuchtools.202

In1983thefirstgrantfrom sfcawasgiven

tothisorganisation.Thusbeganapartnershipbe-

tween sfca/Diakonia, ict and Frank Chikane

thatwastolastformanyyears.

InaconversationwithFrankChikanein2004203

hetalkedaboutthistime.Hesaidthatthework

ofictwashighlysensitive,asitaimedtosupport

churchesandactivistswithinthem,sothatthey

couldunderstandwhattheywereworkingwithin

theological terms.204 ict createda theologicalba-

sisfordebateaboutthesystemofapartheid.The

workfocusedonconflict,howoneparticipatedin

the conflict and which theological instruments

wereneeded.

The Kairos Document described the societal

system, calling it State Theology, whereby the

state abused and oppressed people with bru-

tal violence, backed up by a church and a theol-

ogythatsaidthatitwastheresponsibilityofthe

statetodoso.TherewereotherreligionsinSouth

Africatoo,butitwasprimarythewhiteChristian

churchthatspokeofthisresponsibility.Godwas

usedandabused.

The Kairos Document developed thoughts

around how Christians, in their pilgrimage to-

wardsGod’skingdom,mustpushthedevilaside

and unite themselves with good and righteous

forces. As it is impossible to reconcile God and

the evil, the document was strongly critical to-

wards the idea that reconciliation between the

oppressedandtheoppressorcanhappenwithout

theinjusticealsobeingfought.205

Theworkonalloftheseissuesledtothecon-

clusionthatdeclaredtheapartheidsystemasasin.

Whenasystemisconcludedtobeevil,sinfuland

illegal,thenthatsystemmustbegotridof.And

youhavetobepreparedtodieinthatstruggle.206

TheKairos Documentwasnotonlytobecome

important forChristians inSouthAfrica.Frank

Chikane became a member of the Ecumenical

Association of Third World Theologians,whichpri-

marilyconsistedofAsiantheologians.Hesayshe

gained a great deal from this fellowship.204 The

document was translated into many languages,

including Swedish. The text was also studied in

Swedenandgavemanypeopleanewunderstand-

ingoftheChristianmission.

The evangelical churches also scrutinised

their own theology and actions in a document

entitledEvangelical witness. TheSwedishAlliance

Missiontranslatedthetextinapublicationcalled

Evangelical Witness in South Africa, whichwasdis-

tributedintheSwedishcongregations.206

WhenIspokewithFrankChikaneinSeptem-

ber2004aboutthepartnershipwithDiakonia,he

started by affirming that the relationship with

Sweden and the other Nordic countries, particu-

larlythechurchesthere,wasspecial.Andhesaid:

IthankGodthatourstrugglewasnevercorrupted.This

is importanttorememberandpeoplemustnotforget it.

Throughour relationshipwith sfca/Diakoniawe were

abletoreceivesupportwithoutfearofanyagendasother

thantosupporttheachievementoftheobjectiveswehad

formulated ourselves. Our actions were respected. There

mayattimeshavebeensomefrustrationonyourpartcon-

cerningsomeofthedecisionsthatwetook,butneverany

attemptstoimposechangestoouragenda.Itisakindof

solidaritythattrulysupportourstruggle.Inthatrelation-

shipwewereabletolearnfromeachother.“206

Chikanewasalsokeentosaythattherehadbeen

anotheraspecttoherelationship.Thisrelatedto

180 181c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

thewayinwhichsolidarityforthestruggleofblack

peopleinSouthAfricawasexpressedinSweden.

ItwasimportanttokeepSwedeninformedabout

what was happening. The information was of-

ten used in press releases to the Swedish media.

The boycott of South African produce was also

stronglysupportedbyactivegroupswithincivil

society,includinginthechurches.

In 1986 Chikane was forced to go under-

ground.Diakoniaarrangedforhimandhisfamily

to come to Sweden. During his time in Sweden

hetravelledtoLondontodeliberatewithThabo

Mbeki,whospendpartofhisexileinEngland.206

But Chikane did not remain in Sweden. He de-

cidedtoreturnhome.Hehadrealisedthatthose

whocouldnotfleehadstartedtoquestionwhat

would happen if everybody who could were to

leave. ”What will happen to us then, they cried.

Iwasprivileged,Iwasabletoleave,Ihadfriends

andmynamewaswellknown–butwhatabout

alltheotherpeoplewhowouldneverbeableto

leave.SoIdecidedtoreturnbackhomeagain,to

beamongthosepeople”,hesaid.206

In January 1987 Frank Chikane received

Diakonia’sPeacePrize(1986§12).Atelegramfrom

BeyersNaudéstates:

PleaseconveytoRevFrankChikanetheheartiestcongrat-

ulations of the sacc as well as of me personally for the

peaceawardhewillbereceivingonJan11.Weregardhim

tobeaworthyrecipientofthisprizewhichportraystothe

wholeworldhiscommitmenttojusticeandpeaceandthe

highpricewhichhehasalreadypaidforhisChristiancon-

cernandcontributiontothestruggleforanewandliber-

atedSouthAfricawheretheidealsforwhichRevChikane

issacrificinghislifewillhavebeenachieved.208

The prize was handed over at a service in Norr-

malms Church, Stockholm, at which Chikane

alsopreached.Hesaid,amongstotherthings,that

iffaithinJesusdoesnothaveanimpactonthis

world with all its evil there must be something

wrong with our creed. He told of the man who

wasresponsiblefortorturinghimduringhispris-

onstay.Themanwasawhitememberandelder

inhisownchurch.Beforethetorturebegan,this

manhadsaidtoChikane:”Iknowthatyouarea

pastorinmychurch,butIhavetodomyjob.”209

Chikanecontinuedtoliveinhidingforfour

months in1987, receiving strong support from

Diakonia throughout. It was during this period

that he was called to take up the post of sacc

General Secretary. When he was to be inter-

viewedbythechurchleaders,hewastakenbycar

toasecretplaceearlyinthemorning.Ontheday

thatthedecisionwasmade,themediaannounced

the appointment. On that day he was to go to

DesmondTutu’shouse.”Thenthepolicecouldar-

restmethere”,hesaid.Hesawthepolicedriving

intothestreet,butTutuwastherewithhimand

simplytoldthem:”Whatdoyouwant,goaway”.

Andtheyleft.

AsGeneralSecretaryforsacc ,Chikanecon-

tinued to keep close links with Diakonia. The

factthatDiakoniawasasmallorganisationmade

the contact more straightforward. ”We spoke as

friendsandwehadnodifficultyinunderstanding

eachother.”Andhecontinued:

”People tend to say that the church in South Africa was

wonderful. In reality it was a few prophetic voices that

madethechurchinSouthAfrica lookwonderful.Itwas

notthebodyofthechurch;thebodywasdraggedalong.If

you lookat theKairosDocument, thechurch leadership

duringthosedayshadseriousdifficultieswithwhatwas

said inthedocument. Inthesacc too, therewerethose

whohaddifficultieswiththedocument.Butnoneofthem

wouldadmitthattoday.Atthesametimethereweremany

inthesaccwhogavetheirlivesduringthattime.“206

Hedescribedhistimeatsacc ,whentheyhidpeo-

pleawaytoavoidbeingabusedbythepolice.They

wereneverabletospeakaboutwhowashiddenor

wheretheywere.AtacriticalmomentinMarch

1988,Chikanecalledinrepresentativesofthevar-

ious churches to participate in a demonstration

in Cape Town. Twenty-six of them turned up,

”whichwasnotafew!”Allofthemwerearrested,

hesaid,andlaterfreed.”Todayweknowthatnot

allofthemwantedtoparticipate,buttheyhadno

choice,theycouldnotsayno.”

When all democratic movements were

banned in 1977 the church was the only organi-

sationleftthatwasfreetospeakopenly.Butnot

eveninchurchwas itpossibletonamethosear-

rested,asthiswasillegal.Ontheotherhanditwas

notforbiddentopraytoGodandnamethosewho

had disappeared or been captured. The church

becamethevoiceofthepeopleandatthesame

time targeted by the regime. It was during this

difficultperiod1987-1989thatKhotsoHouse,the

officebuildinginJohannesburgwherebothsacc

and the udf amongst others had their premis-

es,wasbombed.sacc stillhas itsoffices inthis

building. During the hearings of the Truth and

ReconciliationCommission210itemergedthatthe

apartheid regime was responsible for the bomb-

ings.Onavisittotheusaduringthisdifficultpe-

riodChikane’sbagsweresprayedwithpoisonand

hewasveryseriouslypoisoned.

Diakonia provided a large amount of finan-

182 183

It was impossible to

mistake the joy over

the holding of the

first free elections in

April 1��4.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

cialsupportduringthistime.Auditorscontinual-

lyreviewedtheaccountsandconductedfinancial

audits.

Banning order liftedIntheendthepressureupontheapartheidregime

becametoogreat.On2February1990,Presidentde

Klerkheldthespeechthattotallychangedpolitics

inSouthAfrica.Heannouncedthattheanc ,PAC,

theSouthAfricanCommunistPartyandafurther

31 illegal organisations, including the Christian

Institute, were no longer banned. He also an-

nounced that all political prisoners interned for

non-violent activities were to be released. ”The

time for negotiations has arrived”, he said.211 “At

the National Party congress in Bloemfontein in

1990 Gerrit Viljoen, minister in the Nationalist

government,said:“Itwasinternationalsanctions

thatforcedustoreversethebanningoftheanc

andfreeMandela.”212

The sacc received support from Diakonia

foritsworkwiththerepatriationofthoseSouth

Africanswhowerenowabletoreturnbackhome.

16,000peoplereturnedin1991and1992.213

Thepeacenegotiationsthatbeganwerenot

easy.Severalterriblemassacrestookplace,andne-

gotiationswerebrokenoffmorethanonce.

Therisingwaveofviolenceinthecountrymeant

that thesacc onceagainhadtoconcentrateon

emergency support to areas hit by violence and

get directly involved in peace work. On sacc ’s

initiativeanationalPeaceAccordwasagreedbe-

tweenthemajorpoliticalactorsandorganisations

inthecountry.Regionalandlocalpeacecommit-

teeswereformedwiththeaimofcreatinglasting

peaceinthecountry.Sadly,thePeaceAccordfailed

toreducethelevelofviolenceinthecountry,ana

highlycriticalevaluationoftheaccordwasmade

atsacc ’sannualconferenceinJuly1993.214

Chikane affirms that over the four years of

negotiationsthechurchwasabletoplayakeyrole.

It was then that the sacc started the ecumeni-

calcampaign‘Standingforthetruth‘.Inconcrete

terms,thecampaignaimedtogatherthechurches

inpropheticactionagainsttheevilofapartheid

andactionfortheGodoftruth,loveandjustice.215

Diakoniaprovidedmajorsupporttothecampaign.

Chikaneconcludedourconversationbysaying:

I have to give you the story from 1992. There was dead-

lockintalkswiththegovernment.Theancgavetheman

alternativeandthegovernmentwassupposedtorespond

totheancsdemandsbyacertaindate.FollowingthisMr

deKlerkandMrMandeladidnotspeaktoeachotherfor

twomonths.

[…]BeingaSowetan,youcouldfeelthatthepeopleonthe

groundwerepreparingthemselvesforthefinalonslaught.

Ifyoumakeadeadlineanddon’tmeetitthenthepeople

understand.[…]AndIwenttoOomBey216 andsaid,”We

haveaproblembecausedeKlerkisnotgoingtomeetthose

sevenconditions,he’llonlymeet2ofthe7ofthem.Even

ifdeKlerktrieshewillonlymeetthree.It’snotpossibleto

meettheotherfour.”

[…]OomBeyandIwenttoMrMandelaandhewas

gratefulforthat.Wewentthereandsaidtohim“Wehave

comehereaspartofthemovement“.Wetoldhimthatwe

hadanalysedthesituationandthattheworstcrisismight

comeinthenext7daysorso.Wesaidthatthedeadlinefor

thenegotiationsiscomingverycloseanditcan’tbemet.

MrMandelafeltthatdeKlerkhadtomeetthedemands,

asthey[theNationalParty]weretheoneswhohadmade

thetrouble.Wetoldhimwhatwethought,andheagreed

that“deKlerkhasnocapacitytomeetallthesedemands.”

Wewentonandsaid,“Can’tyousay–meetthethreeand

wewilltalkabouttheotherfour.Showasignofcommit-

ment.”MrMandelasaidthat“ifdeKlerkwillagreethenI

ampreparedto–butyouhavetotellhim”.

184 185

Jotham Myaka

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

So we said that we were willing to go to de Klerk and

putthistohim.WeflewtoCapeTownthefollowingday.

WhenwearrivedMrdeKlerktoldusthatMrMandelahad

calledhim.Theyhadnottalkedfortwomonthswhenhe

called!MrdeKlerksaid“Thankyouverymuchfortalking

tohim.Hehadsaidthatyouhavesomethingtodescribe

tome.”Itwasveryclearthathewasalsointrouble;hedid

notknowhowtodealwiththeissue.Weputtheproposal

tohimandheagreed.Theannouncementwasmade,the

crisesstoppedandallwentbacktothenegotiatingtable.

It was this role of intervening rather than mediat-

inginthecrisisthatwassoimportant;hedecidedtoring.

Wewerenotmediatorsbutcatalystschangingasituation,

givingthemtheopportunitytodowhattheyshould.We

pulled back and they solved their problems themselves.

Thisstoryhasn’tbeenpublishedyet.206

He finished by saying, ”Without support from

amongst others Diakonia, we would not have

beenabletodothis.Allthechurchleadersvisit-

ingSouthAfricamadeusfeelsafe.”

Jotham MyakaAnaturalcontinuationofourstorycomesthrough

JothamMyaka,thesonofablackfarmerwhose

lifealsowasshapedbytheharshnessoftheapart-

heidregime.Hewasborn in 1958. In 1936a law

waspassedforbiddingblackpeoplefromowning

land.Hisparentswereforcedtohandovertheir

land.Landlessandpoor,thefamilyhadnorights

andnosecurity.Jothamwasnomorethanafew

monthsoldwhenthefamilywasevictedfromthe

placewheretheywereliving.Andtheyweresoon

drivenoutofthenextfarm,ashisfatherwasnot

needed.

When Myaka was three years old they ar-

rivedatthefarminthelittlevillageofMuden,in

Natalprovince,wherehegrewup.Thevillagelay

withintheKwaZulu’homeland’,anareascattered

insmallpocketsacrosstheprovince.Timeswere

hardandnoneofthechildrenwerepermittedto

gotoschool.Theyhadtoworkforthewhiteland-

owner.Sometimeshecametotheirhouseatnight

andwokethemalluptoseewhichofthesmall

childrenhadgrownbigenoughtostartworking.

The children worked for periods of six months,

butwerenotpaidfortheirwork.

Myaka’sparentswantedhimtogotoschool.

When he was free from work he snuck away to

school.Althoughitwaswellintothetermwhen

he arrived, he was allowed to start. The family

homelayfarfromtheactualfarmanditwaseasy

for Myaka to take a detour, without the farmer

seeing him. ”But one day he caught me”, tells

Jotham 217. ”He was furious and shouted at me

thatIwasnottogotoschoolandbetaughtalot

ofrubbishthatIwouldthenpassontoothers.He

threatenedtokillmeifIleftthefarmagain.”As

punishmenthewasforcedtoworkforthewhole

yearfromfouro’clockinthemorningtoeightin

theevening.218

Myaka also describes how after completing

his school education he began to study at the

universityinJohannesburg.HefeltthatGodhad

calledhimtoworkamongstthepoorinhishome

village.Inhisfreetimehewasactiveinthemove-

mentforpoliticalliberation.Hewasmanytimes

subjectedtothebrutalviolenceofthepolice. It

wasapparentthattherewereinformersandinfil-

tratorsattheuniversity,bothamongstthelectur-

ersandthestudents.Oneofhisessayswasfailed

onthebasisthathehadusedtheword’politics’in

thetext.

Oncompletinghisuniversitystudies inthe

1980s, Myaka worked with rural development is-

sues.In1989heresignedfromhisposttoreturn

hometoMuden.Togetherwiththreewomen,he

started to organise the struggle for the rights of

blackpeopleandagainsttheapartheidlegislation.

The organisation was called Opathe, the name

of the farm belonging to the Lutheran church

in Muden. As black people were not allowed to

meetonlandbelongingtowhites,allofthemeet-

ings were held under the trees at Opathe farm.

Sometimestheycouldholdtheirmeetingsinone

ofthechurchesbuilding,butthenitwasreferred

toasameetingarrangedbythechurch.

Fromtheoutsetthedifficultywasthatthere

were no funds available for any work. Jotham

Myakahadtousehisownmoney.Togetherwith

hisfriendshewroteapplications,whichweresent

tosaccandotherorganisationsthattheythought

18� 18�c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

mightgivethemgrants.Theyhadnointernation-

alcontacts.Alltheapplicationswererejected.In

theendtherewasonlypocketmoneyleft.They

prayed to God, saying that if he wanted to use

theminthisworkthenheneededtoprovidethem

withtheresourcestodoso.Hedescribedhowhe

becamesostressedatthistimethatheendedup

inhospital.

One day, he received a telephone call from

oneofhisfriendsinPietermaritzburg,whotold

himthathehadmetapersonfromSweden,who

might be able to give them money. This person

hadsaidthathewantedtoknowmoreaboutthe

work. ”I prayed to God”, said Myaka, ”that he

wouldhelpus,ifitwashisintentiontomeetwith

thisorganisation”.Itwas1990andtheSwedewas

UlfSödahl,whothenworkedforDiakonia.

Myakacalledhimandtheyagreedtomeetin

Johannesburg.Helentmoneyandthroughoutthe

journeyprayedtoGodthatthepersonhewasto

meetwouldbefromaChristianorganisationand

wouldwanttosupportthework.

Myaka presented the work and the future

plansforSödahl,whowasmovingbacktoSweden

atthetime.Hepromisedtotaketheapplication

withhim,whichhethoughtwouldbeapproved.

Hepromisedthathissuccessors,AnnikaandErik

LysénwouldgotoMuden.Theycameandmetun-

deratreeandreadPsalm127together.TheLyséns

handedoverthefirstgrantfromDiakonia.

The next difficulty was to decide where to

place the money. If they had opened a bank ac-

countintheorganisation’snamethepolicewould

havefoundoutthattheyhadreceivedmoneyfrom

Sweden.InsteadMyakausedhispreviouspostat

the University and claimed that the money had

comefromthere,andwaspaidintoanaccountin

hisownname.

In 1992 negotiations on the country’s new

constitution began. White farmers experienced

thisprocessasathreat.AndthestrongerOpathe

grew,theharderthepressurefromthewhiteland

ownersgot.Forthisreason,theLyséns’visitmeant

agreatdealtobothOpatheandMyakapersonally.

ThefactthatDiakoniawasaChristianorganisa-

tiongavetheblacks inMudenanextra senseof

security,astheythemselveswereChristians.

In1992Opathereceivedanothergrantfrom

Diakonia.Themoneyenabledthemtosetupthe

planned resource centre for rural development,

calledtheOpathe Resource Center.Fromtheout-

setitwasnotabuilding,butameetingplacefor

thosewhowantedtoparticipateinthework.The

programme focused upon organising members,

analysingthesituationintheareaandplanning

activities that would lead to changes in the liv-

ing conditions of the poor. Committees for de-

velopment, farming and women’s handicrafts

wereelected.Theorganisations’documentswere

storedinthechurchoffice.

Names mean a great deal in South African

culture. This applies not only to the names of

peoplebutoforganisations.In1993Opathewas

givenanothername,Zibambeleni.Itmeans,”Do

ityourself”or”werelyonourselves”andaimedto

showthemembersthateveniftheorganisation

receivedexternalfunding,itwastheythemselves

thatweretodothework.”Ihavetodosomething

tocontributetodevelopment”,wasmanypeople’s

commentonhearingthename.

Inpoliticalterms,onepartyruledKwaZulu

– Inkatha and its leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

WithoutsupportfromthegovernmentinPretoria

Butheleziwouldnothavegainedthepositionof

power that he had.219 The presence of Diakonia

personnelbecameimportantforsecuritywithin

Zibambeleni.

It was the close relation to Diakonia that

madeZibambelenisostrong.JothamMyakasaid

”Weneverfelt thattheSwedesconsideredthem-

selves better than us because they had money.

Instead they always asked what we needed and

howtheycouldassistus.Inthosedayswehadno

computersandwewerenotverygoodatwriting

applications.Whentheyvisitedwealwayswent

on field trips, the members of the organisation

wereabletomeetwiththem,aswellaslocalgov-

ernmentofficialsanddecision-makers.”217

Jotham – den rättslöse farmarbetarens son [– the son

of a farm worker denied justice] wasthetitleofa

bookwithtenlifeportraitsofpeoplethatAnnika

and Erik Lysén met during their years in South

Africa. Two of these people, Jotham Myaka and

Walter Menze, were invited to Sweden in 1993,

partly to participate in the Göteborg Book Fair.

InaninterviewonthesituationinSouthAfrica

they said: ”Don’t be too optimistic. At the local

levelmuchoftheapartheidsystemstillremains.

Ifthepromisetoholdelectionsnextyearisbro-

kentherewillbechaos.”220

188 18�

Through the organisation Zibambeleni this

single parent breadwinner has gained the

opportunity to improve her garden and

through it increase her income and self-

confidence.

c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

TheaimofZibambeleni’sprogrammewas toor-

ganise poor farm workers, offer education and

thuscreateconditionsconducivetoademocratic

South Africa. When the time had come for the

firstfreeelectionsinSouthAfrica,Zibambeleni

provided voter education for the residents of

Muden,whowerenowtovoteforthefirsttime

intheirlives.

InDiakonia’sapplicationtoSidaforagrant

fromtheCommitteeonHumanitarianAssistance

1991/92,thefollowingissaidaboutthegrantfor

votereducation:

Currently all the organisationsDiakonia supports are in-

volvedintheimportantworkofeducatingpeopleforthe

comingelection.Thankstothefactthattheorganisations

havebeenworkingwithcommunityeducationforalong

time,ithasbeennaturalforthemtointegratevotereduca-

tionintotheirordinarywork.

Astheyarealreadyinplaceatlocalandregionallevel,

theycandirectlyreachouttothepeoplewhomostneed

information.

Acharacteristicfeatureoftheorganisationsvotered-

ucationisthatitnotonlyfocusesonthetechnicalaspects

ofhowtovotebutalsolooksatwiderissues,suchaswhat

democracymeans,whatresponsibilitiesonehasascitizen,

howcitizencanlobbyonissuesinademocracyetc.221

Inpreparationforthevote,200,000electionofficialsneededtobetrainedinordertoreachthe20millionblackvoters.222

Itwasnaturaltofollowupthetrainingwith

workonlandredistributionandotherdemocratic

rights. The new government passed legislation

foralandredistributionprogrammeandMuden

waschosenasapilotprojectinitsregion.Itwas

thankstothefactthatZibambelenihadalready

beenworkingtoorganisepoor,blackfarmwork-

ersandhadalsostartedworkdirectedatwomen,

(a precondition for the grant) that they were

giventhistask.Mudenwasallocatedalargestate

granttouseforthepurchaseofland,whichwas

thenreallocatedbyZibambeleni.

The law on land redistribution determined

thattheremustbeawillingbuyerandawilling

sellerfortheland.Blackpeoplehadtherightto

getthelandbackthatwhiteshadonceconfiscat-

edandblacksalsohadtherighttobuytheland

they lived on. Land redistribution in Muden be-

gan with 600 of 2,000 poor families receiving a

pieceoflandeach.Thepoorestofthepoorwere

prioritisedandreceivedlandfirst.

Naturally, white farmers were extremely

worriedaboutwhatthelawwouldmeanforthem.

Foralongtime,Myakahadbeencooperatingwell

with one of the white farmers, Janet Channing.

