April 2019 Newsletter
Global Hunger
Every day, 18,000 children under age 5 die from hunger and diseases related to poor nutrition.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Low-income countries have child mortality rate 13 times higher than high-income countries. Of the 6 million kids under 5 who die each year, 50% is due to under-nutrition.
Bread for the World

There are also approximately 165 million children in the world under the age of 5 who are stunted because of chronic malnutrition. Stunting means that the child is too short for his or her age, but it also causes
brain damage.
Bread for the World

Just 2% of the world’s grain harvest would be enough, if shared, to erase the problem of hunger and malnutrition around the world.
Economics Today

People living in high income countries can expect to live 10 years longer.
World Bank

In the U.S. there are more than 38,000 supermarkets, that sell on average 40,000 items.
StartUpPort

Americans spend 5.6% of their income  for groceries and 4.3% on dining out.
StartUpPort

Nearly 25% of grocery shopping dollars  are spent on processed foods and sweets.
StartUpPort

People in the U.S. spend around $60 billion each year trying to lose weight because they eat more food than they need.
PRWeb

For more on Hunger , click here .
Domestic Abuse
Statistics from the National Domestic Violence Hotline show that it takes an average of 7 attempts before exiting an abusive relationship. Some people have been victims of domestic violence for 30 or more years. 
For more on Domestic Abuse , click here .
Religion Survey
The Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) recently completed a survey of the countries around the world regarding religion.

In the U.S.,
21% believe the meaning of religion is to
follow norms .
79% think the meaning of religion is to
do good to other people .

29% think the purpose of religion is to
make sense of life after death .
71% think the purpose of religion is to
make sense of life in this world .
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice
Restorative justice is a way of understanding crime in terms of the people and relationships that were harmed, rather than the law that was broken. Restorative justice values human dignity, healing and the hope of redemption for all involved.
Catholic Mobilizing Network

Traditional justice focuses on:
What was the crime?
Who is guilty?
What should the punishment be?

Restorative justice focuses on :
What was the harm?
Who was impacted?
What needs to be done to make it right?


7 Core Assumptions of Restorative Justice
  • The true self in everyone is good, wise and powerful
  • The world is profoundly interconnected
  • All human beings have a deep desire to be in a good relationship
  • All humans have gifts and everyone is needed for what they bring
  • Everything we need to make positive change is already here
  • Human beings are holistic
  • We need practices to build habits of living from the core self
Take