Shegotinvolvedanddideverythingshecouldto

create an environment conducive for meetings

and dialogue between whites and blacks. It was

still no easy process. White farmers in the area

hadalsoorganisedthemselvesinordertoprotect

theirrights.

In 1996,Zibambelenimoved into theirown

premises with a functioning office. A commit-

teeofwhiteandblackfarmerswasformedanda

fiveyearplanwasdevelopedinordertodevelop

theregionintermsoffarming,smallbusinesses

and eco-tourism.223 The annual report for 1997

statesthatthankstoitswork,themajorityofthe

communityhadgreatconfidenceinZibambeleni,

which was useful and important when conflicts

arose.Publicparticipationinsocietywasalsoad-

vancedbytheactivities.Bothofthesefactorsare

importantinworkwiththelandreform.224

When I met Jotham Myaka in September

2004,hetoldmethatZibambelenihaduptothat

pointhelpedaround10,000peopletogainaccess

totheirownland.Thismeantthatblackwomen

alsoowned land,whichpreviouslyhadbeen im-

possible,bothlegallyandaccordingtotraditional

practice(commonlaw).Hefeltthatlandredistri-

butionhadbecomepartoftheworkofreconcili-

ationinSouthAfrica.217

The micro-credit scheme has been an im-

portantpartof thework fromtheoutset.From

the bank, started with Myaka’s own money and

1�0 1�1c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

Diakonia’sgrant,membershavebeenabletobor-

rowasumofmoneytobeusedforprofitgener-

atingactivities,suchasbuyingplantstoproduce

fruit or vegetables for sale. Interest rates for de-

positsandloanshavebeenthesame.Since1994,

whentheygainedtherighttoownland,thispro-

gramme has contributed to a total transforma-

tion in the living conditions of many families.

Training on financial issues has been linked to

thisprogramme.

Legal advice is another important part of

thework.Asunemploymentinthewholeregion

hasbeenandremainshigh,peoplehave limited

awarenessoftheirrights.Trainingontheseissues

isgivenregularlyand ‘bare-footlawyers’givead-

vice topeoplewhohavebeenfired, assaultedor

notreceivedtheirpension.

A new country to buildIn1990Theperiodofoptimismandjoythatfol-

lowedMandela’sreleaseandtheunbanningofthe

ancandotherpoliticalorganisationswasturned

intopessimismandhopelessnessbytherisingvio-

lence.Itwasfeltthata‘thirdforce’ofrightwing

extremists and police officers, bent on destroy-

ingtheworkforapeacefulsolutiontothenego-

tiations,mustliebehindsuchbrutalviolenceata

timeofsomuchhope.TheInkathamovement225

intheprovinceofNatalseemedpreparedtouse

allmeanspossibletostrengthentheirpositionin

therunuptothecomingelection.Itwasclaimed

thatthepolicedisarmedanc supportersjustbe-

foreInkathafightersattacked.226Duringthisperi-

od,grantsfromDiakoniatotheNatalCrisisFund

which worked closely with those affected, were

important(1994§74).

Duringthesefirstyearsofthe1990s,thecon-

tinuingsupportfromDiakoniatothemanylocal

legal advicebureauswas important.Legal issues

ranged from forced removals, evictions, unem-

ployment, pensions, police assaults and rape to

illegal detention. One of many white lawyers

involved in the struggle for independence was

HowardVarney,ofthelrc inDurban, inthese-

verelyaffectedprovinceofNatal.Hesaidamongst

otherthingsthat”theprocessoftransformation

isslowandwemustnotforgetthattheapartheid

systeminessencestillprevails”.226

As apartheid legislation was repealed, the

situation of Diakonia’s partner organisations

also changed. Education for democracy wasn’t

justabouteveryonehavingtherighttovoteonce

everythirdyears,toalargeextentitwasaboutis-

suessuchashousing,schools,,accesstolocalgov-

ernmentandelectricityandwater, transport, lit-

eracy,employment,socialsecurityfortheelderly,

andtheequalrightsofallbeforethelaw.These

wereissuesrunningthroughtheworkofmostof

Diakonia’spartners.

ThenewopennessmadeitpossibleforDiako-

nia,attheendof1991,toarrangeaconferenceat-

tendedbyallofthepartnerorganisations.Itwas

an important opportunity for everyone to meet

anddrawupguidelinesforhowtheywouldlike

thenationaldevelopment.227 Experienceexchange

between partners was to become an important

partofDiakonia’scontinuingsupport.

Aspreviouslybannedorganisationswerenowallowedto

workinthecountry,SouthAfricanngosgainedanewrole.

Opportunities were created for more constructive

work for democracy and for just development of society.

Resistance could be exchanged for more positive action.

ThisisnoticeableinalloftheorganisationsDiakoniasup-

portswithoutexception.Theyhavetakenuponthemselves

thetaskofbuildingcapacityamongstblackpeopleinorder

tobuildthebasisforademocraticsociety.Thisisaprocess

thatcantakemanyforms-leadershiptraining,organising,

legal advice, local projects in which the responsibility is

takenbyresidentsthemselves,librariesandmediaprojects.

Thus,trainingandtakingresponsibilityformthecore

oftheworkofthepartners.Theimportanceofthistypeof

trainingcanonlybeunderstoodinthelightofapartheids

oppression,whichneverallowedblackpeopletotakeini-

tiativeorresponsibilityforcommunitydevelopment.228

The Lyséns wrote in the annual report for 1992-

1993thatinthedemocraticfuture,thecountry’s

ngoswouldgaindecisiveinfluencethroughtheir

worktogetpeopleatgrassrootslevelinvolvedin

developmentatalllevelsofsociety.Theyreflect-

edthatamistakemadeinotherAfricancountries

hadbeenthatstructuresforcivilsocietypartici-

pation and influence at local and regional level

hadnotbeenbuiltup.229

This library in Cradock is one of many to has

received support from Diakonia.

1�2 1�3c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

The first free electionsFinally,freeelectionscouldbeannounced.They

lasted for four days in April 1994. Priori to the

electionsDiakonia’spartnerorganisationshadre-

ceivedgrantstocarryoutmuchneededvoteredu-

cation programmes. The elections were carried

outunderthewatchofmanyinternationalelec-

tion observers. 60 Swedes participated, amongst

othersMagnusWalanandUlfSödahlofDiakonia

(1993§16a).

A letter from one of the many partners in

SouthAfricadescribedtheelectionday.Itissaid

that it was an extremely special day in South

Africa:thefirstdayofthenewSouthAfrica,orto

lookatitfromanotherperspective,thelastdayof

theoldSouthAfrica,thefirstfreeelectionssince

1652.230

The anc won the election with 62 percent

ofthevotes.NelsonMandelacommentedonthe

electionresults,saying:

Someinanc weredisappointedthatwedidnotcrossthe

two-thirdsthreshold,butIwasnotoneofthem.InfactI

wasrelieved;hadwewontwo-thirdsofthevoteandbeen

abletowriteaconstitutionunfetteredbyinputfromoth-

ers,peoplewouldarguethatwehadcreatedananc cinsti-

tution,notaSouthAfricanconstitution.Iwantedatrue

governmentofnationalunity.231

Diakoniasentaletterofcongratulationsbyfaxto

allthepartners:

Itiswithafeelingofjoythatwecongratulateyoutodayas

freeelectionsareatlastunderwayandanewSouthAfrica

isborn.

Wesharewithyouintheexhilarationandenthusiasmof

thishistoricmomentandpraythatGodwillcontinueto

bewithyouinthedaysthatlieaheadandtheformingof

atruedemocracy.

With greetings from all of us

Karl­Axel Elmquist, Margaret Bäckman 232

Alargenumberofthosewhogainedseniorposi-

tionsinthenewgovernmenthadparticipatedin

thestruggleforfreedom.233Inthemanyconversa-

tions I had in September 2004 with representa-

tives of the various churches and organisations,

theproblemofthemhavingtheirfriendsingov-

ernmentandincentralpostswithingovernment

departmentswasoftenbroughtup.Howcritical

canyoubeofyourfriends,wasaquestionoftenre-

peated.ArchbishopDesmondTutusaidinapub-

licstatementin1994thatthetaskofthechurch

hasalwaysbeentohaveacriticalstancetowards

thoseinpower,thatthechurchcanneverbecome

partofanypoliticalparty.Thesacc ’sroleistobe

“incriticalsolidaritywithgovernment”.234

The churches’ work with reconciliation, healing

anddevelopmentwas tobecome importanteven

duringthistimeofchange.Diakonia’sgranttosacc,

inadditiontobeingdesignatedtowardsthework

withwomen,wasforitsprogrammeofdemocracy

educationanditsdepartmentforcommunication.

Thetargetgroupsoftheprogrammewereemploy-

eesandlaypeoplewithinchurches,denominations,

otherChristiangroupsandthemedia.235

DiakoniaalsoprovidedsupporttoThe Evan­

gelical Alliance of South Africa,teasa ,anecumeni-

calnetworkofaround70churchesanddenomina-

tions,havingaround3millionmembers.236 These

churcheshadnotbeenactiveintheresistanceand

lackedawarenessofdemocraticrightsandrespon-

sibilitiesbutdecidednowtoalsoparticipateinthe

buildingofdemocracy.Thetrainingprogramme

”FaithandPolitics”,runbyteasaforchurchlead-

ersbecameimportantasthesecouldinturnpass

onthelearningandtheimportanceofengaging

withthenewdemocracytotheirmembers.237

The TRCWhenthenewgovernmenttookoveritposedit-

selfthequestion:“Whatdowedowiththehuge

guilt of the past, the thousands of victims who

for decades were forced to live through such in-

comprehensiblesufferingandwiththeunknown

numberofassailantswhomadethemselvesguilty

of extreme violations of human rights?” The re-

sponsewastosetuptheTruth and Reconciliation

Commission,thetrc .238

Intheperiodfrom7February1996to31July

1998 over 31 000 victims came forward and told

their stories. They met the perpetrators. 8000

applicationsforamnestywerehandled.Manyof

Diakonia’s partners participated actively in this

workthroughinformingtheirmembersaboutthe

commissionandencouragingvictimstostepfor-

ward.pacsawasoneoftheseorganisations.On3

December1988,armedmenunderthecommand

Some of the 20 million votes cast are being counted. The

ANC won the election with �2 percent of the votes.

1�4 1�5c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

of Brian Mitchell arrived in the village of Trust

Feed,wherepacsawereactive, toeliminate sus-

pectedudf-supporters.Itturnedintoamassacre

in which 11 people were killed. During the trc

hearingsthevillagershadtheopportunitytotell

theirstoryandmeetBrianMitchell.Themeeting

led to reconciliation with the major perpetrator

ofthemassacre.238 Tothequestionofhowonecan

forgivetheyanswered:”Wecannotforgive-it is

Godwhoforgives,buthehelpsustodoit.Itisthe

way we have to go to promote peace, reconcilia-

tionandhealing.”239

Justoverayearintothetrcprocess,BeyersNaudé

askedtoappearbeforetheCommission.Histes-

timony was: ”I have not done enough.” And he

continued: ”We pastors, who should have been

the conscience of the nation, failed to prevent

thebrutalitythathumanimaginationwasableto

conceive.”240

TheprocessofreconciliationinSouthAfrica

was closely bound up with the trc. But for the

victimsoftheapartheidsystemtoforgiveandbe

reconciledwiththeirattackers,theremustbecom-

pensationfortheirsuffering.Oneaspectoftheop-

pressionwas that themajorityof thepopulation

hadbeenforcedtoliveoutsideofafullyfunctional

society,bothsociallyandeconomically.241

New development cooperation agreements with SwedenInFebruary1995,NelsonMandelaandIngvarCarls-

son[theformerSwedishprimeminister]signedan

agreementondevelopmentcooperationforthepe-

riod1July1995–31December1998.Theaimofthe

partnership was to strengthen democratic devel-

opmentandpromotesocialandeconomicequity

inSouthAfrica.Diakonia’spartinthisagreement

relatedtoprogrammesintheareasofdemocracy,

humanrights,educationandculture.242

A concrete need to strengthen and deepen

the understanding of development and democ-

racyworkamongstpartnersbecameallthemore

apparent.Itwasthereforedecidedthatfrom1996

workwouldfocusonthefollowingthemes:policy,

capacitybuildingandtheology.Policyissueswere

inthefirstplacefocuseduponeconomicjustice.243

In the spring of 1996 Sida began discussing

how their extensive support for the area of de-

mocracyandhumanrightscouldbemadeeasier

tomanage.Gradually the ideaofallowing some

larger Swedish organisations to act as interme-

diaries between the embassy and South African

ngos took shape. Diakonia was one of the or-

ganisations that might be able function as such

an intermediary. In the discussions with Sida,

Diakoniahad takenapositive stance to suchan

arrangement. Diakonia took over financing of a

number of South African organisations, previ-

ouslysupporteddirectlybySida.244

When the agreement between Sida and

Diakoniawassignedin1997,itconcernedfinancial

support for the democracy-building programme

forSouthAfrica,NamibiaandMozambique.The

annual budget for the region increased from 5

millioncrownsto20millioncrowns.Withthisin-

creaseinsupportDiakoniawasabletostrengthen

existingpartnersand signagreementswithnew

partners.Thechallengewastoformaprogramme

through which poor and marginalized groups

couldbeencouraged,throughlocalorganisations,

totakeinitiativeandthemselvescontributetoim-

provingtheirlivingconditionsbothsociallyand

economically.245

LeifNewman246 describedhowexperienceof

supporting these new partners was very mixed.

Cooperation is always built upon donor and re-

cipient organisations know each others working

culture. Creating functioning new relationships

provedfarfromeasy.

In the village of Trust

Feed the son of one of

those murdered meets

a woman who survived.

To the question of how

one can forgive they

answered: ”We cannot

forgive – it is God who

forgives, but he helps us

to do it. It is the way we

have to go to promote

peace, reconciliation and

healing.”

1�� 1��c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

When Sida, from 1999 onwards decided to cut

itsfundingforsupporttongosinSouthAfrica,

Diakoniawasforcedtoreprioritisesupportboth

thematically and geographically. Conflict resolu-

tionintheKwaZuluNatalprovince,theeconomic

justiceprogrammeintheEasternCapeprovince

andcapacitybuildingbecamethethreenewmain

areas of work. In addition, support for organisa-

tions working with democratic values and local

democracycontinued.247

In1999aconferencewasheldwithDiakonia’s

partnersatwhichtheylookedatquestionsofrec-

onciliation, justice and democratic values from

a theologicalperspective. Itwaseasy to see that

thechurch’srolehadbeenveryclearduringthe

apartheid period, but that discussions must be

deepenedinregardtothechurch’srolenowthat

democracyhadbeenachieved.WhenDiakonia’s

Board visited South Africa in 2002 a theologi-

cal conference was arranged to which partners

wereinvitedalongwiththesisterchurchesofthe

Diakonia denominations in Sweden. The discus-

sionheldwasimportantforthecontinuingwork

with the development of Diakonia’s new consti-

tution.

Bothapplicationsandreportsonthesupport

fromthelate90’sandonwardsfocusonthisoften

frustrating work to change the situation of the

poor.ItwasalsothenthattheUN’smembercoun-

trieshadadoptedtheMillenniumGoals,tohalve

povertyintheworldbytheyear2015.Duringthe

apartheidperiodthegovernmentwastheenemy

accusedofalltheinjusticeandresponsibleforall

theviolence.Nowwhenpoverty,pooreducation,

housingshortagesandinheritedattitudesinclud-

ingamongstotherthingsastrongandwidespread

culture of violence, was on the agenda, it was

everyone’s democratic responsibility to partici-

pateintheworkoftransformation.Thesituation

wasalsocompletelydifferentinthatmanyofthe

strong leaders of the liberation movement were

nolongerabletogetinvolvedatlocallevel,asthey

heldtoppositionsinthenewadministration.248

Economic JusticeInorderforittobepossibleforthepoorestofthe

poortobeinvolvedininfluencingsociety’sdevel-

opment,certainbasicneedsmustbemet.Ifneeds

suchasfoodfortheday,healthcareandbasicedu-

cationarenotmetitisdifficultforpeopletoget

involved in society. Diakonia took the position

thatworkforpovertyreductionshouldprimarily

focusuponthecausesofpoverty,ratherthanits

symptoms.Thusprioritywasgiventoorganising

andeducation.

The majority of South Africa’s population sup-

port themselves within the often romanticised

informal sector. The difficulty with this is that

peopleactiveinthissectorseldomparticipatein

economic planning and lack infrastructure and

institutions. Women are most commonly em-

ployed within the informal sector, whilst men

operate within the formal sector, but are often

unemployed.249

It isclearfromDiakonia’sprogrammedocu-

mentsthatmuchofthesupporthasgoneandgoes

toorganisationsthatworktostrengthentheabili-

tyofmarginalizedgroupstotakeinitiative.These

programmes have been important in the fight

againstpovertyandinequality. In1999aproject

forsocialandeconomicjusticewasinitiated.The

aim of the programme was to increase organisa-

tional capacity. Diakonia supports an economic

justicenetworkfortheFellowshipofCouncilsof

Churches in Eastern and Southern Africa, foc-

cisa .

Street theatre is

often a way of

creating awareness

about important

issues in society. A

group from the

organisation Open

School is seen here.

Unfortunately we

don’t know the

theme of the piece.

1�8 1��c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

Increased gender equalityWhenDiakoniapresentedSouthAfricanwomen,

inits“At the well”exhibition(of1992)thewords

“Blackandfemale-doublyoppressed”wereused.

Such was the situation of black women. There

were only a few women leaders in the top ech-

elonsofthestruggleagainstapartheid,alsointhe

organisations that from the beginning received

supportfrom sfcaandDiakonia. (This is illus-

tratedinthischapter,whichpresentsthreemen).

On the other hand there were strong women’s

organisations standing on the barricades. The

womenwerealsoimportantinenablingeveryday

lifetofunctioninthehomeandthefamily,with

food and care of children and the elderly. The

womenoftenhadtobeartheheavyburdenasa

consequenceofdeathsanddisappearances.Inthe

presentationsmadebypartnersabouttheirwork

post1994,itisclearthattheyincreasinglyfocused

upon programmes to strengthen women’s em-

powermentandparticipation

TworepresentativesforSouthAfricapartici-

patedinthegenderconferencethatDiakoniaar-

rangedinChiangMaiin1995.Theirreportstothe

conference described amongst other things the

difficultsituation,notleasteconomically,ofpoor

women.Manyofthemhadalargefamiliestosup-

port.Themajorityofpartnershadprogrammesto

createincome-generatingactivities.Someformof

trainingwasoftenincludedintheseprogrammes.

Severalorganisationsprovideddaycarecentresso

thatmotherscouldwork.In1994sacc hadsetup

worktodevelopgenderawarenessamongstmen

andwomenwithinthememberchurches.250

Violencetowardswomenandwifebatteryhas

beenandisabigprobleminSouthAfrica.Ithas

mostoftenbeenseenasaninternalfamilyprob-

lem.Thecausesofviolenceagainstwomencanbe

many.Itisassumedthatoneofthemostcommon

isthatmenfeelthemselvestobevictimsinthe

prevailingcultureofviolenceandplayout their

frustrationthroughviolenceagainstwomen.

HIV & Aids ThefirsttimehivandAidswerebroughtupasan

issueatDiakoniaheadofficewasin1990.InDela

Medmagazine3-4/92therewasalongarticleon

thesituationofhivandAidsinThailandandin

thepaperssentoutforDiakonia’sBoardmeeting

inSeptember1993therewasanannexconcerning

a ”regional programme of support for preventa-

tive Aids work in South America”251. Although

South Africa too was hard hit by the disease, it

was not until 1999 that it was named in any of

Diakonia’sapplications.Butthenthetextswere

bothlongandrichincontent.

Inthestrategicplanfor2003hivandAidswasde-

scribedasahumantragedy.Itwasnolongerpos-

sibletospeakaboutdevelopmenteffortswithout

including the question of hiv and Aids. It was

estimated that 20–25 percent of the population

of40millionwerehivpositive.In2004,itwasre-

portedthat36percentoftheadultpopulationof

KwaZuluNatalwereinfected.Eveniftheinfection

existedacrossallcategoriesofadultsinthecountry,

thepoorhavebeenhardesthit.Theculturalenvi-

ronmenthadmeantthatpeoplehadnotdaredto

speakabouttheillness.Fearofbeingharassedand

subjecttoviolencehadmadepeopleunwillingto

findouttheirhivstatus.Thelowstatusofwomen

meantthat theydidnotevendaretodiscuss the

useofcondomsortheriskofinflectionwiththeir

partner. Despite fighting the spread of the infec-

tionbeingseenasahighpriorityonthenational

agenda,notmuchhasbeendone.

Another important contributory factor to

thelargenumberofinfectedislackofeducation.

TherearestillsomanymythsabouthivandAids,

howtheinfectionisspreadandhowonecanbe

curedofit.Diakoniathereforesupportsastrong

and forthright education campaign in order to

raise people’s awareness about the problem and

gettheminvolvedinsolvingtheproblem.Inthis

publicmobilisationiscritical.252

MossNthla,GeneralSecretaryofteasa ,consid-

ers thechurchtodaytohavetwobigchallenges.

Oneistosupportthosethatarehivpositive.The

Phindile Scott, 12 years, with little brother Thulani. They

buried their mother 14 days before this photo was taken.

”I didn’t get the HIV infection, but my little brother did.”

200 201c h a p t e r 5 s o u t h a f r i c a

otheristoworkwiththe95percentofchildren

under15whoarenothiv positive.253

Three phases of transformationTransformationinSouthAfricahasgonethrough

threephases,saysMolefeTsele,GeneralSecretary

ofsacc254.Thefirstwaswheninternationalaware-

nessandoppositiontotheapartheidsystemgrew

strongly.Ithappenedthroughinternationalorgan-

isationssuchasthewcc.Hefeltthatontheirown

theycouldneverhavechangedthecountry.

The second phase started with the Kairos

Document. Conversations around the document

mobilised people to verbalise the problem.s The

Christian Institute’s work was running and the

”Standingforthetruth”campaignwascarriedout.

Thethirdphasewasthefouryearsofchange

intheearly1990sandthetimeofthetrc .”The

challenge then was that we had to participate

ourselvesinthebuildingofthenewSouthAfrica.

Thischallengewasdirectedatbothindividualsas

wellasthechurch”,saidTsele.

”Andnowweareapproachingafourthphase”,

continuedTsele.”ItisachallengefortheAfrican

continent,butitisalsoglobal.Todaytheproblems

are global. We are talking about ongoing armed

conflicts,hiv&Aids,humanrights.Theagendais

of the issueseconomic justice.Thechallengewe

arefacingistomobilisepeopleatthegrass-roots-

levelinpoliticsandonissuesofeconomicjustice.”

Awareness raising and lobbying in Sweden Throughouttheyears,muchattentioninSweden

has been given to the situation in South Africa.

Inadditiontoallthechurchandpoliticaldelega-

tionsthattravelledthere,thevisitoftheSwedish

song group Fjedur came to mean a great deal.

TheytravelledtoSouthAfricain1978onbehalf

of Church of Sweden Mission. In addition to

singingthemselves,theycollectedalargenumber

ofsongsthatweresunginthestruggle.

The Amandla-songs255, as they were called,

weretranslatedandarrangedandformanyyears

in the 1980s and 1990s they were regularly sung

bychoirs, inchurch services andothercontexts.

These songs contributed to the strong commit-

menttotheSouthAfricanliberationmovement

inSweden.

FrankChikane’simpressionthatitwasasmall

numberofpeoplethatledtheliberationstruggle

withinthechurchescanalsoapplytoSweden.In

most congregations, as in society at large, these

peoplewerethere,keepingjusticeintheworld,and

thereforincludinginSouthAfrica,ontheagenda.

sfca/Diakoniahas,overtheyears,alsobeenheav-

ilyinvolvedinspreadinginformationandaware-

nessaboutSouthAfrica.Manypartnershavevis-

itedSweden inorder to travelaroundandshare

theirstories.

IntherunuptoChristmas1981, sfcaordered

hand made candles from a Methodist church in

Soweto.Theproductionofcandles,withthemot-

to”Lettherebelight”,wasawayforthecongre-

gationtogiveunemployedpeopleasmallincome.

ThroughlettersandanarticleinDela medmaga-

zine256peoplewereencouragedtoactivelysupport

thecampaign”SpreadlightthroughSwedishFree

ChurchAid”.

Thebigcampaignsofrecentyearsagainstthesale

ofthejasGripenfighterjetaircraft,onthehiv

andAidssituationandonSouthAfrica’srightto

sell cheap anti-retrovirals are some examples of

theissuesthatstillmobilisesinterestandaction

forthecountry.In2000,11pastorsparticipatedin

astudyvisittoSouthAfrica.

Conclusion The Christian hope and faith in every persons

equal worth gave people in the churches inspira-

tionandcouragetoplayanimportantanddecisive

role in the struggle for freedom. Christ’s call to

action was the basis for the work of many part-

nerorganisations.Faithandthechurchprovideda

senseofconfidenceintheworktomobilisepeople.

Thisexpresseditselfineverythingfromthechurch

providing individuals and groups with a physical

placetohideortomeet,tothechurchneverbeing

bannedduringtheharshyearsofthe1980s.

Experiences and stories from South Africa

teach us the great importance and power that

peopleorganisingandmobilisinghasinthework

to change unjust and oppressive structures in

society. They also highlight the strategic impor-

tanceofinternationalsolidarityanddevelopment

assistance. The support to civil society organisa-

tionsinSouthAfricawasundoubtedlyadeciding

factorinbringingaboutthefalloftheapartheid

system.Theseexperiencesalsoremindusofthe

decisiveimportancethatSwedishpeople’smove-

mentshad in thedemocratisationofSweden in

thelate1800sandtheearly1900s.This isthein-

heritance and tradition that Diakonia, as an or-

ganisationwithitsrootsinthefreechurchpopu-

larmovement,has.

ThechallengeforworkinSouthAfricaisnow

tocreateademocraticculturebaseduponhuman

rights,whichcangrowstrongandovercomethe

hardtrialsthatdemocracyisfacingtoday.

202 203

chapter 6

El Salvador

”for me, diakonia appears likeSimoninthestoryaboutthecrucifixionofJesus.

InthesamewaythatSimonhelpedJesustobearthecross,DiakoniaandSweden

havehelpedtheSalvadorianpeopletobeartheirsufferingandtheirrestorationto

justice”,sosaidBaptistpastorMiguelTomasCastro,speakingofthemanyyearsof

partnership.258

Thereisnotenoughspaceinthisbooktodescribealltheworkthatsfca/Diakonia

hassupportedinLatinAmericaovertheyears.Instead,ElSalvador,thesmallcoun-

tryinCentralAmerica,willactasanexample.

204 205

It started in South AmericaThesituationsofthevariousLatinAmericancount-

riesareveryreminiscentofoneanother.Develop-

mentsfromtheSpanishandPortuguesecolonisa-

tionsof the 1500s,via independence in the 1800s

up until today have brought with them a highly

unjustdistributionofthecontinentsresources.In

many countries land is owned and controlled by

just a few families. The majority of the popula-

tionhavebeendowntroddenintoalifeofpoverty

withouteventheirmostbasichumanrightsbeing

met.Themilitaryhastotalcontrolintheirrespec-

tivecountriesandinadditiontherearemanylocal

paramilitarygroups,inwhichmenareoftenforced

toparticipate.

ThefirsttimeanysupportwasgiventoSouth

AmericawaswhenanearthquakehitPeruin1970.

Thesfca Committee(hereafterreferredtoasthe

Committee)decidedtogrant10,000crownstothe

RedCross(1970§50).Noextensionofthatgrant

wasgiven.

Thenextgrant,ontheotherhand,wasama-

joroneandstretchedoveraperiodoffiveyears.

DuringtheNationalConferenceofAllChristians

inGöteborg,g72,Per-ArneAglertmetthepriest

Vincente Mejia from Colombia. Mejia described

his plans for a clearance project in the slums of

Medellin. The result of this meeting was that

sfca enteredintoapartnership(1973§148).

In1974AglerttravelledtoSouthAmerica.He

visitedtherubbishdumpproject.Asthecoopera-

tionhadbecomesoextensive, itwasdecided to

openalocalofficeforsfca (1974§70).Itwasalso

then that sfca gained its Spanish name, Acción

Ecuménica Sueca(Swedishecumenicalaction).

AsMerjawasavisionaryandaninspirational

person,itbecamenaturaltoputthetitle“Jesus at

the rubbish dump”ontheslideshowpresentation

that was put together to present the project in

Sweden.Sadlythepartnershiphadtobebroken

offin1977duetoproblemsintheprojectleader-

ship.Overhalfamillioncrownswerepaidbackto

Sida(1978/79§141).

Sidamadethefollowingcommentswhenthe

projectwasterminated:

[…]Developmentassistanceof this sort–aswearefully

aware-isverydifficultanditwouldbeimpossibletocom-

pletelyavoidmakinganymistakenpriorities.Thisexperi-

ence may however, be valuable for your organisations in

thecontinuingdevelopmentworkinLatinAmerica.259

ChileOn11September1973acoupd’étattookplacein

ChileandPresidentSalvadorAllendewasthrown

outofpower.Themilitaryjunta,underthelead-

ershipofAugustoPinochet,disregardedthedem-

ocratic constitution and carried out attacks on

politicalopponentsonamassivescale.

The military coup in Chile caused sfcc to

act. Its Executive Committee announced a day

of prayer and giving for Chile’s refugees. They

also replied to a call fromtheWorldCouncilof

ChurchesforsupporttoaburntdownMethodist

Church(1973§141).

Anna-Karin Gauding260 wrote the following

onthesubject:

ThechurchesinChilereactedimmediatelytotheviolence

thatbrokeoutinSeptember1973.Asearlyasthestartof

Octoberofthesameyearthesocalled‘PeaceCommittee’

wasformedledbytheLutheranPastorHelmutFranz.The

Peace Committee, which was ecumenically constituted,

wasbannedbythemilitaryinDecember1975.Vicaría de la

Solidaridad,theCatholicChurch’shumanrightsorganisa-

tion,replaceditjustonemonthlaterinJanuary1976.261

Per-ArneAglertalsovisitedChileonhis journey

in1974andatthatpointinitiatedcooperationwith

the Christian aid organisation Ayuda Cristiana

Evangélica (ace)and itsworktosupportpolitical

prisoners,refugeesandtheirfamilies.Thecontacts

had been made in the spring, when the Swedish

Chile Solidarity Committee had asked sfca to

sendinanapplicationtoSidaforsupporttoace ,

somethingthatwasthentakenonboard.(1974§44)

Demonstrations have become a way for poor farmers to speak out against the unjust distribution of land ownership.

Here the issue is the sale of land in Bolivia to international investors.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

20� 20�

Inadditiontosupportinglocalorganisations,sfca

also took up the role of being a lobby organisa-

tioninrelationtoSwedishpoliticians.Per-Arne

Aglert had regular and close contact with then

PrimeMinister[atthattime]OlofPalme,amongst

otherthingsaboutincreasingtheSwedishquota

forChileanrefugees(1975§98).

As the need for support to South America

grewsoquicklyitbecamenecessaryforthosere-

sponsibleattheoffice inStockholmtogethelp

inpreparingprojectproposals.LarsFranklincon-

tactedAnna-KarinGaudingforthistask.Shewas

activeintheSwedishChileSolidarityCommittee

andwasconsideredtohavethenecessaryinforma-

tionaboutthesituation.In1976Gaudingwasem-

ployedasavolunteerattheofficeinEcuador.52

Karl-AxelElmquistdescribedthat thestart-

ingpointfortheworkofsfca workwastogive

supporttoworkinallofthecountriesunderdic-

tatorship.262 The support was given to churches

and other organisation who protected and gave

legalsupporttovulnerablegroups.Inadditionto

thepeoplewhodecidedtoflee,either internally

orbyleavingthecountry,thosewhoparticipated

inhumanrightsgroupswerealsopersecuted.

The large that sfca received from Sida for

thisworkwerecategorisedas “disaster relief”or

weresometimescalled”thehumanitarianreliefto

Latin America”. The description “disaster relief’

was considered to be justified in that the social,

economic and political situation on the conti-

nentcouldinseveralregardsbecharacterisedas

one longdrawn out disaster. “Humanitarian aid”

meant primarily support for political prisoners,

refugees and others persecuted on the basis of

theirpoliticalviewsandactivities.

In 1976, theSwedishparliament legislated a

particular funding post for humanitarian assistance

to Latin America263 to be managed by a specially

appointedcommittee.Asimilarfundhadexisted

for grants for work in South Africa since 1964.

sfca received large sums from this fund. From

1982 sfca and its director Karl-Axel Elmquist

weremembersofthecommittee(1982§104).

AndersKompass264 described44(16/6-05):

The committee on humanitarian assistance was incred-

iblyimportantforus.Therewerecommittedpeoplewith

experience from South Africa on the committee. That

helpedusagreatdeal.Itwasn’thardforthemtotakerisks,

to stand up against military dictators and repressive gov-

ernments,againstviolence.Itwasprobablynecessarythat

therehadbeensuchadeepinvolvementinSouthAfrica

previously.SoSouthAfricahasprobablyhelpedusagreat

deal.Therewasbothabroadpoliticalcommitmentanda

commitmentamongstordinarypeopleinSweden.

In1978theCommitteedecidedonthefollowing

directionfortheworkinLatinAmerica:

Supportforgroupsworkingforhumanrights,

Supportforrefugeecommitteesandrefugeeprojects,

Supportforaidanddevelopmentprojects.(1978/79§21)

Employmentcreationprojectsweretobeoffered

to those who, for political reasons, were unem-

ployedandpersecuted.For thoseforcedto leave

theirhomecountry,assistancewastobeoffered

ontheLatinAmericancontinentinthefirstplace

andinthesecondplaceassistancewouldbepro-

vided to flee to Sweden (1978/79 §21). For those

whochosetofleetoSweden, therewasa receiv-

ingorganisationassfcchadatthistimesetupa

committeeforimmigrantandrefugeeprojects.

Central America During his visit in 1976, Per-Arne Aglert trav-

elledtoGuatemala.Thepurposeofhisvisitwas

mostprobablytomeetchurchrepresentativesto

discusshowsupportcouldbegivenfollowingthe

terrible earthquake that had hit the region that

year. 40 cities, including Guatemala City, had

been destroyed totally or in part. 25,000 dead,

300,000homelessand30,000orphanswerefigures

During the years of dicta-

torship in Chile the printing

of posters with political

messages was forbidden.

Sewing wall-hangings was

however permitted. SFCA

bought a number for a

touring exhibition on the

struggle for freedom.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

208 20�

estimated.Aregionalprotestantorganisationre-

ceivedthemajordisasterreliefsupportfromsfca

(1976§36).

In1976thefirstcontactswithElSalvadorwere

made. The Baptist Union of Sweden’s Mission

SecretaryErikRudénhadmettheSalvadorianpas-

tor Roger Velasques Valle. A slum sanitation and

reconstructionprojecthadbeenstartedinthearea

neighbouring his church (First Baptist Church in

SanSalvador)aftertheearthquakehadforcedpeo-

ple to evacuate (1977/78 §59). Support was given

forthreeyearsandthefinalreportstatesthat62

houses were built (1977/78 §142), creating totally

newlivingconditionsfortheslumresidents.”The

supportwereceivedthenwascharity”,saidBaptist

pastorCarlosSanchez,”thepeoplethemselveshad

noinfluence.”265

There is an interesting section in the min-

utesinwhichPer-ArneAglertgaveinformation

fromhisvisittoSouthAmerica.Hedescribedthe

hugeneedforhelpinforexampleNicaraguadue

totheincreasinglyseverepoliticalsituationthere.

When Aglert suggested an extra fundraising ef-

fort for Nicaragua, the Committee decided that

priority shouldbegivento theongoingwork in

India,butthatsecondaryprioritywouldbegiven

tograntsforNicaragua.Ifthiswasthecasesfca

shouldendeavourtogetmatchingfundsrequired

fortheSidagrantfromsomeotherorganisation.

In the same passage it stated “Per-Arne Aglert

may raise awareness about the emergency situa-

tioninNicaraguathroughpublicspeakingandin

writing”(1978/79§28).

The Churches roleAsaChristiandevelopmentagencyitwasnatural

for sfca/Diakonia to support the churches and

ecumenical groups that were struggling against

the prevailing oppression. The following text is

takenfromtheapplicationsenttoSidain1969:

ForlargegroupswithintheCatholicChurch,workforhu-

manrightsisamajorpartofthegospelmessageofjustice.

This insight has strengthened over recent years in con-

nection with the severe and general repression in Latin

America.ServingGodfortheseChristiansmeansworking

for justice, which means that they are often persecuted.

sfcawishestosupporttheseandsimilargroups,through

itsLatinAmericaprogramme.266

In the prevailing political climate, the message

from the Second Latin American Bishops’ Con-

ferenceinMedellin,Colombiain1968(seepage

22)hadhadapowerfuleffect ingroupsfighting

againsttheabuseofpowerandpoverty.Themes-

sagefromMedellinwasthatGoddoesnotwant

peopletoliveinpoverty267 ”Thetimefortalking

isover,thehourforactionhascome.”268 Thismes-

sage from Medellin reached out to the people,

andfromthisapopularreligiousmovementgrew,

which came to be known as Liberation Theology.

Existingfarmer’sandotherworkers’organisations

weresupportedintheirstruggleforjusticebythis

message.

Locally, so called ‘base groups’, comunidades

eclesiásticas de base,consistingofwomenandmen

whostudiedthebiblefromthecontextoftheirown

realitywereorganised.”Basegroupsweretheyeast

intheircommunities”,saidJohnCortina.”When

theChristianswerestrengthened,thewholecom-

munity was strengthened.” Lay people often led

basegroups:simplewomenandmenfromsociety.

Theawarenessofthesituationintheirowncoun-

try developed at grassroots level in these groups.

Together people started to work for change. The

wordsofthebiblegavehope:”Itwaslikerainfrom

theheavens,thatwouldgiveaharvest”.269

As a Christian development agency it was natural for SFCA/Diakonia to support the churches and ecumenical groups

that were struggling against the prevailing oppression. Here a group of people celebrating worship together is seen.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

210 211

Asthebasegroupsrevealedcrimesagainsthuman

rights, they became a threat to those in power.

Both political and conservative church leaders

began to accuse these Christians of being com-

munistsanddideverythingtheycouldtofrighten

the population about the consequences of com-

munism.Thehorrifictimeofpersecution,disap-

pearancesanddeathhadbegun.Politicalviolence

and repression increased. After a terrible massa-

cre in which many students were murdered on

30July1975inthecathedralinSanSalvador,the

CatholicChurchbeganworktosupportrelatives

andworkforhumanrights270.Forthisgroupitwas

importanttouselegalmeanstodefendthepoor

andstandagainsttheviolence.Thefocuswason

thevictims.

Itwastothispeople’schurchanditsworkfor

humanrights,thatsfcagaveitssupport.Quote

fromaSidaapplication1980:

OverthelastdecadesinLatinAmericaapeople’schurch

hasgrownwhichfunctionsasaninstrumentforcritique

ofsocialinjusticesandcrimesagainsthumanrights.Itisa

churchwhichidentifiesitselfwiththemassesandwhich

hasbecomeagatheringpointforrelativesandfriendsof

prisoners,disappearedandmurdered.Achurchwhichhas

becomeanexpressionofthepeople’sneeds.Thischurchis

veryrealpresenceinElSalvadorandGuatemala.271

Forsfca itbecameimportanttoparticipateindi-

aloguewiththeLatinAmericanchurches.In1978,

Per-ArneAglertthereforeparticipatedinthecon-

ferenceinMexico,atwhichtheLatinAmerican

CouncilofChurches,(Conferencia Latinoamérica

Iglesias, CLAI) wasformed(1978/79§8).

Archbishop Oscar RomeroOn 22 February 1977 a new Archbishop was in-

stalledinElSalvador.HisnamewasOscarRomero.

The reason he was chosen was that the Vatican

consideredhimtobetraditionalandnotprovoca-

tiveandthathewasnotactivewithinLiberation

Theology. But when his close friend, the priest

RutilioGrande,wasmurderedon 12March 1977

due to his struggle against injustice, Romero’s

lifechangedcompletely.Hetriedtofindalawyer

willingtoprosecutethemurdercase,butwhenhe

couldn’tfindalawyerwiththecouragetodoithe

gavethetasktoaJesuitpriest269.

Romerotookthesideofthepoorandshowed

it concretely by moving from the Archbishop’s

beautiful house to a very simple home close to

the cancer hospital La Divina Provedencia. His

preachingat both mass andon radiobroadcasts

becameadrivingforceinthestruggleofthepeo-

ple.

Oscar Romero quickly realised that the church

could play a very important role in the strug-

gle against abuse of power and against poverty.

In 1978,hecalled togetheranecumenicalgroup,

comprised of Catholics and Protestants and pre-

sented his proposal for an organisation for hu-

manitarianwork.InSeptember1979anecumeni-

cal aid Committee, Comité Ecuménica de Ayuda

Humanitaria, ceah , was formed to support the

victimsofviolence.Itsmostimportanttaskwas

toplanaprogrammeforanexpectedriseinthe

number refugees, as the political violence was

growing. Many churches became places of shel-

terforpersecutedandhomelesspeople.272In1980

sfcasupportedthisorganisationthroughgrants

fromSida’shumanitarianassistancefund(1979/80

§306).Theorganisationlaterchangeditsnameto

DiaconiaElSalvador.

In their travel report, Per-Arne Aglert and

AndersKompasswrote:

The church functions as an instrument for critique, it

identifiesitselfwiththemassesandhasbecomeagather-

ingpointforrelativesandfriendsoftheprisoners,disap-

peared and murdered. Archbishop Oscar Romero was an

important person in this work. Timid and softly spoken

privately, his prophetic denunciation of the dictatorship

and the terror became the people’s only defence. His

Oscar Romero became a

symbol of the church as an

instrument of critique. The

church that identified itself

with the masses.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

212 213

Sunday sermons drew thousands of people. Overall the

church in El Salvador has become an expression of the

people’sneeds!Itisasignthatgiveshope!273

Peace Prizesfca had come into contact with Archbishop

OscarRomerothroughtheorganisationceah .His

fearlessandtirelessworkforhumanrightsledthe

Committee,inDecember1979,todecidetoaward

himthePeacePrize(1979§223).Heexpressedhis

appreciationoftheprize,whichhewassadlypre-

ventedfromreceivinginSweden,inaletter.273

Per-Arne Aglert and Anders Kompass from

Sweden were in attendance when Romero re-

ceived the prize during High Mass on 9 March

1980, in the cathedral in San Salvador. Anders

Kompassdescribedhowninecoffinsofmurdered

andmutilatedstudentsstoodatthealtar.

ItwasanordinarySundaymass.Thecathedralwasfullof

poorpeople,farmworkers,andcatechistswhohadcome

fromrightacrossthecountry.Thestudents’familieswere

theretoo.Therewasnoonefromthemiddleclass-itre-

allywastheapeoplesmass.TheArchbishopspokeagainst

theviolence.Itwasawesome. […]Wewereabletospend

awholedaywithOscarRomeroinhishometherebythe

cancer clinic. We saw then this humble, simple priest,

whom we understood lived so close to his congregation.

Hewassohonest.Hewasofcoursechosenbecausehewas

soconservative.ButtheHolySpiritmovedandthatmeant

that he grew. But I think that he understood even then

thathewouldbeforcedtosacrificehisownlife.Thatwas

whatwefelt.44

On20March1980Romerowrotethefollowingin

athankyoulettertoPer-ArneAglert:

Dear Arne Aglert,SwedishFreeChurchAid,

Receivemyverydeepestandwarmestthanksforthe

award [Swedish Free Church Aid‘s Peace Prize] and for

yourpresenceattheceremonyon9March(1980).Ipray

thatyouwouldreceivethisgreetingofthankfulnessasan

expressionoftheChristianhopeoftheSalvadorianpeople,

whichspreadsitslightovertheroadtojusticeandpeace.

Theawardstrengthensashepherdwhostrivestoidentify

himselfwiththepeople’slongingforjustice.Iwillalways

rememberthisandhaveitinmyprayers.

Once again, receive my sincerest greetings and my

reverenceandadmiration.

Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero273.

On24March1980OscarRomerowasmurdered.

A single shot from a sniper hit him straight in

theheartashebeganthecommunionatthehos-

pital churchnext tohishome. ”His fearless and

courageous defence of the persecuted and op-

pressedmadehimanuncomfortablecriticofthe

crueltyoftheregime”,wroteDela med magazine

in1980274.EvenifRomerowaskilled,hismessage

lives on and his picture can be seen in so many

placesinthecountry.

New Regional Office The growing violence created an increased need

for a presence in the region. The Committee

thereforedecided,inthespringof1980,toopen

aregionalofficeinCentralAmerica.Duetothe

harshpoliticalclimateitwasdecidedtoplacethe

officeinCostaRica(1980§22).AndersKompass

and Per and Anki Sundelin were the first to be

sent out to work in the region. It was not until

1994thattheofficecouldmovetoSanSalvadorin

ElSalvador,whereitremainstoday(year2005).

sfca ’slargestsupporttoElSalvadorwentto

theecumenicalorganisationceah . Itsworkwas

highly politically sensitive as it related to sup-

portforvictimsofpoliticalviolence.Themoney

wenttothepurchaseofbasicmedicalequipment,

medicines,foodandclothesin140villagesandto

transportandmedicalcareforrefugees(1979/80

§306).Afterthepeacetreaty,theCatholicChurch

pulled out and the organisation was shut down,

In March 1�80 Per-Arne

Aglert and Anders Kompass

visited Oscar Romero.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

214 215

“theecumenicalpetrolranout”,saidpastorMiguel

TomasCastro.258

AstoryistoldaboutHenrikRamel,Swedish

ambassadorinGuatemala,beinggiventhetaskof

lookingintoceah asanorganisation,inprepara-

tionforafundingdecisionbySida.Hetravelled

to El Salvador and visited both the defence and

foreign ministers and presented sfca ’s applica-

tion.Whennewsaboutthesevisitscameoutithit

ceahhard.TheystronglyquestionedtheSwedish

agency’s judgement, as information about their

workwassosensitive.Severaloftheorganisation’s

leadersthereforedecidedtoleavetheirposts.275

Overtimeatrustingrelationshipdeveloped

between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sida

and sfca . In 1981, director Karl-Axel Elmquist

wasinvitedtoattenddiscussionsattheMinistry

forForeignAffairs.Theysaidthattheywerepre-

paredtoincreasetheirsupporttoElSalvadorand

channelitviaSidatosfca(1981§87).

Itbecamealsoimportanttocreateclosercon-

tactswiththechurchesinthewartorncountries

ofCentralAmerica.sfccthereforedecidedtoar-

rangeofficialvisits forgroupsofchurch leaders.

Thefirstvisittookplacein1982andwasarranged

jointlywiththeChurchofSweden(1982§28).An

in-depth report was written following the visit,

andanumberofmeasureswereagreedupon.In

additiontoincreasedfinancialsupportgenerally,

supportwastobegiventotheologicalwork,aswell

astogivingSwedishtheologianstheopportunity

tostudytheworkonlocation.Itwasalsodecided

totryandinfluencetheusa ’sgeneralmilitaryand

economicpoliciestowardsLatinAmerica,andto

influence the Swedish government to increase

developmentassistancetoCentralAmerica(1983

§157).

Swedish assistance to El Salvador grew over the

1980s at pace with the war, and sfca/Diakonia

was one of the major actors. Many felt that the

work had become far too politicised but sfca/

Diakonia argued that the difficult situation of

thepeopleforcedacontinualreassessmentofthe

positions taken. In an application to the Peace

Lottery[Fredslotteriet]in1985Diakoniawrote:

In the practical work for human rights, Diakonia’s work

hasprincipallydevelopedintosupportforthechurchand

othergroupsthathaveactedtoopposethelackofrespect

forhumanrightsshownbythemilitaryandtheregime.At

thesametimeDiakoniahasconsciouslychosentocooper-

atewithorganisationsthathavearguedforconflictresolu-

tionthroughnegotiationinsteadofmilitarymeans.276

From applications to Sida and from Sida’s own

evaluation, it is clear that no proper audits of

the allocated funds could be made. Gabriella

Lindholm,whoatthetimeworkedattheMinistry

for Foreign Affairs, said that the entire coopera-

tionwasbuiltuponcompletetrust.277

I had the privilege of visiting El Salvador

in September 2005 and met previous and cur-

rentpartnerstolistentotheirstories.278Theyall

spokeof1980asahorrificyear.17,000peopleare

thoughttohavebeenmurderedthatyear.Thevio-

In October 1�8� San Salvador was hit by

an earthquake that destroyed parts of

the city centre. With financial support

from Diakonia, Diaconia (El Salvador)

was immediately able to start emer-

gency relief work for those affected. This

picture is from Immanuel Baptist church,

where family aid parcels were packed for

homeless in the area.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

21� 21�

lencecreatedfearandmanypeoplechosetoflee

theirvillages.The Social Department of the office of

the Archbishop and the ecumenical organisation

Diaconiaopenedarefugeecampforinternalref-

ugees and operated humanitarian aid work such

ashealhcare,employmentcreationprojectsand

education.

ThehighlyuncertainsituationinElSalvador

forcedsfca towritethefollowinginitsapplica-

tiontoSidain1980:

In Central America the civil war in El Salvador is reach-

ingacriticalpoint.Thishasmeant,amongstotherthings,

that100,000peoplehavebeenforcedtofleetheirhomes

andarenowdirectedtoahighlyprecariousenvironment

incampsbothinElSalvadorandneighbouringcountries.

Thisyear’sapplicationdoesnotincludeanyprojectsforEl

Salvador.Inourassessmentthesituationthereissofluid

thatit istodayimpossibletopredictthedevelopmentof

eventsandneedsformorethanayearinadvance.279

Italsostates:

The situation in Latin America

Over the years that sfca has had humanitarian pro-

grammes inLatinAmerica, thepoliticalandsocial situa-

tion on the continent has changed and consequently, so

hasthedirectionofourprogramme.Inthebeginningthe

programme was purely a refugee programme. Gradually

it expanded to include the defence of human rights, in

a limited sense. From 1980 onwards our support for hu-

manrightsworkhaswidenedtoincludehumanrightsin

abroadersense.sfcahasduringthisperiodcometobe

knownas a serious anddependabledonor agency forhu-

manrightswork.Furthermore,sfcaisinpracticetheonly

institutionsupportinghumanrightsinthebroadersense

inLatinAmericaandSweden.

The projects included in the programme are in-

tendedtosupportvariouspopularmovementsandtheor-

ganisations’worktochangetherealityinwhichtheylive.

Foreignsupportcanneverreplaceoppressedpeople’sown

effortsandstruggle.Wemustthereforeshowrespectfor

theirindependenceandsupportbutnotsteertheirwork.

Consequently,westrivetoavoidthecreationofpaternal-

isticorexistentialistformsofsupport.

Oscar Pérez emphasised this when he described

cooperation with sfca/Diakonia. The shape of

the needs shifted over time. He felt that there

were threekeywords runningthroughthepart-

nership; ecumenism, solidarity and institution

building.”Wefeltlikewesharedourstrugglewith

Diakonia, who were our voice in Sweden. The

Swedishpeopleheardaboutoursituation.”280

The strive for peace ”There were no signs of peace from when the

office opened in 1980 until the summer of 1983

whenI left (toworkattheMinistryforForeign

Affairs). The war just got worse and worse. We

focused upon supporting internal refugees, per-

secutedpeopleandworkforhumanrights”,tells

AndersKompass.44WhenLarsFranklintookover

from Kompass they often discussed how they

couldn’t just sit and wait for the military and

political leaders to come to negotiations. They

got the support of Archbishop Arturo Rivera y

Damas.TheArchbishopwasincontactbothwith

themilitaryandfmln(FrontenFarabundoMartí

fornationalliberation)andonhisinitiativethese

groupsagreedtothesuggestiontomeet.

”The Archbishop played a major role in the

struggleforpeace.In1984wetooktheinitiativeto

breakthemyththatthefightingpartiescouldn’t

meet”,saysMariaJuliaHernandez,whoatthetime

workedatthe Social Department of the Archbishops

Office.On15Octoberagroupofpeoplemet.The

close relations with Sweden meant that both

Foreign support can never replace the efforts and struggle of oppressed people themselves. We must therefore show

respect for their independence and support but not steer their work.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

218 21�

AndersKompassandtheSwedishAmbassador in

Mexicowereincludedinthediscussiongroup.

ItwasduringthesepeacetalksthattheTenan-

cingoinitiativedeveloped.Thesuggestionwasto

create a practical means for people to be able to

returntotheirsmallhometownsandtohelpthem

withtheworkofreconstruction. Inthiswaythe

variousactorswoulddemonstratethattheyaccept-

edpeople’srighttocomebackandliveinpeace.

EdinMartinez,fromtheorganisationFunda­

sal,confirmedthatitwasanimportantinitiative.

In 1986, top military officials and the guerrillas

jointly decided to offer around 50 refugee fami-

lies theopportunity to return to their town,Te-

nancingo. No military presence would be there.

Diakonia, in partnership with the Olof Palme

InternationalCenterandChurchofSwedenAid,

supported the reconstruction of the village and

its infrastructure. The military however broke

their agreement and sent armed troops into the

area. The project is described in the following

termsinthetextoftheCommittee’sdecision:

In addition to the aid elements of the project, it can be

seen as a test of the potential for international develop-

mentassistanceworktocontributetojointagreementsto

improve the situation of internal refugees and others af-

fectedbycivilwar(1985§84).

WhenSwedishRadioAidcarriedoutthe Refugee

86 fundraising campaign Diakonia applied for

fundsforElSalvador,amongstotherplaces,with

thewords:

Itisnecessaryfornationalandinternationalorganisations

workinginElSalvadortodevelopabroadandlong-term

perspectiveforworkwithreturningrefugees.Alongterm

perspectivenotleastbecausetheissueofsecurityforrefu-

geeswillrequireaninternationalpresenceandmonitoring

foralongtimetocome(1987§101).

Afteroneyear,thereturneescouldcelebratethe

reconstructionandrejoiceoverallthattheyhad

achieved during the year. But the project could

not be implemented in full. ”It was hard to cre-

ateafreezoneinthemiddleofacountryatwar”,

reflectedManuelSevilla,directorof Fundasal at

thetime.281

InMay1986thefiveCentralAmericanpresi-

dentsmetfordiscussionsonpeaceandcooperation.

ThemeetingwasheldinthevillageofEsquipúlas

inGuatemala.TheymetagaininAugust1987and

signedtheagreementwhichhascometobecalled

Esquipúlas II-anaction plan for a stable and lasting

peace in Central America.282TheAriasPlan(named

afterPresidentOscarAriasofCostaRica)created

the opportunity for refugees across the whole of

CentralAmericatoreturntotheirrespectivehome

countries. In1991Diakonia’sBoardreaffirmedits

supportforkeepingthepeaceinitiativesalive,for

examplethroughfocusinginternationalattention

ontheissue(1991§129).

Time and again reports and applications

have asserted that the focus of Diakonia’s work

inCentralAmericawassupportforchurches’and

other humanitarian organisations’ work among

peopleafflictedbywarorrepression.Thechoice

oforganisationstosupportwasimportant.Inthe

polarisedsituationthatprevailedDiakoniaaimed

tosupportorganisationsthatstrovetocarryout

independentworkandtobeacounterforcetothe

usa ’sstrongsupportoftheregimesandthusthe

oppression.

Over the years churches and other humani-

tarian organisations had taken an increasingly

long-term perspective to their work. From pure

emergencyrelieftheyhadmovedontoenabling

peopletoorganiseinordertofindsolutionstotheir

problems themselves. Public education projects,

thetrainingofpromotersandleadersandexperi-

ence exchange were key concepts. This develop-

mentreceivedstrongsupportfromDiakonia.

Diakonia supported the reconstruction of the village and its infrastructure.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

220 221

Oneexampleofthesharedperspectiveandclose

linkthatexistedbetweentheMinistryforForeign

Affairs,SidaandsfcawasthefundthatSidaal-

located to sfca . The fund, managed by sfca

personnel in Central America, enabled rapid de-

cisionstobetakenonsupportforstrategicinter-

ventions forpeaceandhumanrights. Important

initiativesconcerningthewholeregioncouldalso

receivegrantsfromthisfund.InSida’sownevalu-

ationthisfundwasdescribedassomethingthat

neitherSida,northeMinistryforForeignAffairs

northeuncoulddirecttheuseof.283

TheSalvadorianBaptistChurchtooktheini-

tiativetostartsmallscalebutimportantworkto

provideprotectionforyoungpeoplewhowereat

riskofbeingconscriptedintothearmyandtosup-

port those who had fled conscription. Diakonia

supportedtheprojectfrom1988(1989§20.1).

EachyeartheSalvadorianarmyhastorecruit1000−15000

newsoldiersinordertoretainitsforceof56,000men.The

numberofdeserters,deadandinjuredasaconsequenceof

thewarisveryhigh.Asthenumberofvolunteersregister-

ingformilitaryserviceisnegligible,thearmyhastocon-

scriptpeopleinordertofillthegapsinitsranks.284

Peace TreatyOn 16 January 1992 the fighting parties signed a

cease-fire agreement. The signing took place in

Chapultepec, Mexico in the presence of un and

many international observers, including Swedish.

Theagreementwastocomeintoforceon1February

and thus end twelve years of civil war. The war

had caused untold suffering. It had divided fami-

lies and orphaned tens of thousands of children.

Thousands of people bore injuries, 75,000 people

losttheirlivesandatleastonemillionwereforced

intoexileortobecomeinternalrefugees.

Thetermsofthepeacetreatyweretobeful-

filledbybothparties.Theagreementprescribed

that the guerrillas would disarm by 31 October

1992.Otherimportantpointswere:

Anewcivilpoliceforcewastobeestablished;themilitary

was to reduce its forcesbyhalf toaround31,000 soldiers

and all special commandos were to be disbanded. The

guerrillasoldiers,estimatedtobeabout8,000,weretobe

integratedintosociety.Gravecrimesagainsthumanrights

andmassacresweretobeinvestigatedandthoseresponsi-

blepunished.Itwasalsodecidedtomodernisethejudicial

system.Onepointalsosaidthatsocio-economicmeasures

weretobetaken.285

”Thetimefollowingthepeacetreatywasatimeof

hope”,saidMariaJuliaHernandez.”Overaperiod

of sixmonths,crimesagainsthumanrightswere

tobeinvestigatedandatruthcommissionwasto

presenttheresults.Butthematerialwasfartooex-

tensive,timestretchedoutanditwasdecidedonly

topublicisethenamesof40membersofthemili-

tary who were guilty of grave crimes against hu-

manrights.Afterthis,parliamentwastolegislate

onthebasisofthecommissionsproposals.”286

”On15March1993thefinalproposalsofthe

truthcommissionwerepresented.ThePresident

thenaskedforamnestyforallcrimes.On20March

Parliamentvotedinamnestylawthatmeantfree-

domfrompunishmentforall.Withthistheentire

contentofthepeacenegotiationswasreducedto

nothing”,continuedHernandez.

JohnSobrinofeltthatthedifficultywasthatthe

parties never reconciled. ”Reconciliation can’t

takeplaceifamnestypreventsjusticefrombeing

done.Ifjudgementisnotpassed,noreconciliation

cantakeplace.Andtohaveacultureofpeacerec-

onciliationmusttakeplace.”PastorMiguelTomas

Castro said that the military considered them-

selvestohavedonetherightthing,andcontinued

”If I’ve done everything right, I have nothing to

regret”.”Thevictimsthatdemandjusticearestill

ourhope”,saidMariaSilvaGuillénoffespad .278

ThesituationinElSalvadorcaninmanyways

becomparedtoSouthAfrica.Butintermsofthe

peacetreatyandtheabilityofthoseaffectedtotes-

tifybeforeatruthcommissionthesituationsare

completelydifferent.InElSalvadorthetruthcom-

In conflict zones such as Colombia,

Palestine, the Democratic Republic of

Congo and Guatemala, mapping and

documenting incidents of abuse are

important tasks. The photo is taken

in the local authority offices in Solola,

Guatemala.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

222 223

missionhasstillhadnopublichearings,whilstin

SouthAfricathishastakenplace(seepage193). PastorMiguelTomasCastrofeltthatthedif-

ficultywithpeacewasthatpeopleinElSalvador

didn’t know what a culture of peace was. They

had never lived in peace. On top of this the so-

cialandeconomicproblemsthatcausedthewar

remained.Democracywastobebuiltandnoone

knewhowlongthatwouldtake.278

Thedecisiononamnestycreatedgreatanxi-

ety about the future. Violence and crime were

stillwidespreadandwereaconstantthreattothe

fragile peace process. One fear that Diakonia’s

personneloftenheardtheirpartnersexpresswas

thattheworldwouldforgetElSalvador.

Peace meant an increase in needs. Soldiers

needed to be integrated into society and peo-

ple disabled by the war needed rehabilitation.

Infrastructureneededtobebuiltup.Tensofthou-

sandsoffamiliesreturnedtotheirplacesoforigin

or to nearby areas. Divided families and villages

neededtobereconciled.Anewpoliticalleadership

neededtobetrained.Greatdemandswereplaced

onthegovernmenttofulfilitssocialresponsibili-

ties.Itwasthereforeimportantthatchurches,ngos

andpeople’smovementsparticipatedinthepeace

anddemocratisationprocessthatwastolastuntil

theelectionsin1994.287

Oneaspectofthepeacetreatyconcernedland.It

wasdecidedthatnoonecouldownmorethan245

hectaresofland.Everythingabovethatwastobe

boughtbythestateinordertobeallocatedtothe

poor.

”When peace was agreed in 1992, globalisa-

tionwasafactandtheinternationalmarkethad

alsoentered intoour arena”, saidOscarPerez.280

The neo-liberal government made land available

toforeignindustriesandlargeareasweredeclared

”free-tradezones”.

Thewarcompletelychangedtheroleofthe

churches in El Salvador and with it Diakonia’s

abilitytoworkinpartnershipwithchurchesand

ecumenical organisations. Many churches took

party political stances. Divisions between and

withinvariouschurcheswerepartoftheprocess

ofchangethattheSalvadoriansocietywasgoing

through. In the new situation it became impor-

tant for Diakonia to renew its guidelines for fu-

turepartnerrelations.

Inthehumapplication93/94importantcriteria

weregivenfororganisationstoreceivefuturesup-

port.Intheturbulentandsensitivesituationpre-

vailinginthecountryitwasimportanttotakethe

peopleasthestartingpointandtoinspirethemto

activeparticipation.Furthermoreallofthework

shouldstrivetoconcretelyexpressthefundamen-

Tens of thousands of families returned to their

places of origin or to nearby areas. Divided fami-

lies and villages was to be reconciled.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

224 225

tal Christian values of restoration, justice and

reconciliationinactions.Opportunitiestobuild

relationships should be sought, so that people

would gain the opportunity to show respect for

thosewithdifferentwaysofthinking,aswellas

authoritiesandforpoliticalandeconomicgroups

insociety.

Work to improve quality was carried out,

based primarily on internal processes in partner

organisationsthroughwhichtheyshowedthem-

selveswillingtoevaluateandimprovetheirwork.

Twoyearsafterthepeacetreatythefirstelec-

tionwasannounced.Bythenacivilpoliceforce

had been created in the country. Despite the

absence of war people still lived in a culture of

violence.Diakoniagavemajorsupporttoabasic

votereducationprogramme.Onemajorproblem

wasthat300,000votersdidnotreceivetheirvot-

ingcards in timefor theelection.288Thearena

partywontheparliamentaryelectionwithalmost

50percentof the seats.Theguerrillamovement

fmlnhadbeenturnedintoapoliticalpartyand

won25percent.fmln ontheotherhandwonin

manyofthelocalelections.

The Sida applications for 94/95 and 95/96

presenttheprioritiesthatDiakoniahadforwork

inElSalvadorafterthepeacetreaty.Thebasisof

theprogrammewasworkforreconciliationinthe

formofinterventionstobuilddemocracythrough

training and organising primarily amongst re-

turnees and internal refugees. Training focused

on issues such as human rights, in which the

documentationofabuseswasimportant.Income

generating projects and projects for health and

environmental care were also important as they

influencedpeoples’ livingconditions(1994§108).

For this eaim Diakonia could begin cooperating

withthelocalorganisationsalreadyinplace,many

ofwhichhadbeenactiveintherefugeecamps.

When El Salvador was struck by a severe

earthquakein2001, itwasapparentthatthelead-

ersofthecountrycouldnotmanagethenecessary

reliefeffort.Theaidthatcametothecountrywas

politicised.TheimportanceofDiakonia’scloseco-

operationwithlocalorganisations-organisations

that enabled qualitative participation of the peo-

plethemselves–thenbecameclear.Theorganisa-

tionshavealsoworkedagreatdealonleadership

developmentatlocal,districtandregionallevel.

In this way Diakonia has continued to sup-

port work to build peace, with support for the

developmentofdemocracyandhumanrights at

local level. Previously marginalized groups were

encouraged to participate so that they could ad-

vocatetheirconcernsandissuesthemselves.The

newly formed organisations, which were often

comprised of former guerrilla soldiers, started a

networkforlocaldevelopment.Thisnetwork,La

Red, becameadrivingforceinboththetheoreti-

caldebateandintheimplementationofdevelop-

mentinitiatives.Theworkwassosuccessfulthat

in2000thePresidentinvitedthenetworktopar-

ticipateintheformulationofanationalstrategy

forlocaldevelopment.

ThefollowingdescriptionofCentralAmerica

canbefoundinDiakonia’sstrategicplan:

Itisbecomingincreasinglydifficultforthepooresttohave

theirvoicesheardastodaytheyfindthemselvesevenfur-

therfromthosethathavepower.Itisalsomoredifficult

forthemtokeepthemselvesinformed.Onlyasmallpart

ofthepopulationofCentralAmericahaveaccesstodaily

mediainordertokeepthemselvesinformedandevenfew-

erhaveaccesstotheinternet.Thenationalgovernments

have increasing difficulty in steering national economic

policyasthestateoftheeconomydependsupondecisions

thatareoftentakenfaraway,butwhichhaveadirectim-

pactonindividualcitizensinthecountries.Governments

bindthemselvestotradeagreementsthatoftenallowthe

exploitation of cheap labour or national resources. It is

apparent that an increasingly liberalised global market

economyisnotwithoutitsproblems.289

The village of Santa MartaWecanfollowthe storyofevents inElSalvador

more concretely through the people of the vil-

lageofSantaMarta.Theirstoryisthestoryofthe

wholeofElSalvador.sfca/Diakoniahassupport-

edthepeopleofthevillagesincetheendofthe

1970s.Ihadtheprivilegeofvisitingthevillagefor

two days in September 2005. I talked with lead-

ers and members of the organisation Asociación

Desarrollo de Santa Marta, ades , (Development

AssociationofSantaMarta).

Christian Base Communities formed ThevillageofSantaMartaliesinthebeautiful,hilly

northernpartofthecountryneartheRioLempa

River,whichformstheborderwithHonduras.The

village has always been populated by poor farm

workerswhoareexploitedandoppressedbyland-

owners, those inpowerand themilitary.Despite

thevillagebeingsituatedinafertilefarmingareait

hasbeenhardforpeopletheretolifewithdignity.

The message from Medellín in 1968 reached this

village and people started to organise themselves

inChristianbasecommunities.Peoplelistenedto

OscarRomero’ssermonsontheradio.”Westartedto

protestagainsttheinjusticesandbecauseofthisour

leaderswerepersecutedbythearmy”,toldvillage

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

22� 22�

leaderCarlosBonilla.”Thearmysaidthatwewere

subversiveanddidnotactaccordingtothegospel.”

The violence escalated and the situation in

the village worsened dramatically in 1978. The

church leaders were imprisoned. “The military

pickedusupatourworkplacesandinourhomes.

Theyburnedlandandkilledtheanimals”,contin-

uedBonilla.”WhenweheardthatOscarRomero

hadbeenmurderedpanicbrokeoutinthevillage.

A pastor and children, women and the elderly

weremurderedheretoo.”

It was at this time that the guerrilla was

formed,aspeoplejoinedtogethertofightagainst

abuse by the military. In total 250 people from

SantaMariaparticipated,dividedinto10platoons.

I met one of them, Joan Antonio Rivas, an older

man who described how everything had started

in the Christian base community. They felt that

thewordsof thebiblegave themsupport in the

struggle for justice.He felt that in thedesperate

situationthatprevailedtherewasnoalternativeto

armedstruggle.Buttheyonlyhadsimpleweapons,

like machetes. They were trained. The platoons

werebasedonthehilltopsaroundthevillageand

sometimestheydaredtogodowntoseewhatwas

happeningathome.Hedescribedhowtheycom-

posed and sang their own songs, describing their

struggleandtheirhope.

In1980fiveguerrillagroupsunitedintheumbrel-

laorganisationfmln .Theyconsideredthereform

programme of the Duarte government a failure

andin1981begananoffensivetobringdownthe

government.Withthatthecivilwarbegan.One

partof themilitary’s strategywas “the scorched

earth policy”, which left nothing behind when

theymovedon.

The flightIn March 1981, Santa Marta was surrounded by

7,000 soldiers who started to burn, rape and kill.

On15March1981thevillagersdecidedtoflee.They

placedtheirhopeinHonduras,ontheothersideof

theriver.Ittookthemthreenightstogetdownto

theriver.Theguerrillasheardthatthepeoplewere

fleeingandgavethemprotectiondayandnight.

Whenthevillagersgottotheriver,theSalva-

dorianarmywasalreadythereandshotat them

from helicopters. Many people also drowned. In

total36peopledied.Manywerealsoshotonthe

othersideoftheriverbytheHonduranarmy.

Thosewhomanagedtocrosstheriverwere

rounded up and taken to a transit camp. They

wereshutinthecampforthreeweeks.”Thanks

to international solidarity from Caritas and

other organisations we were treated wellby the

Hondurans.Theygaveusfruittosharebetween

thechildrenandtheelderly.”

When three weeks had passed everyone was

movedtoanewarea,LaVirtud.”Itfeltlikebeing

inahothole.Weweregiventents,buttherewas

nowaterandnofirewood,”toldBonilla.”Theresult

wasserioushealthproblems.Wecouldburyseven

peopleatatime;theydiedofinfectionsintheter-

ribleheat.Welivedinthatplaceforayear.”

The camp was under the protection of the

un and they were visited by its Human Rights

Commissioner, who offered them another place

tomoveto–MesaGrande.Somepeoplewereal-

lowedtovisittheplaceandtheproposalwasac-

cepted.”Butourdreamwasofcoursetogoback

home”,saidBonillawithabigsmile.

TheapplicationtoSida in81/82focusedon

theseandotherrefugees:

Thecivilwarinthecountrycontinueswithnolesseningof

brutality.AccordingtothelatestfiguresfromtheCatholic

Bishops’ Conference 30,000 people have been murdered

sinceJanuary.Thesevictimsarecivilians,killedbythemil-

itaryinsocalledclean-upcampaignsagainstareascontrol-

ledbythearmedopposition,ormurderedbyparamilitary

terrorgroupscontrolledbythegovernment.

Itisestimatedthataround200,000peoplehavefled

theirhomesasaresultofthecivilwar.Halfoftheseareso

calledinternalrefugeesandhaveremainedinElSalvador

whilst the others have fled to neighbouring countries

suchasHonduras,Nicaragua,CostaRicaandMexico. In

Honduras,therearearound30,000Salvadorianrefugees.

The civil war in the country continued with

no lessening of brutality.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

228 22�

Mesa GrandeMesaGrandewasnobetterthantheotherplaces

– an empty grass covered area where they were

nowtolive.Thechallengewastomakethebestof

abadsituation.CarlosBonillacontinuesthestory:

”Weorganisedthewholerefugeecampintoseven

complexes of small family houses. Two families

livedineachhouse.Acoordinatingcommitteeled

allofthework.Weweregivenbuildingmaterials

(withsupportfromsfcaamongstothers).None

ofusknewhowtobuildsowetaughtourselves.

Foreignvolunteerscameandhelpedus.”

”Our aim was to create a well functioning

community in which all the adults would work

andthechildrengotoschool.Webuiltaschoolfor

pupilsuptograde4,aclinic,workshops,acobblers

andagarageformechanics.Webuiltachurch,and

a priest and a doctor came to us. We taught our-

selvestomakecompostandstartedtogrowvegeta-

blesandmaize.Itwasimportantforthechildren

togetnourishingfood.”

”Therewerenoteachersinthegroupofref-

ugees, sofortheschooltofunctionsomeofthe

adultshadtostandin.”Bonillawasoneofthose

thatofferedtohelp.Hestartedteachingchildren

but went on to teach adults to read and write.

Rosa Lainez, who was also active within ades ,

describeshowshewasa17-year-oldsinglemother

ofonewhenshefled.WhentheyarrivedatMesa

Grandeshepluckedupthecouragetostandinas

a teachertoo,despitethefact that shehadonly

three years of schooling herself. ”My time as a

teacherwasthebestinmylife.Theteachingcre-

atedsuchstrongrelationships”,shesaid.

”Lifeintherefugeecampwashard.Freedom

ofmovementwas so limited.Anyonewhowent

outside the camp risked being murdered by the

Honduranarmy.”

”Inautumn1986theunCommissionercame

to visit the refugee camp again. During the 15

minutes that he stayed he asked about our wor-

ries.We toldhimaboutourvulnerability, about

cutsingrantsandaboutallthosewhowantedto

returnhome.HecamefromSanSalvadorandhad

been in negotiations with President Duarte. He

gaveusthreechoices:gainthelegalrighttostayin

Honduras,fleetoanothercountryorreturnhome

under the observation of the military. He gave

us until after Christmas and New Year to think

aboutit.Whatwouldwedecide?Wewantedtogo

homeofcourse.”

”Weformedacommittee togetherwith the

churchtoplanthereturn.Thechurchparticipat-

edbecauseithadbeengiventheroleofmediating

between the refugees and the authorities. I was

electedas chair”, toldCarlosBonilla. “It wasno

easytask,asthewarwasstillgoingon.Wetalked

secretlywithfmln ,whichgaveusstrength.They

hadnegotiatedwiththegovernmenttoo.”

”Soon9October1987oneofthegovernment

ministers came.Wewere tomeet at6amon the

footballpitch.10,000peoplecame.Whensheasked

whowantedtoreturnhomeeveryoneputuptheir

hands. We broke camp the next day. Foreign ac-

companiers joined us. The priest Father Gerard

waswithus.On11Octoberat14.00thefirstpeople

arrivedatwhathadoncebeenthevillageofSanta

Marta.Everythingwasburntdownandtheweeds

hadtakenover.Nothingwasleft.Thewatersourc-

eswereovergrown.Therewasnofood.”

Home again”Weclearedanddugtogettothewater.Ittookus

eightdays.Wesharedoutplasticandbuilttoilets.

Then14trucksarrivedwithallthebuildingmateri-

alsfromMesaGrandeandtheworkofrebuilding

couldbegin.Thearmywatchedusthewholetime.”

”After a week or two, me and some others

weretakenprisonerbythearmyinanearbyvil-

lage.Theywantedtoknowwherethefoodcame

from and about our contact with the guerrillas.

The refugee camp in Mesa Grande

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

230 231

Theyquestioneduslongintotheevening.Wetold

them–killus,butyoushouldknowthateveryone

inthevillageknowsthatwe’rehere.Thedarkness

sweptinoverusandtherewesatandthemilitary

were afraid. The fireflies in the darkness scared

themandwewereallowedtogo.Itwasadifficult

time. The helicopters continued to bomb, they

killedpetsandpeoplewereinjured.

”Inordertobeabletomoveaboutoutsidethe

villagepeoplewereforcedtocarryid documents.”

Theauthoritieswereslowtoproducethese.After

ayearonly30percentofthevillagershadreceived

theiriddocuments(1988§84).

”WewanttothankDiakoniaandotherorgani-

sations that,despite everything,we succeeded in

gettingthereconstructionunderway”,saidBonilla.

”Theinternationalattentionmeantthatwenever

feltalone.Yougaveusstrengthinourhope.”

Reconstruction The Social Department of the Archbishops officealso

providedsupporttoSantaMarta,givinggrantsfor

thepurchaseofland.Eachfamilyreceiveda25by

30metreplotofland.Thankstoanagreementwith

achurchfromtheusa,544hectaresoflandcould

beboughtasacollectiveallotmentforthevillage.

Thislandcan’tbesold–itbelongstoeveryone.

Micael Lindholm290 describes how the village of

SantaMartaparticipatedinthepeacenegotiations.

The American ambassador and a top us military

chiefvisitedthevillagetogetherwithahigh-rank-

ingfmlnrepresentative.Theirmeetingwiththe

villagerswasverytensetobeginwith,butinthe

eveningwhenitturnedtosonganddancetheat-

mosphere felt more relaxed. The visitors talked

withCarlosBonillaandlistenedtohisandthevil-

lagers’hopesforapeacefulexistence.291

The development organisation ades was

formed and the residents of the village were di-

videdintoworkinggroups.OnceagainBonillabe-

camechairfortheleadershipgroup.Hedescribes

withgreatpridehowthevillagehaschangedover

theyearssincetheirreturn.

In thisway thevillagegoton its feet again,

first with simple housing to give the returnees

a roofover their heads. Negotiations took place

thatledtothepeoplebeingguaranteedsafety.The

villagegotelectricityandtheroadwasimproved.

Aschoolwasbuiltwherethechildrenweretobe

educated.Achurchwasalsobuiltandthevillage

gotapriest.And thevillagegota clinic, aphar-

macyandadoctorvisitedregularly.

Lars Franklin visited the village of Santa

Martain1987.Thefollowingwasincludedinhis

report:

The refugees are extremely well organised and have got

reconstructionworkunderway.Afterhavingclearedand

repairedtheroadsandbuiltprovisionalhousingtheyhave

nowstartedbuildingmorepermanenthomes.Theyhave

evenstartedsmallscalefarminginordertomeettheirown

needforfoodandhaveorganisedthechildren’sschooling,

healthcareandsoon.IhadtheopportunitytovisitSanta

Marta,towhichatotalof1600peoplereturned,andwas

incredibly impressed by how they have organised them-

selvesandbytheirenthusiasm.

Thegovernmenthas turnedablindeyeto therefu-

gees’return.Themilitaryexercisesstrictcontroloverthe

settlementsandsubjectstherepatriatestoconstantharass-

ment.Churchdeliveriesofnecessarygoods,buildingma-

terialsandtoolsareoftenstoppedatmilitaryroadblocks

andhavehaddifficultygettingthrough.Evenhigh-rank-

ingvisitors suchasArchbishopYDamas,Sida’sGeneral

SecretaryCarlThamandthecountry’sdeputyministerfor

socialwelfarehavebeenstopped.292

Following thepeace treaty in 1992 itwas impor-

tant for Diakonia to support peaceful develop-

ment and strong democracy. The words of the

humapplicationof91/92wereputintopractice

After the home coming the village of Santa Marta could slowly recover. First with simple homes that gave roof over

the heads for the returning people.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

232 233

inthevillageofSantaMartaandthroughtheor-

ganisationades :

It isnot justaboutsupportforpubliceducation,agricul-

turaldevelopment,andthecreationofpeople’smovements

andsoon.Itistoalargeextentalsoaboutsupportingproc-

essesthatcanstrengthenthepositionofsmallergroupsin

relationtowidersociety.

Creating space for broad public participation at

grassrootslevelisonepossiblewaytostrengthenpopular

movementsandthusincreasethelikelihoodofthemsuc-

ceedingintheirstruggleforfundamentalchangeinsoci-

ety.Incountriesthatcanbedescribedas‘newdemocracies’

there is an imminent risk of renewed military interven-

tion.Inthissituation,popularparticipationandsupport

forthe“limiteddemocracy”achievedsofarcancontribute

toamorestableandrooteddemocracy.293

Thepeoplewhohadtaughtintherefugeecamp

continuedtoteachinthevillageschool.Theonly

problemwasthattheschoolcouldn’tgetsupport

from the education department as the village

lacked qualified teachers. The villagers decided

to encourage some young people to train to be

teachers.Inautumn2003acelebratoryceremony

washeldinthechurchatwhich15youngmenand

womenreceivedtheirdiplomasfromsenioroffi-

cialsoftheministry.294Fromthatdayontheedu-

cationprovidedbytheschoolwasapprovedbythe

government.Theaimisnowtohaveaseniorhigh

school in the village, so that young people can

gain university entry-level qualifications. In ad-

ditiontothetheoreticalsideoftheirjuniorhigh

schooleducation,thestudentsalsohavepractical

traininginoneofthetradespracticedinthevil-

lage.WhenIvisitedthevillagebaker,agroupof

10girlswerelearningthecraftfromexperienced

bakers.Inthesamewayagroupof10boyswere

participatinginbuildingahouse.

Youngpeoplewantingtocontinuetheirstud-

iesatseniorhighschoolanduniversitycontinue

to be able to apply for scholarships. Today (year

2005)fiveyoungpeoplefromthevillagearetrain-

ing to become doctors at the invitation of the

Cubanstate.

The village also has a well functioning pre-

school. This gives both parents the opportunity

toworkoutsidethehome.

A high tech green house has been built, in

whichvegetablesaregrownforvillageconsump-

tionandalsoforsale.Anothersourceofpridein

theareaistheregionalradiostation,whichedu-

cates and informs residents about important so-

cial issues.Juniorhighstudentsalsodoworkex-

periencethere.

In theirprovinceofCabañas,SantaMarta seeks

tobeamodelcommunityandtriestospreadits

wayoforganisingandachievingchangetonearby

communities.Thechallengeistoworkforhuman

rights and democracy and to integrate everyone

livinginthearea,reconcilingpeopleofdifferent

politicalstandpointsandthuscreatingafunction-

ingsociety.

Remembering the historyadeshaschosenagroupofpeopletodocument

thecommunity’shistory.Theyhavestartedgath-

eringpiecesofweaponsandothermaterialsfrom

thewarthathavebeenfoundinthevillageina

sack.Theaimistobuildamuseuminwhichthe

objectswillbedisplayed.Storiesarealsogoingto

bewrittendownsothatthosewhodidnotexperi-

encethewarcanreadaboutit.Thesongswritten

duringthewararetoberecorded.

I met the group responsible, which includes

fiveyoungpeople.Theyeachdescribedoneoftheir

ownexperiences.Theywereallbornintherefugee

camp.“Ourparentsmetthere,”saidone.“Iknow

thatsomeofmyfamilylosttheirlivesinthewar,”

saidanother.Someonesaidthathehadneverreal-

isedthatweaponswereanythingmorethantoys

andthattheywereusedtoplaywar.Oneboytold

how,afterthereturntoSantaMarta,hewentout

withhisfatherintothefieldstokeepwatchincase

themilitarycame.Oneofthegirlssaidthatthey

havewrittenthevillage’shistory“sothatthechil-

drencangettoknowtheirforefathers,thosewho

sacrificedtheirlivessothatwecandevelop.”

The village council met I listened to the village council and their com-

mentsonthechallengestheyarelivingwithtoday

(year 2005). Many felt that they must integrate

democracyinawholenewway.Whennewissues

arise,theinternalfunctioningoftheorganisation

should be characterised by the active participa-

tionofbothyoungandold.

The chairperson of ades , Antonio Pacheco,

had also participated in the guerrillas during

the war. When the villagers came back from

Honduras,he started toget involved inpolitical

reconstruction work. ”The support we received

from Diakonia was important for us in this” he

said.”Diakonia’swayofworkingwassocloseto

ourowntheologicalandpoliticalvision,ofbuild-

ingajustanddemocraticsocietyinSantaMarta.

Wemetinworkforreconciliation.”

Theyoungpeoplesaidthattheyhavetwoal-

ternatives for their futures – one is to continue

their studies to university level and the other is

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

234 235

toemigratetotheusatoworkthere.Theydon’t

havethemoneytheyneedtostudyatuniversity

so the only alternative is to leave Santa Marta

andmovetotheusa .WhatwillbecomeofSanta

MartaandElSalvadorasawholeifsomanyflee

thecountry?

El Salvador in SwedenThemanyclosecontactsbetweensfca/Diakonia

andElSalvadorovertheyearshaveledtoagreat

awareness of the country in Sweden. Many re-

memberwithgreatjoythe80’sand90’swhenso

manyyouthandotherchoirssangtheSalvadorian

FarmersMassandgainedaninsightintohowpeople

therelivedthroughitslyrics.HansMagnusson295

statedwithregretthatthemanyvisitsbychurch

delegationshadceasedafterpeacecame.

When Hurricane Mitch devastated Central

America in 1999andwhenanearthquakehit in

2001 it was very apparent that there was a great

willingnesstogiveamongstthecongregationsof

thedenominationsbehindDiakonia.

Manyvisitors fromElSalvador and the rest

of Central America have toured congregations

inSwedento talkabout thechallenges theyare

livingwithandtomaintainthe levelof interest

in that part of the world. In 1986 Diakonia ar-

ranged a study visit to Central America for rep-

resentativesofthedenominations,togetherwith

fs . One of Diakonia’s study visits for congrega-

tionalrepresentativeswenttoElSalvadorin1999.

Participants in both of these visits gave a large

numberoftalksaftertheyreturnedtoSweden.

ConclusionThe partnership with organisations and people

inElSalvadorhasbeencharacterisedbyalackof

compromiseandbyastrongconvictionthatjus-

tice andpeacewilloneday replace theviolence

andthecivilwar.MonseñorRomero’stestimony

gavepeoplehopeandinspiredpeopletostruggle

forchange.sfca/Diakoniadaredtowalkalongside

people (acompañamiento)evenduringtheyears

whentheviolenceandoppressionwasatitsworst.

Duringthesedifficultyearsunitywasstrongbe-

tweenthecivilsocietyorganisations,particularly

withintheecumenicalmovement.sfca/Diakonia

participatedinaperiodofElSalvador’shistoryin

which humanitarian interventions were highly

importanttosupportthelargenumberswhowere

forced tobecomerefugees in theirowncountry

or forced to flee the country. For many people

this work made the difference between life and

death. This close ‘accompaniment’ led Diakonia

togradually focus its supportonorganisingand

participation in the peace processes. Since the

peacetreatywassignedin1992,Diakonia’swork

hasincreasinglydevelopedintosupportforlong-

termdemocraticdevelopmentatlocallevel.

As early as the late 1970’s, sfca/Diakonia

channelled largeamountsoffundingtohumani-

tarianinterventionsincivilwarstruckElSalvador.

Oneofthelargestrecipientsduringthe1980swas

theecumenicalorganisationDiaconiaElSalvador.

FollowingthewarinElSalvadormanyprob-

lems have been experienced. Many of the struc-

tural factors that led to the violent civil war in

the1980sremainlargelyintact.Amongsttheseis

theenormouseconomicdividebetweenthesmall

numberofrichcitizensandthelargeproportion

ofcitizenslivinginpovertyandextremepoverty.

Thedreamofmoneyandworkleadsmanyyoung

people to choose to leave the country and go to

theusa , legallyorillegally.Todayaround25%of

thecountry’spopulationliveintheusa .Thissit-

uationmakes itevenmoredifficult,particularly

forrurallocalauthorities,tocreatelastingdevel-

opment. Diakonia’s programme in El Salvador

focuses a great deal on creating integrated eco-

nomicdevelopmentinthewholecountry,notjust

aroundthebigcities.

Many of the structural factors that led to

the violent civil war in the 1�80s remain

largely in tact.

c h a p t e r 6 e l s a l v a d o r

23�

chapter 7

The last five years 2000 – 2005

when the world met thenewmillenniumitdidsowithapromise.Theinterna-

tionalcommunityjointlydecidedtohalvepovertybytheyear2015.Aneight-point

programmewastoformthebasis forpoliticsanddevelopmentworkandpoverty

reductionwastobeoneveryone’sagenda.Theunencouragedbothgovernments

andorganisationstoactivelyworktofulfilthepromise.

PovertywasalsoDiakonia’schallengeforthenewmillennium.InitsStrategic

planDiakoniawrote:

Thedefinitionofpovertyhasdevelopedsignificantlyovertheyears.Todaythereisabroadlyshared

understandingthatpovertyisnotonlyalackofincomeandeconomicresourcesbutmustbeseen

asmultifacetedconcept.Thenewdefinitionincludesexclusionfromfundamentalopportunities

andnon-monetaryfactorssuchaslackofaccesstoeducation,healthcare,naturalresources,work,

land,credit,politicalparticipation,servicesandinfrastructure.Povertyisquitesimplyacombina-

tionofviolationsofhumanrights.Fightingpovertyis,inotherwords,abouttacklingtheeconomic,

political,social,environmentalandinstitutionaldimensionsoftheproblem.296

238 23�c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

OnceagainweseethatDiakoniawantstosupport

societalchangeanddevelopmentandthatthisin-

cludesworkwithvalue-basedandstructuralissues.

ButaboveallDiakoniawantstosupportpeople’s

commitmentanddesiretoparticipateinbuilding

communitiesandsocieties.

Diakonia’svisionisrootedinanawarenessof

allpeople’sequalworth,ofanecessaryjustshar-

ingoftheworld’sresourcesandinthebeliefthat

all people can and want to influence their own

situation,whilstatthesametimebeingprepared

totakeacollectiveresponsibility.

FamineinAfricaisnotjustcausedbydroughtandhiv&

Aids.Itisquitepossibletoarguethatfamineisnotcaused

bydroughtorhiv &Aidsatall.There isnonatural law

sayingthatpeoplestarvewhenitdoesn’train.Thereisno

naturallawthatsaysthatpeoplestarvewhentheybecome

ill.People starvebecause theyarepoor.People starvebe-

causetheylackinfluenceoverthepoliticalandeconomic

structuresanddecisionsthatinfluencethem–forlifeand

death.

Someoneoncesaid, ”youcan’teatdemocracy”.The

statementisofcoursetrueinitsliteralsense.Ontheother

handthelinkbetweendemocracy,orratherthelackofde-

mocracy,andthepoverty inAfrica ishighlyapparent in

manydifferentways.297

GlobkomAt the end of 1999, the Swedish government

formed “a committee with the task of looking

intohowSwedishpolicyforeconomically,socially

and ecologically sustainable global development

shouldbedeveloped,basedonasenseofsolidar-

ity at a time of growing global mutual depend-

ence”.298 The investigation, known as Globkom,

lastedforseveralyearsandputitsfinalproposals

Shared responsibility – Sweden’s policy for global de­

velopment toParliamenton16December2003.

Diakoniaparticipatedactivelyineverystage

of theGlobkomconsultativeprocess,both inde-

pendentlyandincollaborationwithotherorgani-

sations.Diakonia’ssubmissionfocusedonthene-

cessityofincludingcivilsocietyparticipationand

influenceinapolicyforglobaldevelopment,and

on the importance of having one coherent posi-

tioninrelationtoallaspectsofSwedishforeign

policy.Whenthegovernmentpresentedthenew

development policy (trade, development assist-

ance,armsexports)itwassaidthatinfuturethe

aim of all areas of politics would be “a just and

sustainableglobaldevelopment”(2003§19).

DiakoniacriticisedtheSwedishgovernment’s

wayofmarketingand selling jas aeroplanes to

South Africa as one example of insufficient co-

herence between development assistance policy

and trade policy. Despite Sweden endeavouring

toworkforpovertyreductionandhumanrights,

amongst other things through development as-

sistance, arms exports have taken place without

anyanalysisofhowtheywillaffectdevelopment

andpovertyreductioninthecountryconcerned.

In its responses to the Globkom inquiry,

Diakonia expressed the belief that a coherent

Swedishpolicyforamorejustworldcanbeput

inplace.Butifthisistohappen,thegovernment

andparliamentmustmakeclearthatthegoalsof

developmentandpovertyreductionmustbepri-

oritisedovernationalgoalssuchasglobalsecurity

policyandeconomicgrowth. If this isnotdone,

there will be a grave risk that ”coherence” will

mean that the aims and needs of development

assistancewillbegivenlowerprioritythanother,

morelimitednationalinterests299

Arms exports have taken place without

any analysis of how they will affect de-

velopment and poverty reduction in the

country concerned.

240 241c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

New challenges The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the conflict

between Israel and Palestine, the spread of hiv

&Aids,thedroughtinmanypartsofAfricaand

thedramaticeventsof11September2001haveall

hadamajoreffectontheglobalpoliticalclimate.

Theyhavealsochangedtheparametersinwhich

the structures of power that dominate and to a

largeextentsteerglobaldevelopmentoperate.

Despite all these new challenges Diakonia

statesthat:

”[…]thegoal is togivepoorandoppressedpeopletheop-

portunitytocreateadignifiedlifeforthemselves.Thisis

not a goal that Diakonia as an organisation can work di-

rectlywithandthusinfluence.Wecanachieveourgoals

onlythroughestablishingpartnershipswithorganisations

andchurchesthatsharethesesamevisionsandgoals”300.

How well known is Diakonia? Diakonia also met the new millennium with a

pieceofmarketresearch.FortwoweeksinApril

2000,astatisticallysignificantnumberofpeople

wereaskedabouttherelativevaluetheyplaceon

thevariouscharacteristicsofdevelopmentassist-

ance organisations and about their own willing-

ness to give (2000 §32). Those questioned were

divided into three groups. Amongst the general

publicgroupawarenessofDiakoniawasverylow.

People in this group considered the credibil-

ity of organisations and that the money gets to

whereit is intendedtobeimportantcharacteris-

tics.Christianconnectionswere seennegatively

whilstaclearpoliticalstancewasseenpositively.

The churchgoers group ranked Diakonia top

amongst the voluntary organisations named in

the research. Here too credibility, clear identity,

strong, effective arguments and a clear political

stance were considered important characteris-

tics.Thehighestlevelofawarenesswasamongst

thegroupgivers.Diakoniahadanextremelyhigh

levelofcredibilityamongBaptistsandmembers

ofthemccs ,andmembersoftheotherdenomi-

nationsalsorankedDiakoniahighly.Over58%of

thegiverswereover70yearsold.Mostbelongedto

oneofDiakonia’sdenominationsandwereactive

intheircongregation.301

This research challenged Diakonia to reach

younger givers and to increase awareness of the

organisationamongstthegeneralpublic.Inearly

2005, opinion poll agency Temo302 carried out a

survey into awareness of Diakonia amongst the

Swedish general public. 6 percent of those sur-

veyedknewtheorganisationquitewelland2per-

centverywell.59percenthadheardofandknew

about the organisation whilst 39 percent had

neverheardofDiakonia.Thispositiveresultwas

mostprobablyduetotherecurrentSwedishRadio

AidChildren of the World campaigns,theTsunami

disasterofChristmas2004andDiakonia’s focus

on media contacts in relation to debt and trade

issues. These factors resulted in Diakonia often

beingnamedandinrepresentativesoftheorgani-

sationbeinginvitedtoputforwardtheorganisa-

tion’sviewsinavarietyofdiscussionprogrammes.

Unfortunately awareness of Diakonia was still

higheramongstolderpeople.

Diakonia’s biblical role modelAttheagmof2001,DirectorBoForsbergsumma-

risedDiakonia’smissionusingtheimageofNehe-

miahfromtheOldTestament.Godcallspeople

todaytoparticipateinhiswork,justashecalled

Nehemiah. He calls us to build and create net-

worksbetweenpeople.

The symbol is Jesuson thecross:Thecross

reachesupwardsshowingthateveryonecancome

toGod.Thearmsofthecrossreachoutcallingfor

unitybetweenallpeople.Thecrossreachesdown-

wardswitnessingtorootednessinthesoilofthe

earth, inthewholeofGod’screation(agm2001

§7A).ItisthischallengeandvisionthatDiakonia

hasalwaystriedtoliveupto.

The core values of the work InthestoryofSwedishFreeChurchAid/Diakonia

wehavebeenable to follow theworkup to the

agm of 2005. At that point support was being

givento400partnersin36countries.According

toitsstatutes,theorganisation’staskistosupport

anddevelopinternationaldevelopmentassistance

workthatcreatesmorejustlivingconditionsand

counteractseconomic,political, religiousandso-

cialoppression.

InordertofulfilthisDiakoniastrivestobe

• anetworkbuildingorganisation;

• clearinitspurpose;

• anefficientdevelopmentassistanceorganisation;

• financiallyindependent;

• wellknown,withbroadbasedpopularsupport(agm

2002§7A).

The policy adopted in 1997 (1997 §45) became a

much-appreciated guiding document for the

workbothwithpartnersaroundtheworldandfor

theworkinSweden.Thepolicyretainedthebasic

focusadoptedwhentheorganisationfirstbegan:

thatthepoorarethetargetgroupandthatthey

aretobereachedviasupporttocooperatingpart-

ners (1966 §75). In 2001 this was expressed with

thewords:

242 243c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

Diakonia’sgoalistochangethesituationofthepoorand

oppressed through creating the conditions necessary for

participation in building society through strengthening

democratic structures and culture. This is not a target

groupthatDiakoniaasanorganisationcanworkdirectly

with and thus influence. We can achieve our goals only

throughestablishingpartnershipswithorganisationsand

churchesthatsharethesesamevisionsandgoals.303

Thepolicydocument,developedinclosecoopera-

tionwiththeBoard,personnelandpartnerorgani-

sations,gaveaclearerfocustothework.Itwashoped

thatitwouldbealivinginstrumentforthework,

evenatprojectlevel–atthegrassroots(1998§20).

In2005theagmdecidedthatthepolicydocu-

mentberevised.Thesituationintheworldisrap-

idly changing, new problem areas arise and this

continually influences thechallengeDiakonia is

facing.The text thereforeneeds tobe lookedat

again(agm2005§15).

Diakonia increasingly sees the whole of its

work as one integrated programme, from the lo-

cal level to the global level, in which experience

andknowledgemoveinalldirections.Experience

exchange has become increasingly important in

Diakonia’sworkbothbetweenpartnersintheSouth

andbetweentheSouthandthework inSweden.

Organisational IssuesThewholeofDiakonia’sworkis,andhasalways

been, based upon analyses developed in close

dialoguewithpartners,SidaandtheMinistryfor

ForeignAffairsonthebasisoftheorganisation’s

policy.Buildingontheseanalyses,guidelinesare

drawnupforthevariousregionalthemesandfor

theworkinSweden.

Intheyear2000Diakoniarestructured.The

discussion document that formed the basis for

the restructuring talks about globalisation hav-

ingaffectedboththeSwedishandtheworldwide

communityinrecentyears,bringingnewvalues

andchallenges.Thetextstates:

The areas that Diakonia has prioritised in its policy are

wellplacedinrelationtotheissuesthatarecurrentinde-

velopment work and the debate about the world’s devel-

opment.Inshort:thelocal-globalstructuresofpowerand

theconnectionsbetweenthem,people’sparticipationin

theirowndevelopmentandthequestionofvaluesinrela-

tiontohumanvalue,economicdevelopmentandequality

betweenthesexes.304

Theaimwastomaketheworkmoreeffectiveby

creating closer links between the departments

atheadoffice (2000§6).Threeregionswerecre-

atedinsteadofthepreviousseven:LatinAmerica,

AfricaandtheMiddleEast-Asia.Eachregionwas

tohavetwoprogrammeofficerstodealwiththat

particularregion’spolicyworketc.Responsibility

forhandlingprojectswastobemovedfromthe

headofficeinSwedentotheregionaloffices.This

wouldgivestaffinSwedenmoretimeforthemat-

icandpolicybasedwork.TheworkoftheSweden

department was to be integrated into the devel-

opment assistance work. An administrative unit

wasalsotobecreated.Theprocesscontinuedand

Diakonia’s goal is to change

the situation of the poor and

oppressed through creating

the conditions necessary

for participation in building

society through strengthen-

ing democratic structures

and culture.

244 245c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

attheagm in2005itwasnolongerdiscussedin

termsofarestructuringbutintermsofongoing

organisational development with a similar aim

(2005§8).

Methodology development In the late 1990s,Sida increased itsdemands for

planning and monitoring of the programmes.

Programmeshadtobeplannedusingamethodol-

ogycalledlfa (LogicalFrameworkApproach)and

reportingwastobemorefocuseduponresultsand

effects. For Diakonia, these demands coincided

witheffortstosharpenthefocusandnarrowthe

scopeoftheprogrammewiththeaimofmaking

themostofDiakonia’scomparativestrengths.In

1998Diakoniaputtogetherasinglejointstrategic

planforthefirsttime,describingtheentirework

oftheorganisation.Itcoveredthreeyears,begin-

ning in 2000 and built upon three simple basic

principles:

• allprogrammeplanningshallbebaseduponandre-

latetoDiakonia’spolicy;

• planning of the programme at the various levels of

implementationisbaseduponanalysisanddialogue

with partners; Diakonia’s programme is formulated

inclosecooperationwithpartners;

• a programme based approach will characterise the

workoftheentireorganisation: individual interven-

tions will relate to the different programmes; pro-

grammeswillbeidentifiedindialoguewithpartners

on the basis of regional and country analyses and

theirrelationtoDiakonia’spolicy.305

Usingexperiencefromthisprocess,worktodevel-

optheStrategicPlanfor2004-2006beganinthe

autumn of 2002. The process involved partners,

regional offices, head office, and the Board/de-

nominations.Manydaysandhoursofworkwere

putintoworkshops,workinggroupsandexplora-

torydiscussionsatvarious levels intheorganisa-

tion,withtheaimofformulatingacoherent,well

madeplanforthecomingthreeyears.306Diakonia

soughttomeetSida’sincreaseddemandsforcom-

petenceandcapacitythroughthisthoroughwork,

whichwaslinkedtothevariousapplicationproc-

esses (2003 §36).Workon the strategicplanhas

ledtothedevelopmentofastrongersharedanaly-

sisbetweenheadofficeandtheregionaloffices.

In order to have a greater impact on the

structuresthattheorganisationseekstoinfluence

andchangeon thebasisof itspolicy, theentire

work of the organisation is now planned in pro-

grammeformat.Thisalsocontributestocreating

amorecoherentpictureofwhatDiakoniaworks

with. The strategic plan is developed on the ba-

sisofDiakonia’soverallpolicyandthecontextin

whichourpartnerorganisationsandtheprimary

targetgroupworkandlive.

Results Based Approach Withthehelpofanexternalconsultanta series

of seminars were held at head office and the re-

spectiveregionalofficesduringthespringof2000.

Thelfa(LogicalFrameworkApproach)method-

ologyaims tobea tool tohelp identify realistic

goalsforthework.Fromnowonthemethodology

hastobeusedforbothapplicationsandreporting.

ThismeansthatDiakoniacanmeasuretheimpact

ofprojectsinastraightforwardway.

In2003aProjectManagementSystem(called

phs) was introduced for project administration

andmonitoring,forbothheadofficeandthevari-

ousregionaloffices.

The substance of the work Effortsto integrateDiakonia’s internationaland

nationalworkareclearlyreflectedinthedescrip-

tionoftheworkofthelastfiveyears.Theexpe-

riences of partners around the world have been

translated into lobbying and work to influence

public opinion and in development education

work directed towards congregations and other

groups. Lobbying has been directed in the first

place at politicians and decision makers within

Parliament,thegovernmentandtheMinistryfor

Foreign Affairs, together with strategic media

contacts.

On the basis of the extensive cooperation

withpartnersaroundtheworld,thedirectionfor

theworkinSwedenhas,since2003,beenfocused

uponsomeprioritisedareas.Thegeographicalfo-

calareasareIsrael/PalestineandtheDemocratic

Republic of Congo, and the themes chosen are:

Trade/wto ,Debt/prs .Themotivationforchoos-

ing these particular areas and themes was that

they highlight problems that closely relate to

Diakonia’s core values. Diakonia wants to raise

awarenessandinfluencedecisionmakers inrela-

tiontotheseareasandthemes.

AsaChristianorganisationDiakoniaiscalled

toasserttheintrinsicvalueofeveryperson.Inad-

ditiontobeingpreparedtotakeactiontoalleviate

humansuffering,Diakoniastrivestoquestionand

influencethestructuresofpowerthatcontribute

to increasing starvation, illness and oppression.

OvertheyearsDiakoniahasbuiltupagreatdeal

of competence on important lobby issues. This

has meant that Diakonia has become an impor-

24� 24�c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

tantdialoguepartner for thegovernmentand is

inregulardialoguewiththeGovernmentOffices

and the Ministry of Industry, Employment and

Communications and the National Board of

Trade. Regular discussions are also held with all

the political parties represented in Parliament.

RepresentativesofDiakoniaoftenparticipate in

mediadebatesandnewsprogrammes.

Israel/PalestineEver since the Six Day War in June 1967, sfca/

Diakonia has worked actively with the conflict

thathasafflictedboththeIsraeliandPalestinian

peopleswithviolenceandsuffering.

Diakoniabelievesthatifthecycleofviolence

inIsraelandPalestineistobebrokenandalasting

andjustpeaceachieved,thefocusmustbemoved

from politically negotiated solutions that stem

fromtheexistingbalanceofpowerbetweenthe

parties towhat could be describedas a just and

sustainablepeace.Thismustbefoundedtheright

ofbothstatestoexistwithinsecureborders,and

ondemocracy, respectforhumanrightsandthe

fightagainstpoverty.

In2000Diakonia,togetherwiththeChurch

ofSweden,theOlofPalmeInternationalCenter,

Caritasandothers,wasinvolvedinthecampaign

”YestopeaceandInternationalHumanitarianLaw

–stoptheviolenceintheMiddleEast”.Thecam-

paignaimedtogivefurthersupporttopeopleon

theWestBankwhilstsimultaneouslyputtingpo-

liticalpressureontheSwedishgovernmenttoact

ontheissue(2000§105).

InJuly2004,theInternationalCourtofJustice

inTheHagueruledthatInternationalHumanitarian

Law (ihl) and the Geneva Convention apply in

fullinthePalestinianareasoccupiedbyIsraelsince

1967andthattheconstructionoftheIsrael’swallis

againstInternationalHumanitarianLaw.

Since April 2004, Diakonia has worked with

a programme focusing on International Human-

itarian Law. The aim of the programme is to in-

crease respect for and the implementation of

HumanitarianLawinIsraelandontheWestBank

andGaza.Theprogrammeisdividedintofourar-

eas: training, information, monitoring and lobby

work,andiscarriedoutincooperationwithIsraeli

andPalestinianhumanrightsorganisations.

In both 2003 and 2004 Diakonia organised

avisit togiveanumberofParliamentarians the

opportunity to see and experience the conflict

fromanInternationalHumanitarianLawandhu-

manrightspointofview.VisitstotheWestBank

and East Jerusalem left the participants over-

whelmed by what they saw and led them to re-

thinktheiranalysesofthesituation.Thepartici-

patingParliamentarianswroteadebatearticlefor

anewspaperthatwassignedbyrepresentativesof

alloftheparties(2004§68).

Inspring2004,Diakoniatogetherwithnine

otherorganisationsstartedacampaignforajust

peace.Thecampaign,giventhenamehope –End

theoccupationofPalestine[hopp–Häv Ockupa­

tionen av Palestina],aimsamongstotherthingsto

supportgroupswithinIsraeliandPalestinianso-

cietythatareworkingfor justice,peaceandrec-

onciliationthroughnon-violence.Thecampaign

isalsoworkingtoensurethattheEU’sfreetrade

agreementwithIsraelwillnotinfuturecontrib-

utetosupportingillegalIsraelisettlementsonoc-

cupiedterritory.

Abroadgroupofcivil societyorganisations

held a Middle East seminar in spring 2005 with

the theme ‘International Humanitarian Law in

theshadowoftheIsraelioccupation’(2004§63).

Diakonia’spositionontheconflictwasonce

againbroughtupattheagmin2005.Itwasstated

thatDiakonia’spositiondoesnotfinditsrootsin

allthedenominations.Itwasdecidedtoarrange

a consultation at which the denominations and

Diakonia could engage in dialogue on the theo-

logical interpretation of developments in Israel/

Palestine(agm2005§15).

In2004aprojectpostforworktoinfluencepublic

opinionregardingtheMiddleEastandDemocratic

RepublicofCongowascreatedwithintheSweden

department.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)The Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly

Zaire) has been drawn into a long term ”world

war”,astheunhasdescribedit, involvingmany

countriesinsub-SaharanAfrica.Theconflicthas

itsrootsinthetensionsstemmingfromthegeno-

cideinRwandain1994andthefalloftheMobuto

regime in Zaire. Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi

havebeendirectlyinvolvedaswarringpartiesor

Child’s drawing from Palestine.

248 24�c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

via support to various Congolese groups. In ad-

dition Angola,Namibia, Zambia andZimbabwe

havesupportedtheregimeinthecapitalKinshasa

withtroops.Alargenumberofmilitiagroups,of-

tenethnicallyrecruited,haveparticipatedinthe

war. During the course of the war, there have

beenshiftingloyaltiesandsupportbetweenthese

groupsandthecountriesinvolved.

Thecountry’srichnaturalresourcesareone

cause of the war being so prolonged. The coun-

triesandmilitiagroupsinvolvedinthewarhave

benefitedfromthewar,asthechaoshasenabled

theuncontrolledplunderingofresources.There-

gimeinKinshasahashandedoutrightsforminer-

alexploitationandforestrytocountriesthathave

providedsupportforthewar.Aviciouscirclehas

developedinwhichtheseresourceshavefinanced

the war, which in turn has given rise to further

plundering. Extensive and extreme violations of

humanrightstakeplaceallthetime.

In2005Diakoniaissupportingsevenpartner

organisations.Severalof themworkwithhuman

rights.Thiscaninvolveinvestigatingcrimesagainst

civilianssuchastorture,assaultorrape.Severalor-

ganisations also work to educate on issues of de-

mocracy.For sometimeDiakoniahasbeenwork-

ingwiththeLifeandPeaceInstituteonaproject

forpeaceandreconciliationintheeasterndrc .

tocounteractpovertyandpromotehumanrights.

Furthermore, the content and formulation of na-

tionalpovertyreductionstrategiesshouldpromote

just, democratically rooted, socially, ecologically

andeconomicallysustainabledevelopment.307

InearlyJuly2005,theleadersoftheworld’srich

countriesgathered.IntherunuptotheG8summ-

it Diakonia and many other organisations across

theworldhadbeeninvolvedintheMake Poverty

Historycampaign. ”Iftheworlddoesnotdomoreto

solvetheproblem,themillenniumgoalswillnever

bereachedintime.”308TheG8summitdiscussed

thepoorcountriesdebtanddecisionsondebtcan-

cellationfor2005weretakenattheannualmeet-

ingsoftheWorldBankandInternationalMonetary

Fund(imf)inWashington,atwhichtherichcoun-

tries of the world have a majority of the votes.

Theglobalrulesoftradehaveenormoussig-

nificanceforbillionsofpoorpeople.Todayparts

of the economic regulatory framework of the

WorldTradeOrganisation(wto)andofregional

tradeagreementsfunctioninawaythatconflicts

withtheaimsthatDiakoniaandothersaretrying

toachieveindevelopmentwork.

Raisingawarenessaboutandinfluencingglo-

baltraderuleshasbeenveryimportantforsfca/

Diakonia’s work in Sweden since the Sackeus

projectbegan in 1976,but itbecameevenmore

Thereisahopethatfreeelectionsmightbeheld

towardstheendof2005.Thiscouldbethebegin-

ningofthecreationofpeaceandreconstruction

inacountrythathasbeeninastateofcollapsefor

somanyyears.

InadditiontoworkinthecountryDiakonia

is very active in the Swedish Mission Council’s

Central Africa Group. The work is directed at

Parliamentandthegovernmentaswellastheme-

dia,butalsoat thegeneralpublicandmembers

ofthedenominationsbehindDiakonia,amongst

others.Youngpeopleareaprioritisedtargetgroup

forworktoraiseawareness.Astudymaterialcalled

‘Hope for Congo’ hasbeendevelopedforschools.

A project officer post for the drc was cre-

atedin2004.ThepostisbasedinSwedenforthe

moment, but it is hoped that a large amount of

theworkwillbecarriedoutinthedrc .In2005

mccs/busandDiakoniarenewedacontractfora

jointofficeforpersonalengagedinthejointwork

inthedrc .

Trade/WTO – Debt/TRIPSDiakonia’s development objective states that the

foreigndebtofpoorcountriesshouldbehandled

in a way that promotes just and socially, ecologi-

cally, and economically sustainable development

The global rules of trade have enormous significance for

billions of poor people. Today parts of the economic regu-

latory framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or

of regional trade agreements function in a way that con-

flicts with the aims that Diakonia and others are trying to

achieve through development cooperation.

250 251c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

important with the arrival of the wto and the

tripsagreement310. It isvital totryto influence

the formulationofagreementsand rules so that

tradeandinvestmentcanbecomepartoftheso-

lutiontopoverty,insteadofahindertopoorpeo-

ple’sdevelopment.311

In2000aninternationalprogrammefocused

onandentitledSocial and Economic Justice,(sej)

wasformed.Theaimwastoworkwithpartnersin

variouspartsoftheworldtostrengthenrelation-

ships and experience exchange between organi-

sations in theSouthandto learnfrompartners’

competenceontheseissuesinordertostrength-

en Diakonia’s own capacity and thinking, and

strengthenworkwithpublicopinionand lobby-

inginSweden.312

In 2001 representatives from South and

CentralAmerica,SouthernAfricaandpersonnel

from Sweden gathered for six days of delibera-

tionsonthecommonsejissues.Fromthediscus-

sions,participantsintheconferencewereableto

define some issues that were particularly impor-

tant:debtincludingtheprogrammesbeingdevel-

oped by the World Bank, international financial

speculationandtradeissues,aswellasdemocracy

anddevelopment.313

As part of sej a joint project between Dia-

konia,theChurchofSwedenandSavetheChild-

ren Sweden was initiated in 2001, focusing on

prs314.TheprojectwascalledPeopleParticipating

inPovertyReduction(pppr).

In2001aninformationprojectonwtoissues

was set up, focusing particularly on the issue of

trips ,whichisaboutrightstoideas,knowledge

andinformation.Aprojectofficerwasappointed.

Forthefirstfewyearsthisprojectwascarriedout

inclosecooperationwiththeChristianCouncil

of Sweden and fs/the educational association

Bilda.Theambitionoftheprojectwasandisto

presentglobaltradeissuesinawaythatiseasyto

understandandthatenablespeopletotakeaction

toinfluencethem.AsBoForsbergoncesaid:

”If, ten years ago, someone had asked me who holds the

patenton life IwouldhaveansweredGod.Today Ihave

to answer the same question by saying God and Astra

Zeneca.”315

In2001thewtohelditsMinisterialConferencein

Doha, Qatar. Diakonia, together with Forum Syd

and other popular movements from around the

world,demandedthattradeagreementsnegotiated

through the wto should promote poor countries’

opportunities to develop. Diakonia wants trade

agreementstobeevaluatedsothattheeffectson

poorpeopleareclear.Globaltradeagreementscon-

cernsomuchmorethanjusttrade,theyconcern

people’shealth,accesstofoodandtheirrighttoa

dignifiedlife.Diakoniaisnotagainstpatents,but

isagainstpatentsonlife.Inadditiontheremustbe

exemption clauses when major humanitarian is-

suesareatstake.

The example of South Africa Atthebeginningof2000theSouthAfricangov-

ernmentpassedalawapprovingthe”provisionof

medicines at more reasonable cost in particular

situationsinordertoprotectpublichealth”.This

law enabled doctors to prescribe cheap medi-

cines to thousands of poor people who needed

treatmentforhiv&Aids.Inacourtcasein2001,

forty-two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical

companies took the South African government

to the constitutional court. The court case con-

cernedSouthAfricanlaw,whichwasconsidered

toconflictwiththerulesadoptedbythewtoon

patents.Theusa imposedsanctionsandtheEU

putpressureon,asSouthAfricahadgoneagainst

thepatentrightsofpharmaceuticalcompanies.

The South African government received

suchstrongsupportfromSwedenandmanyoth-

er countries that the pharmaceutical companies

withdrewtheirapplication.Intheendacompro-

misewasreachedgivingSouthAfricatheoppor-

tunity to purchase Aids medicines much more

cheaply.Butthedrugstheycanpurchasearestill

tentimesmoreexpensivethanthecheapestavail-

ablegenericcopiesofthedrugs.

JAS 39 GripenOn3December1999thecontractwassignedfor

South Africa’s purchase of 28 fighter aircraft of

the jas39Gripenmodel(henceforthreferredto

as jas)fromSweden,atanestimatedcostof13

billioncrowns.

In the run up to the signing Diakonia, in

very close cooperation with the Swedish Peace

andArbitrationSociety,theSwedishFellowship

of Reconciliation and the Christian Council of

Sweden, had strongly opposed Sweden’s active

marketingforthesale.Diakoniaconsideredthat

thisstoodinstarkcontrastwiththegovernment’s

position thatSwedishforeignpolicy shouldpro-

motepeace,developmentandrespectforhuman

rightsintheworld.

The concept of partnership was even intro-

duced for the Africa policy that Parliament

adoptedin1998,apolicythatwastobethebasis

ofSweden’sambitionstofightpoverty,strength-

endemocracy,createemploymentandstimulate

252 253c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

economicgrowthinAfrica.Relationshipswasto

bebuiltwithaparticularfocusonthesituationof

thepoorpeople.

Foritspart,theSouthAfricangovernmentstat-

edinareportin1996(Whitepaperon Defence)

that”fortheforeseeablefuture”therewerenocon-

ventionalmilitarythreatsagainstSouthAfrica.It

wasthereforedecidedtoprioritise”povertyreduc-

tion and the socio-economic inequalities created

byapartheid”.316

The churches in South Africa also got in-

volvedatanearlystageandfeltthatthemassive

costofthepurchasewouldhavehighlynegative

consequencesfor thedevelopmentof thewhole

of South African society. Extensive activities in

Sweden and South Africa resulted in a number

ofseminars,numerouslobbymeetingsandmany

documents being written and handed over to

bothSwedishandSouthAfricandecisionmakers

intheyears1998-2003.

The critique of Swedish and South African

people’smovementswasbasedonananalysisthat

the weapons purchase would lead to the wrong

prioritiesbeingmadeintheSouthAfricanstate

budgetandthattheywerenotintheinterestsof

thepoor.

NetworkingInadditiontoalargenumberofseminarsandlec-

tures,thewtoprojecthasproducededucational

materialsintheformoffactsheets,leaflets,bible

study materials and video films. The strong re-

sponsetowtoissuesfromthecongregationswas

oneofthefactorsthatledtheChristianCouncil

ofSwedentodecidetoencouragecongregations

to celebrate ‘Global Church Sunday’ on the last

Sunday before Advent from 2003 onwards. The

themeforthefirstyearwasJuste Trade..

Diakonia’s participation in the worldwide

Jubilee2000campaign,whichtookOldTestament

texts on debt cancellation as its inspiration (3

Mos25:8−22),hasalsobeenpartoftheworkwith

economicjusticeissues.Intherunuptothemil-

lenniumtheinternationalJubilee2000campaign

succeededincollectingover20millionsignatures

onapetitionforthecancellationofthedebtsof

thepoorestcountries,whichwashandedoverat

theG8summitin1999.

Diakoniaworks invariousways for thecan-

cellationandmanagementofpoorcountrydebts

in a way that promotes just and sustainable de-

velopment with a focus on human rights and

thefightagainstpovertyintheworld.Thiswork

takes place together with partners, as national

poverty reduction strategies are to be produced

inademocraticway,withbroadparticipationof

civilsocietyorganisationsandwithacontentthat

promotessustainabledevelopment,humanrights

andpovertyreduction.

Anotherimportantpartoftheworkfocuses

ontheimfandtheWorldBankrolesintheglobal

challenge to fight poverty. People’s movements

like Diakonia have an important role to play in

monitoring that promised debt cancellations

takeplaceandinworkingtoensurethatallthose

countriesthatneeddebtcancellationtofightpov-

When the catastrophic Tsunami

hit, preparedness for aid efforts

was in place through a well es-

tablished network of partners in

Sri Lanka and Somalia, who could

give direct help to those affected

whilst at the same time planning

a sustainable strategy for the

future.

254 255c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

ertyandareseriouslypursuingpoliciestoreduce

poverty,actuallyreceivecancellations.

Diakoniacontinuestobepartownerofthe

organisation Rättvisemärkt (Fair Trade Label).

Through the international organisation, Fair

Trade Labelling Organizations International, ba-

siccriteriahavebeenagreedthatmustbemetin

orderforaproducttobeconsideredtobefairly

produced.Thebasicideaoffairtradelabellingis

tostrengthenthepositionofdisadvantagedpeo-

pleinglobaltrade,sothattheycanbecomeinde-

pendentandgainmoreinfluence.317

Cooperation with the Stockholm School of TheologyThere has always been close cooperation be-

tweensfca/DiakoniaandtheStockholmSchool

of Theology (formerly mccs ’s Theological

Seminary),whichsince1994hasbeendirectedby

mccs and bus . At present there are discussions

onclosercooperationinrelationtodevelopment

education and campaigns work focusing on hu-

manrights,Burma,thedrc ,Palestine,trade/wto

andprs/debt.Competenceandknowledgeexists

concerningresearchprojects,fieldstudiesforstu-

dents,accreditedcoursesetc.thatcanbeusedto

theadvantageofbothparties.(2005§12)

International ThemesInconnectionwiththestrategicplanforthepe-

riodbeginning2003 three themeswereadopted

for the international work. These themes are to

run through (be mainstreamed in) all the work

supported.Thefirstconcernsthedevelopmentof

administrativeroutinesandproceduresandisde-

scribedonpage245.

Gender EqualityGenderisthesecondthemetobemainstreamed

in all the work of Diakonia and of its partners.

Thefocusforworkongenderequalityisdescribed

inChapter2page63.Onthebasisofthepolicy

adoptedin2001,Diakoniawantstocontributeto

changingthesituationforbothwomenandmen

intheworld.

HIV & Aidshiv & Aids was adopted as a prioritised area of

workforDiakoniafortheprogrammeperiod2004-

2006.TheBoardadoptedguidelinesonhowhiv&

Aidsshouldbeincludedinallprogrammeworkin

November2004.Nonewobjectivesornewsepa-

rateprogrammesweretobeformulated, instead

the process of working with hiv & Aids was to

take place within and strengthen previously ap-

proved programmes. Each planned area of work

hastointegrateananalysisofhowthehiv&Aids

pandemic can affect the achievement of the ob-

jectivesandhowtheworkcanbecomplemented

toreducenegativeeffectsandpromotethelong-

termsustainabilityofthework.

Within the project financed by Sida, per-

sonnel resourcescouldbe setaside forplanning

and carrying out internal training of personnel,

buildingupandparticipatinginnetworks,form-

The villagers of Santa Marta hope to

generate a steady income through the

cultivation and sale of tomatoes.

25� 25�c h a p t e r 7 t h e l a s t f i v e y e a r s

ing strategic partnerships for the work both in

Sweden and internationally and work for pro-

gramme development. The aim was for the hiv

&Aidsperspectivetobecompletelyintegratedin

thenextstrategicplan(2007−2009).

Finances Over the years there has been a significant in-

creaseinrequirementstoprovethatpublicfunds

areused inaway thatprovides theexpected re-

sultsonthebasisoftheobjectivesidentified.This

in turn requires clear, concrete and measurable

goalsand,onthebasisofthesegoals,resultbased

management of the programmes, well-defined

methodologies/strategies and proven cost effi-

ciency.Inthelastyear,Diakoniahasputagreat

dealofenergyandresourcesintothedevelopment

ofmethodologiesfortheprogrammes.318

Infinancialtermstheyears2002−2003were

tough.Diakonialostincome,notleastduetothe

negativetrendonthestockmarkets.Thismeant

thatDiakoniawasforcedtoreduceitsstaffinglev-

els.Atthesametimethetotalamountoffunds

raised for Diakonia was too low. The challenge

was to create a trusted trademark. Fundraising

wasalsodiscussedwiththedenominationsinan

attempttofindjointstrategies(agm2003§7).

OneresultofthenewstatuteswasthataPrepar-

atoryCommittee(pc)wasformedtoreviewthe

work.Oneinterestingcommentfromthepc atthe

agm in 2004 was the following statement from

theminutes:

In relation to fundraising, Diakonia can be seen as com-

petitionto thedenominations.At the sametimeweare

gladtohaveDiakonia,andworkontheassumptionthat

Diakoniaandthedenominationsmustbeabletoworkto-

gether.Wesuggest thata survey intomembers’giving is

doneinthecongregations(2004agm§7d).

Nosurveyhasyetbeencarriedout.

Sponsor of Change In 2004 the concept of Sponsor of change was

launched in order to create a clearer connec-

tionbetweendonationsandDiakonia’svisionto

changetheworld.Inadditiontogivingamonthly

donation to Diakonia via autogiro the sponsors

commit themselves to takeactionfor theworld

tobecomeamorejustplaceforallpeople,witha

focusonimprovingthesituationofthepoor.

The Sida Grants Sida’s grants to development projects have al-

ways been conditional on the Swedish recipi-

ent organisation contributing 20% of the total

budget themselves, as a so-called ‘own contribu-

tion’.ThishasmeantthatDiakoniahasoftensent

outinformationsaying“ifyougive100crownsto

Diakonia,Sidawillgive400crownsanditwillbe-

come500crowns”.In2003theDiakonia,together

with theotherorganisations that receive ‘frame-

work’grants,calledupontheMinistryforForeign

Affairs to initiate dialogue on the level of ‘own

contribution’ required for the so-called ‘grants

for popular movements’. The hope was that the

percentagewouldbereducedto10%inlinewith

several neighbouring countries. (2003 §52) The

dialoguethatthenbeganresultedinthelevelof

owncontributionbeingreducedto10%inSweden

fromthebeginningof2005.Thischangemeans

thatDiakoniawillbeabletoexpanditswork.

These same organisations also called upon

the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in order to dis-

cussthelevelofadministrationpermittedwithin

the grant. Today 8 percent of the grant can be

usedforadministrationandincertaincasesonly

5percent.Thislevelisverylowgiventheextent

ofqualityassurancenowrequired.(2003§52)

Swedish Radio AidSince1967SwedishRadioAidhasplayedamajor

roleinsfca/Diakonia,andthisalsoappliestothe

lastfiveyears.Manyoftheareashitbydifferent

typesofdisaster,forwhichSwedishRadioAidhas

collectedmoney,sfca/Diakoniahasbeenableto

apply for and then channel funding to its part-

ners.TheChildren of the World fundraisingcam-

paignhasbeenrunningsince1997andDiakonia

has been part of it together with a number of

otherdevelopmentagenciesasaveryactiveco-or-

ganiser.Inadditiontothefundraisingproviding

Diakoniawithlargegrantseachyearithascreated

lotsoflocalactivisminmanycongregationsand

therebyincreasedawarenessofDiakoniaasanor-

ganisation.

The Tsunami disastersfca/Diakonia’s history begins with a response

toadisaster.Onthatoccasionitwasthedrought

inIndiaandtheyearwas1966.In2005thestory

of Diakonia concludes with yet another disas-

ter–theterribleTsunamitidalwavethathitthe

IndianOcean/BayofBengalon26December2004.

Preparednessforaideffortswasinplacethrougha

well-establishednetworkofpartnersinSriLanka

andSomalia,whocouldgivedirecthelptothose

258 25�

affectedwhilstat thesametimeplanninga sus-

tainablestrategyforthefuture.

Diakonia’spartnerorganisationsinSriLanka

have since the 1980‘s worked amongst other

things with issues of peace and co-existence as

wellasgivingpsychologicalsupporttopeopleaf-

fected by the conflict in the country. Following

theTsunamisupportfor theseexistingpartners

hasbeenincreased,sothattheycanworkwithre-

construction in a variety of ways. Through this

supportDiakoniahopestogivethelocalpopula-

tion theopportunity toparticipate inand influ-

encethelong-termworkofreconstruction.

Diakonia works on a long-term basis and

planstoremaininthetsunami-affectedcountries

in the future, providing support for sustainable

developmentanddemocracy.Intimereliefwork

will progress into work to establish sustainable

livelihoodsandmorepermanenthousing,andto

create infrastructure and provide opportunities

foreducationandemployment.

ForDiakoniathedisasterwasalsoamoment

formajorfundraisingworkduringthefirstpartof

2005.Ofthe64millioncrownsraised,56million

crownscamefromSwedishRadioAidfundraising

and8millionfromDiakonia’sownsupporters.In

addition to this Diakonia channelled 4 million

crownsfromSida.

ConclusionIt is not possible to describe the last five years

workofDiakonia intotal.However, it iseasyto

conclude that the vision and the Christian call-

ing that once lay behind the decision that the

SwedishFreeChurchesshould’bepresent’inthe

worldremains,andiscontinuallyputintopractice

throughsupporttopartnersaroundtheworldand

throughactivelobbyingandawareness-raisingat

home.ThisvisionandcallingleadDiakoniainto

thefuture.

One result of sfca/Diakonia, throughout

its history, having had an approach that involves

workingalongsideand”accompanying”partners,is

thattheorganisationhasdevelopedauniqueabil-

itytomovewiththechallengesthatstemfroma

worldinwhichthepoliticallandscapeisconstantly

changing.sfca/Diakoniahasalwayshadtheabil-

itytore-evaluateandreorganiseitselfinorderto

better meet the new challenges it faces, in other

wordsithasbeenalearningorganisation.

FootnotesThefootnotesbelowlistthecataloguereferenceand

numberunderwhichdocumentsandotherpaperworkare

archivedattheNationalArchivesinArninge,Sweden.

CHAPTER 1

The formation of Swedish Free Church Aid / Diakonia

1. Östberg,Kjell,1968 när allting var in rörelse: sextiotal­

sradikaliseringen (Stockholm,Prisma,2002)p71

2. AFrenchmanwasprobablythefirstpersontouse

theterm’thirdworld’inananalogywiththesitua-

tionofthe’thirdstation’(middleclassandpeasants)

intherunuptotheFrenchrevolutionin1789,when

thethirdstationformed99percentofthepopula-

tionbuthadnoinfluenceoverpoliticaldecisions

made.Inthe1950sthefirstworldcomprisedthe

West,ledbytheUSA,whichcreatedtheinterna-

tionalinstitutionsofthepostwarperiod,including

theIMFandWorldBank,organisationsthatcame

tosetthetoneforeconomicdevelopment.The

communistworld,withthehegemonyoftheSoviet

Union,placeditselfoutsideofandrejectedthis

economyandthusbecamethesecondworld.The

restoftheworldwasgroupedtogetherinthecon-

ceptofthethirdworld.(Ryman1997),p65

3. PMfromParliament,Utredningstjänsten,Dnr

2003:526

4. Östberg2002,p222

5. BrooméOP,Catharina,Vatikankonciliet (Stockholm,

Verbum1969),p145ff

6. Palmgren,Lars,1990:Viljans gränser (Stockholm,

Proprius),p36

7. OlleEngström,RectoratthemccsTheological

Seminary1962−1985,electedtowccExecutive

Committee1968.Conversation26/82003.

8. SvenskaMissionsförbundet(mccs)changedits

nameinJuly2003toSvenskaMissionskyrkan

(MissionCovenantChurchofSweden).

9. From1949–1985BirgerDavidssonwastheHoliness

Union’srepresentativeinsfccandtreasurerfor

sfcfrom1949to1985,forsfcafrom1966to1980.

Conversation11/62003.

10. TorstenBergsten,DoctorofTheologyanddocentin

churchhistory,authorofthebookFrikyrkor in sam­

verkan(Free Churches in Cooperation).Conversation

3/102003

11. Letter10May1968(Diakonia,Correspondence

1966−1970,E1:1)

12. Diakonia'spolicydocumentTro är handling (Faith is

action), 1991 (Diakonia,printeddocuments,B1:1)

13. DavidLagergren,Presidentofbus1972−1984,during

whichtimehewasalsoamemberofsfcc ’sboard

andthesfcaCommittee.Conversation15/4–05

2�0 2�1

14. ConversationwithWalterPersson,6/10–05,

Presidentofmccs andmemberofDiakonia’sboard

1983-1993

15. In2005termsthisisequivalentto5283956.61

crowns. (Takenfromhttp://www.scb.se/prislathund)

16. SwedishFoundationforFundraisingControlwebsite

(http://www.insamlingskontroll.se)

17. Sida(theSwedishInternationalDevelopment

Authority),theSwedishstatedevelopmentagency

wasgivenitsnamebyParliamentonthe25May1965.

Thecivilservicedepartmenthadpreviouslybeen

calledNämnden for Internationellt Bistånd (nib).In

1995theorganisation’snamechangedtoSwedish

InternationalDevelopmentCooperationAgency.

TheabbreviationSidawasretained,writteninlow-

ercaseform.

18. Veckoposten16/61966

19. Per-ArneAglertemployed1/9-67asGeneral

Secretaryforsfcc ,aposthehelduntil1985.

20. Conversation16December1969(Diakonia,Minutes

1967/68,1969,A2:1)

21. ConversationwithGötheHenriksson17/102005.

GötheHenrikssonwasöm ’srepresentativeonthe

Committeeyears1979−2000.

22. Appendixto§10,10February1975(Diakonia,min-

utesA2:6)

23. ChristianCouncilofSweden,ccs ,founded1993.

24. AnnualreporttoSida2001,(Diakonia'sarchive)p3

25. CommentfromEskilAlbertsson,26/102005.

Presidentinsamfrom1977–1999andmemberof

sfcaCommittee/Diakonia’sboard.

26. Appendixtothe§10,10February1975(Diakonia,

minutes1975A2:6)

27. LetterfromLeoLiljengrenandLarsFranklin,

February1974(sfcaCorrespondence1975,E1:3)

28. LetterfromBaptistUnionofSweden,10/51968

(Diakonia,Correspondence1966−1970,E1:1)

29. Annual report 1967(Diakonia,Minutessfca

1967−1970,A2:1)

30. Sändaren,nr2/05

31. Sändaren,nr3/05

32. CampaignreportsfromFundraisingDepartment

33. LetterfromKristerAndersson,mccs ,(appendix

2003§6)

34. Annualreport2003,(Diakonia’sarchive)p41

35. Diakonia’sstatutesadopted2003,§3and§4

36. Fromapressrelease,May1966(Diakonia,

Correspondence1966−1970E1:1)

37. Annual report 1966(Diakonia,Minutessfcc1966,

A1:12)

38. Lettertothedenominationalpress13/10–66

(DiakoniaCorrespondence1966−1970E1:1)

39. Folder,appendixtotheminutesApril1969,

(DiakoniaMinutes1967/68,1969A2:1)

40. Appendix1totheminutes3/81967§4(Diakonia

Minutes1967/68,1969A2:1)

41. Annual reports 1975 and 1980, (DiakoniaAnnualre-

ports1974−1979and1979−1992,B2:1,B2:3)

42. Electedtothecommittee:Hagen,MK,Rudén,bus ,

NicklassonandEeg-Olofsson,mccsandSecretary

Aglert

CHAPTER 2

Organisation43. TextfromthefolderRöster om Diakonia(Documents

concerningprojectsinSweden,F1:2)

44. EmployedasfieldrepresentativeinCentralAmerica

1981−1983.ConversationwithAndersKompass16/6–05

45. AnnualreporttoSida1999,(Diakonia'sarchive)p2

46. Annualreport2000,p12f(Diakonia'sarchive)

47. Annualreport2000,(Diakonia'sarchive)p16f

48. Annualreport2001(Diakonia'sarchive),p10ff

49. InterviewwithAnna-KarinGauding31/32005

50. Annualreport1975(DiakoniaB2:1)

51. RolandandIngegerdEinebrantwereemployedat

theofficeinBangladesh1975−1978

52. ConversationwithIdaRenman26/82003

53. Annualreport1991,p119,1993(Diakonia,Annual

reportsB2:3,4),p69

54. PierreSchoriatDiakoniaconcert11December1994.

(Dela med nr1/95B1A:2),p11

55. Dela med nr1/95(Diakonia,Inhouseproduction

1990-1999,B1A:2)p8ff

56. Weapons-freeNationalService,workplacement

throughSwedishChristianYouthCouncil(scyc)

57. PMfortheCommittee’sConversationonsfcas

future10/2–75(Diakonia,Minutes1975A2:6)

58. Tro är handling(Älvsjö,1991),(Diakonia,Otherown

production,B1B:1)p31

59. WebsiteforSwedishFundraisingCouncil,frii

(http://www.frii.se)

60. NewspaperDagen,7October2004

61. Development Mirror (Diakonia,Otherownproduc-

tion,B1B:7)

62. Dela mednr1-01,(Diakonia’sarchive),p16

63. Annualreport1998,(Diakonia,Annualreports1993-

1998,B2:4),p23

64. PovertyReductionStrategy(prs)

65. Dela mednr4–00,(Diakonia’sarchive),p11

66. Annualreport2000,(Diakonia’sarchive),p47

67. Resan till La Paz (Diakonia,Inhouseproduction,

B1B:7)

68. Annualreport2001,(Diakonia’sarchive),p33

CHAPTER 3

Bangladesh 69. 26September1867isconsideredtobethedatewhen

theNorwegianSantalMissionbegan.

70. SwedishInstituteofInternationalAffairs,Countries

inpocketformat,India(Stockholm1990)

2�2 2�3

71. LetterfromJeanMalm,öm ,25/51967(Diakonia

Correspondence,1966−1970E1:1)

72. Over1000deadinIndiandisaster,SvenskaDagbladet

(6October1968)(DiakoniaCorrespondence,

1966−1970E1:1)

73. FromareportfromWorldCouncilofChurches(3/12

1970)(DiakoniaCorrespondence,1966−1970E1:1)

74. FromanappealfromPreclamPress18/111970

(DiakoniaCorrespondence,1966-1970,E1:1)

75. LetterfromEvertEriksson(Diakonia

Correspondence,1971E1:2)

76. AppealforRefugee 71(DiakoniaCorrespondence

1971,E1:2)

77. ApplicationtoSwedishRadioAid(Diakonia

Correspondence1971,E1:2)

78. Fundraisingappealtothecongregations(Diakonia

Correspondence1971,E1:2)

79. Sida-application1973(Diakonia,Documents

Bangladesh,F3A:2)

80. ConversationwithLeoLiljengren28/1 2003

81. ErnstMichaneknib/Sida:sGeneralDirectoryears

1964–1979

82. LetterfromLeoLiljengren16/91975(Diakonia,

DocumentsBangladesh1973−74,F3A:1)

83. Correspondence.(Diakonia,DocumentsBangladesh

1973−1974F3A:1)

84. LetterfromLarsFranklin20/31974. (Diakonia,

DocumentsBangladesh1973−74,F3A:1)

85. Appendixtotheminutes11/51977(Diakonia,

Minutes1977,A2:8)

86. LetterfromRolandEinebrant5/121976.(Diakonia,

DocumentsBangladesh,F3A:2)

87. ConversationwithRolandEinebrant,8/620-04.

88. Meeting with Bangladesh–reportfromFS-seminar

1981(Diakonia,DocumentsBangladesh,F3A:14)

89. LetterfromLeoLiljengren28/4-75.(Diakonia,

DocumentsBangladesh,F3A:2)andsfca-

Committeeminutes1980§298.(Diakonia,Minutes

1979-1980,A2:12)

90. sfcaannualreport1980.(Diakonia,Annualreports,

B2:2)p105−106

91. Annualreport1975(Diakonia,Annualreports,B2:1),

p18

92. LetterfromLeoLiljengren15/41974(Diakonia,

DocumentsBangladesh1973−74,F3A:1)

93. LetterfromSida7/111974(Diakonia,Documents

Bangladesh1973−74,F3A:1)

94. Letterandreport(sfca ,Documentsconcerning

projects1979–1983,Bangladesh,F3A:15)

95. LetterfromRolandEinebrant22/11976.(Diakonia,

Documentsconcerningprojects,Bangladesh,F3A:2)

96. FromapressreleasefromPreclamPress3/11

1976(Diakonia,Documentsconcerningprojects,

Bangladesh,F3A:2)

97. Annualreport 86/87(Diakonia,Annualreports

B2:3)p63

98. ConversationwithSultanaBegum15/62004.

99. Sidaapplication1985/86(DiakoniaCompleted

projects,F3A:26)

100. Minutesfromstaffmeeting1987 §54,People´s

Factory,Rajshahi(Diakonia,Correspondence

F3A:25)

101. FromarticlewrittenbyGöranJonsson,1978

(Diakonia,DocumentsBangladesh,F3A:14)

102 TomasDas:An introduction to Diakonia in Bangladesh

(1989)

103 GöranJonsson’sreportfromavisittoBangladesh

1985(Diakonia,DocumentsBangladeshF3A:25)

104. LetterfromTomasDas7/4-87(Diakonia,

DocumentsBangladesh,F3A:25)

105 Diakoniaannualreport1984/85(Diakonia,Annual

reportsB2:3),p88,89

106 Sidaapplication87/88(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningfinances,F9:5)

107 Annualreport1989,p67(Diakonia,Annualreports

B2:3)

108 Appendixto1992§89,BoForsbergstravelreport,

(Diakonia,Minutes,A2:27)

109 Sidaapplication1990/91(Diakonia,Documents

concerningfinances,F9:8)

110 FromSidaaccounts1998(Diakonia,Documents

concerningfinances,1998,F9:20)

111 Diakoniaannualreport1988(Diakonia,Annual

reportsB2:3)p59

112 Sidaapplication1998(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningfinances,1998,F9:20)

113 Sidaaccounts2003(Diakonia’sarchive)

114 ReportfromSultanaBegum23/8–05

115 Annualreports1998(Diakonia,Annualreports

B2:4),p16

116 Pressrelease.(Diakonia,Correspondence1977,E1:6)

117 Dela med4/01(Diakonia’sarchive),p9

118 LetterfromRolandEinebrant22/1–76(Diakonia,

Correspondence1975–76,E1:4)

119 FromSidaaccounts18/1–82((Diakonia,Documents

Bangladesh1980−82,F3A:14)

120 Reportfromstudyvisit(Diakonia,Documents

Bangladesh1980–82,F3A:14)

CHAPTER 4

Palestine and Israel121 LettertothecongregationsJune1967,(Appendixto

theminutes3Aug1967,§4,A2:1)

122 SwedishInstituteofInternationalAffairs:Israel/

Palestinep18f

123 Chapman,ColinVems utlovade land?(efs-för-

laget,Stockholm1984)p23ff,SwedishInstituteof

InternationalAffairs:Israel/Palestine,p19

124 UnitedNationsReliefandWorksAgencyfor

PalestineRefugeeintheNearEast.unrwawas

formedin1950,withtheaimofsupportingfamilies

2�4 2�5

forcedtofleefollowingtheformationofthestateof

Israel1948.Themissionwastoassistover2million

registeredPalestinianrefugees.

125 Chapman,p23f

126 Med vilken rätt?(DiakoniaandSwedishChurch,2005),

p9

127 Appendix115§10221/111972(Diakonia,Minutes1972,

A2:3)

128 Letter28/8-67(Diakonia,correspondence,E1:1)

129 Amnå,Erik:Det gäller Palestina (Stockholm:

Gummessons1981)p9

130 Appendixto§10,10February1975(Diakonia,Minutes

1975,A2:6)

131 Appendixto1996§51.5(Diakonia,Minutes1996,

A2:31)

132 Appendix14to§3227/111968(Diakonia,Minutes

1967−1970,A2:1)

133 LetterfromSwedishRadioAid10December1970

(Diakonia,Minutes1967−1970,A2:1)

134 Appendixtotheminutes1971§89(Diakonia,Minutes

1971,A2:2)

135 DocumentinSidaapplication3/71975(Diakonia,

Documentsconcerningprojects,F6A:1)

136 Sidaapplication1983(Diakonia,Documentsconcern-

ingprojects,F6A:3)

137 Annualreport1977/78,p26(Diakonia,Annualre-

ports,B2:1)

138 Annualreport81/82(Diakonia,Annualreports,B2:3),p121

139 1980§53,Dela med3/81p1,3(Diakonia,Inhouse

production,B1A:1)

140 Frameapplication81/82(Diakonia,Minutes

1981−1982,A2:14)

141 Annualreport86/87(Diakonia,Annualreports,

B2:2),p43

142 Annualreport1989(Diakonia,Annualreports,B2:3),

p80

143 Annualreport1990(Diakonia,Annualreports,B2:3),

p44

144 Dela med3/41991(Diakonia,Inhouseproduction

B1A:2),p8

145 Annualreport1991(Diakonia,Annualreports,B2:2),

p96

146 LetterfromIvanMagnusson,appendixto1990§125

(DiakoniaMinutes1989−1990,A2:24)

147 Reportfromstudyvisitforrepresentatives1996,

(Diakonia,Traveldiary,B3:3),p30ff

148 Dela med2/96(Diakonia,Inhouseproduction,

B1A:2),p4

149 Frameapplication1989−90(Diakonia,Documents

concerningfinances,F9:7)

150 Reportfromstudyvisitforrepresentatives1996

(Diakonia,Traveldiary,B3:3)p62,63

151 Reportfromstudyvisitforrepresentatives1996

(Diakonia,Traveldiary,B3:3)p37f

152 Annualreport1995(Diakonia,Annualreports1995,

B2:3)p83

153 Dela med1/2000(Diakonia’sarchive)p3konia,

Annualreports1995,B2:4)p36

155 Annualreport1993,p36(Diakonia,Annualreports

1995,B2:4)

156 Dela med 2/96,(Diakonia,Inhouseproduction,

B1A:2)

157 Annualreport2000,(Diakonia’sarchive)p43

158 Med vilken rätt,(Diakonia’sarchive)p21f

159 Gunner,Göran,I skuggan av ockupationen

(PublishingfirmAtlas,Stockholm,2004)p63f

160 Med vilken rätt,p15f

161 Med vilken rätt(Diakonia’sarchive)p13ff

162 Annualreport2000toSida(Diakonia’sarchive)

163 Annualreport2000(Diakonia’sarchive),p43f

164 Pressrelease15March2005(Diakonia’sarchive)

CHAPTER 5

South Africa165 CarlNiehausatthefuneralservice

166 In1948theNationalPartywontheelectionand

thepartyintroducedapartheid–theseparationof

races.ThethinkingwasthatallAfricansshouldlive

inseparate’homelands’thatwerecreatedforeach

oftheAfricanethnicgroupsonthelandallocated

toblacksthroughthelawreformof1913.(South

Africa, Pocket country guide,SwedishInstituteof

InternationalAffairs,Stockholm)

167 Naudé,BeyersandSölle,Dorothee,Hope for faith

(Geneve,wcc ,1986)p4ff

168 AfricanNationalCongress(anc),founded1912

withthetaskofleadingthestruggleforblackpeo-

ple’spoliticalrights.(South Africa, Pocket country

guides,SwedishInstituteofInternationalAffairs,

Stockholm)

169 Naudé,p19f

170 ConversationwiththeGeneralSecretaryforsacc ,

MolefeTsele,24/9-04

171 RobertBirley:The trail of Beyers Naudé(BiddlesLtd,

Guildford,1975),p9

172 FormerArchbishopDesmondTutuinhissermonat

thefuneral18/9-04

173 Birley,p31

174 Minutes73-10-18§101(SwedishFreeChurchCouncil,

MinutesA1)

175 Birley,p39

176 FromthereportActions taken against the Christian

Institute between Aug 1973 and 1974andCircular

fromtheChurchofSweden´sInformationcen-

tral,16/111976,(Diakonia,Documentsconcerning

projectsinAfrica,F2T:1)

177 Annualreport1975(Diakonia,Annualreports,B2:1)

p26

178 Svensk Veckotidning7June1974

179 FromalecturebyDrBeyersNaudé(Diakonia,

DocumentsconcerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:1)

2�� 2��

180 LetterfromBeyersNaudé(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:1)

181 InsertinVeckoposten,dn 781026(F2T:1)

182 Minutes12/121978§70,appendix(Diakonia,Minutes,

A2:11)

183 ConversationwithtvjournalistLennartWinblad

8/62005

184 Annualreport1974(Diakonia,Annualreports,B2:1),p23

185 Governmentbudgetproposal1976/77

186 hum application1984(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningfinances,F9:4)

187 Completedprojects(Diakonia,Documentsconcern-

ingprojectsinAfrica,F2T:6)

188 Reportfromsacc11/8-94(Diakonia,Documents

concerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:22)

189 MargaretBäckman,AfricaSecretaryatsfca/

Diakoniafrom1977–1995.

190 LetterfromSödahl(Diakonia,Documentsconcern-

ingprojectsinAfricaF2T:3)

191 LetterfromSödahl5/10–86(Diakonia,Documents

concerningprojectsinAfricaF2T:3)

192 MagazineDela med2/88,p12

193 MagazineDela med5/88,p6f

194 ConversationwithKarl-AxelElmquist8/92004

195 FrankChikane,No life of my own(ciir ,London,1988),

p25,31

196 InformationpamphletTheVoortrekkerMonument,

Pretoria,1986,p31

197 Chikane,p36

198 Chikane,p45

199 Chikane,p10

200 Chikane,p12

201 TheKairosDocument,a30pagedocumentwith

thefollowingChaptersdivision:1.Themomentof

truth,2.Critiqueof’statetheology’,3.Critiqueof

’churchtheology’,4.Towardaprophetictheology,5.

Challengetoaction,6.Conclusions.Firstpublished

1985,subsequentlyrevisedinmanyversions.

202 InstituteforContextualTheology(Diakonia,

DocumentsconcerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:9)

203 ConversationwithFrankChikane,UnionBuildings,

23/9–04

204 InstituteforContextualTheologystillexists,but

withamorelimitedprogrammethaninthe1980s

205 Chikane,p81ff

206 ConversationwithFrankChikane,UnionBuildings,

23/9–04

207 PublicationEvangelikalt vittnesbörd (Jönköping1986)

Diakonia,Documentsconcerningprojects,F2T:4

208 TelegramfromBayersNaudé(Diakonia,Documents

concerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:9)

209 Dela med1/87(Diakonia,MagazineDela med,B1A:1),

p3

210 TruthandReconciliationCommission(trc)

211 Mandela,Nelson:A long walk to freedom (Abacus,

TimeWarnerGroup,London,UK1995)p666

212 ConversationwithMagnusWalan24/8–05

213 Sidareport1994(Diakonia,Documentsconcerning

projectsinAfrica,F2T:21)

214 Hum-accounts91/92(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:11)

215 Dela med5/90(Diakonia,MagazineDela med,B1A:2)

p3

216 OomBey−petnameforBeyersNaudé

217 ConversationwithJothamMyaka,Muden,22/9–04

218 Lysén,AnnikaandErik,Jotham,den rättslöse lantar­

betarens son(Diakonia,1993,B1B:1),p8,9

219 Dela med2/93(Diakonia,MagazineDela med,B1A:2),

p6-7

220 Dela med5/93,(Diakonia,MagazineDela med,

B1A:2)p11

221 humapplication91/92(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:11)

222 ReportfromtheSwedishLegation,Pretoria,2/10-92

(Diakonia,DocumentsconcerningprojectsinAfrica,

F2T:18)

223 AnnualreporttoSida1995−96(Diakonia,

Documentsconcerningfinances,F9:17)

224 Annualreport1997(Diakonia,AnnualReports,

B2:4),p106

225 TheInkathaParty,originallyaculturalmovement

forZulusbecameaviolentrivaltotheanc .(South

Africa,Pocketcountryguides,TheSwedishInstitute

ofInternationalAffairs,Stockholm)

226 Dela med3−4/91,(Diakonia,MagazineDela med,

B1A:2),p6,7

227 Frameapplication1992−1994(Diakonia,Documents

concerningfinances,F9:9)

228 humapplication1991/92(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:11)

229 AnnualreporttoSida1992-93(Diakonia,Documents

concerningfinances,F9:9)

230 LetterfromJandeWaal,NewWorldFoundation(Dia-

konia,DocumentsconcerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T)

231 Mandela,p743

232 TelefaxfromDiakonia27/41994(Diakonia,

Documentsconcerningprojects,F2T:18)

233 FrankChikane,todayDirectorGeneralforthe

Presidency

234 ConversationwithMolefeTsele,directorforsacc ,

24/9–04

235 Sidaapplication1995(Diakonia,Documentsconcern-

ingprojectsinAfrica,F2T:23)

236 Sidaapplication1992(Diakonia,Documentsconcern-

ingprojectsinAfrica,F2T:19)

237 Strategicplan2000(Diakonia'sarchive)

238 Meiring,Piet:Chronicle of the Truth Commission,

(CarpeDiemBooks,Vanderbijlpark,1999),p10

239 Case135fromtrcreport,volume3Chapter3,

KwaZuluNatal

240 Reportfromvisitbyrepresentatives2000(Diakonia,

Traveldiaries,B3:3)p31

2�8 2��

241 Meiring,p156f

242 Strategicplanfor2003,p6

243 LetterandPMfromSida950327(Diakonia,

DocumentsconcerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:23)

244 AnnualreporttoSida1997(F9:17)

245 Letterfromseka/demo 17/61996(Diakonia,

DocumentsconcerningprojectsinAfrica,F2T:23)

246 seka accounts1998(Documentsconcerningfinanc-

es,Diakonia,F9:20)

247 Diakonia’sHeadoftheSwedenDepartmentLeif

Newmanworkedfrom2000-2003attheofficein

SouthAfrica.

248 Strategicplan2000(Diakonia’sarchive)

249 Strategicplan2003(Diakonia’sarchive)

250 Sidaapplication2001−2002(Diakonia'sarchive)

251 ReportfromGenderConference1995(Documents

concerningprojectsinSweden,F1:14)

252 Appendixtotheminutes1993§18(Diakonia,

Minutes,A2:29)

253 Strategicplan2003(Diakonia'sarchive)

254 ConversationwithMossNthla,Directorforteasa ,

25/92004

255 ConversationwithMolefeTsele,GeneralSecretary

atsacc ,24/92004

256 Amandla=power,freedom

257 ArticleinDela med 5/81(Diakonia,Inhouseproduc-

tion,B1A:1),p3

CHAPTER 6

El Salvador 258 ConversationwithMiguelTomasCastro,30/8–05

259 LetterfromSida20/41979(Diakonia,

CorrespondenceA2:11)

260 Anna-KarinGaudingwasemployedinSouth

America1976−1980

261 Gauding,Anna-Karin:Hellre tända a ljus än förban­

na mörkret (Diakonia,Chile1991),p50

262 ConversationwithKarl-AxelElmquist31/1–03

263 Governmentbudgetproposal1976/77

264 AndersKompasswasemployedatsfca ’sofficein

CentralAmerica1981−1983

265 Conversation withCarlosSanchez30/8–05

266 Hum­application1979(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningprojects,1979−85,F4Ö:1)

267 ConversationwithJohnCortinaandJohnSobrino,

1/9–05

268 Palmgren,Lars,Viljans gränser (Stockholm,Proprius

1990),p36

269 ConversationwithJohnCortinaandJohnSobrino,

1/9–05

270 ConversationwithBenjaminCuéllar,31/8-05

271 Sidaapplication27/91980(Diakonia,Documents

concerningprojects,1979−85,F4Ö:1)

272 AppendixtotheSidaapplicationforElSalvador8/5

1980

273 Travelreport,appendixforthemeetingAug1980

274 LetterfromRomero(Diakonia,Correspondence

1980,E1:12)

275 ThankyouletterfromRomero(Diakonia,

Correspondence1980,E1:12)

276 Dela med,spring1980(Diakonia,Inhouseproduc-

tion,B1A:1)

277 Gunnarsson,Agneta;RubioFabían,Roberto;Sala,

Lilian;Tiblin,Anna.An Extraordinary relationship

(Sida2004),p24

278 ApplicationtothePeaceLottery1985(Diakonia,

Documentsconcerningprojects,1979−85,F4Ö:1)

279 Gunnarssonetal,p25

280 ConversationheldinElSalvador31/82005–9/9005

281 ApplicationtoSida,latflyfund1981/82(Diakonia,

Documentsconcerningprojects,1979−85,F4Ö:1)

282 ConversationwithOscarPerez30/8–05

283 Gunnarssonetal,p55ff

284 Lindholm,Micael:Fiender runt samma bord

(Stockholm,ForumSyd,1997),p54

285 Gunnarssonetal,p67

286 Appendixtotheminutes1989§20.1

287 Sidaapplication92/93(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningfinances,F9:9)

288 ConversationwithMariaJuliaHernandez31/8–05

289 Sidaapplication92/93(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningfinances,F9:9)

290 Gunnarssonetal,p101

291 sekaapplication2001−2002(Diakonia'sarchive)

292 MicaelLindholmworkedatDiakonia'sofficein

CentralAmericafrom1989−1991.

293 Lindholm,p18f

294 ReportfromLarsFranklinforapplicationtoRefugee

86(Diakonia,Correspondence1986,E1:20)

295 Sidaapplication1991/92(Diakonia,Documentscon-

cerningfinances,F9:8)

296 Diakonia'sannualreport2003(Diakonia'sarchive),p26ff

297 ConversationwithHansMagnusson17/8-05,who

from1993−1997workedatDiakonia'sofficeinEl

Salvador.

CHAPTER 7

The last fve years298 Strategicplan2001−2002(Diakonia'sarchive,)p7

299 Diakonia'sregionalmanagerforSouthernAfrica,Ulf

Rickardsson,Annual report 2002(Diakonia’sarchive),

p30

300 Governmentdecision9December1999,Committee

DirectiveDir.1999:80

301 Annualreport2002(Diakonia’sarchive),p40

302 Strategicplan2003(Diakonia’sarchive)

303 Summary,@ÅkeWissing&Co

304 TemoopinionpollMay2005

305 AnnualreporttoSida2001(Diakonia’sarchive),p3

306 DiscussionpaperforDiakonia’sorganisationaldevel-

opment(12/52000)

2�0 2�1

307 AnnualreporttoSida1998(Diakonia,Documents

concerningfinances1998,F9:20),p3

308 AnnualreporttoSida2003(Diakonia’sarchive),p1

309 Sidaapplication2004(Diakonia’sarchive)

310 Dela med2/2005(Diakonia’sarchive),p6

311 wto ,WorldTradeOrganisation

312 TRIPS,agreementontraderelatedaspectsofintel-

lectualpropertyrights,suchaspatents,copyrightetc

313 Annualreport2002and2003(Diakonia’sarchive),

p13f,p30

314 AnnualreporttoSida2000(Diakonia’sarchive),p2

315 Dela med6/01(Diakonia’sarchive),p11

316 PovertyReductionStrategies

317 Delamednr2/04(Diakonia’sarchive),p18

318 OpinionEditorialinDagensNyheter12/22001

319 AnnualreporttoSida2001(Diakonia’sarchive),p5

320 AnnualreporttoSida2000,p2

LiteratureAmnå,Erik,Det gäller Palestina. (Stockholm:

Gummessons,1981)

Bergsten,Torsten,Frikyrkor i samverkan (Göteborg:Libris

Verbum,1995)

BirleyRobert,The trail of Beyers Naudé(Guildford:

BiddlesLtd,1975)

BrooméOPCatharina,Vatikankonciliet(Stockholm;

Verbum,1969)

Carlberg,Anders,Vuxna betyder allt – är vi vuxna uppgif­

ten,(Stockholm:Hjalmarsson&Högberg,2002)

Chapman,Colin,Vems utlovade land?(Stockholm:efs-

förlaget,1984)

Chikane,Frank,No life of my own(London:ciir ,1988)

Gauding,Anna-Karin,Hellre tända ett ljus än förbanna

mörkret (Chile:Diakonia,1991)

Gunnarsson,Agneta,RubioFabíanRoberto,Sala,Lilian,

Tiblin,Anna,An Extraordinary relationship (Sida,2004)

Gunner,Göran,I skuggan av ockupationen (Stockholm:

BokförlagetAtlas,2004)

Lindholm,Micael,Fiender runt samma bord (Stockholm:

ForumSyd,1997)

LysénAnnikaochErik,Jotham,Den rättslöse lantarbeta­

rens son(Diakonia,1993)

Mandela,Nelson,Den långa vägen till frihet

(Smedjebacken:RabénPrisma,1995)

Meiring,Piet,Chronicle of the Truth Commission,

(Vanderbijlpark:CarpeDiemBooks,1999)

Naudé,Beyers,Sölle,Dorothee,Hope for faith, (Geneve:

wcc ,1986)

Palmgren,Lars,Viljans gränser, (Stockholm:Proprius,

1990)

Ryman,Björn,Lutherhjälpens första 50 år (Stockholm:

Verbum,1997)

Östberg,Kjell,1968när allting var i rörelse: sextiotal­

sradikaliseringen (Stockholm:Prisma,2002)

Diakonia,Tro är handling, (Älvsjö:Diakonia,1991)

DiakoniaochSvenskaKyrkan,Med vilken rätt? Om Israels

ockupation.(Sundbyberg,2005)

AppendixPeople and organisations that have received SFCA/Diakonia’s Peace Prize

1978 ChristianInstitute,PastorBeyersNaudé,South

Africa,and

MouvementSocial,Lebanon,anditsDirectorBishop

GrégorieHaddad

1980ArchbishopOscarRomero,ElSalvador

1981 HumanRightsCommitteeoftheNationalCouncil

ofChurchesinKorea,Nam-KiCho

1982 TheorganisationJewsforIsraeli-PalestinianPeace,

AviOz

1984 ServiciePazyJusticia,Uruguay,AdemarOliveraand

EfrainOliveraLerena

1985 Thecivilrightsorganisationkapatid ,Philippines

1987 InstituteforContextualTheology,PastorFrank

Chikane

1989TheorganisationSatyodaya,SriLanka,FatherPaul

Caspersz

1993 TheCommitteeforPeaceandReconciliationof

theChristianCouncilofMozambique,Bishop

Sengulane

1994 TheSocialSecretariatoftheCatholicBishops’

Office,Guatemala,BishopGirardi

2�2 2�3

List of photographs 12 RobbanAndersson

15 HannaLagerlöf

CHAPTER 1

16 Per-AndersThunqvist,mccs ´sarchive

18 Per-AndersThunqvist,mccs ’sarchive

21 Drawer:FolkeAhlstrand(mccs ’sarchive)

23 Per-AndersThunqvist,mccs ’sarchive

26 GöranJonsson,Diakonia’sarchive,K2:5

36 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:8

39 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:2

44 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:4

48 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:5

50 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:3

51 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:3

53 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:2

55 RobbanAndersson

CHAPTER 2

56 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:3

59 IngvarHansson,Diakonia’sarchive,K2:1

61 RickardKilström

62 RobbanAndersson

65 Diakoniaarchive,K2:2

67 Bunphote(Nok)Pongpornsawat

68 RobbanAndersson

70 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:5

73 UlfSödahl

74 MatsGunnarsson,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:8

77 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:8

79 Diakonia’sarchive,K2:8

81 HenrikPederby,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:8

87 RobbanAndersson

CHAPTER 3

92 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

95 GöranJonsson,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

98 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

101 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

103 Marie-LouiseStålbark,DiakoniaarchiveK2:3

105 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

106 GöranJonsson,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

109 GöranJonsson,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

111 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

113 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

114 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

117 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

119 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:3

125 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:8

CHAPTER 4

128 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

133 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

136 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

138 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

142 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

148 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

151 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

154 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

157 HannaLagerlöf

159 HannaLagerlöf

161 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

163 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:5

CHAPTER 5

164 RobbanAndersson

166 UlfSödahl

167 UlfSödahl

169 RobbanAndersson

170 RobbanAndersson

172 Per-AndersThunqvist,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:8

174 UlfSödahl

176 UlfSödahl

177 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:2

178 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:8

183 UlfSödahl

185 RobbanAndersson

187 Diakonia’sarchiveB1B:1

189 RobbanAndersson

191 AnnikaLysén

193 UlfSödahl

194 RobbanAndersson

197 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:2

199 MarcusMarcetic

CHAPTER 6

202 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

205 RickardKilström

206 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:7

209 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

211 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

212 EquipoMaíz

214 RachelNorborg-Jerkeby,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

216 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

218 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

221 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

222 SonnyÖstberg,Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

227 EquipoMaíz

228 Diakonia’sarchiveK2:6

231 PeterOttosson

CHAPTER 7

236 RobbanAndersson

239 RobbanAndersson

242 RobbanAndersson

249 RobbanAndersson

253 MarcusMarcetic

255 PedroGarcia

Therewasacryforhelp.

Indiawasstruckbydrought.

CouldtheChristiansinSwedenhelpinanyway?

Theyearwas1966,andwhatstartedoutasafreechurchsocialaideffort

didn’tendwiththedroughtinIndia.

People Changing the World isthebookabouthowDiakoniagrewto

becomeanidevelopmentorganisationthathassupportedpositiveforces

acrosstheworldfor40years.ThroughoutthistimeDiakoniahasalsobeena

voiceinSwedishsociety,speakingforthepoorandvulnerable.

–Wehavebeenabletoreceivesupportwithoutfearofanyhidden

agenda.Diakoniasimplywantedtosupporttheachievementoftheobjec-

tiveswehadsetupourselves,saysFrankChikane.HeisapastorinSouth

AfricaandhasworkedwithDiakoniaformanyyears.

SultanaBegum,whoworksforDiakoniainBangladesh,saysthatitwas

righttostartbybuildingschoolsandinvestinginhealthcare-butifyouare

goingtobuildacountry,youhavetobuildpeople.

Whilstthetv screenisfilledbydisasters,violenceandpoverty,Diakonia

continuesitslong-termworkwithorganisationsandindividualstochange

theworld.People changing the worldisabookfullofencounterswiththese

people.

RachelNorborg-Jerkeby,theauthorofPeople Changing the World

– 40 years of Diakonia,worksasInformationSecretaryatDiakonia.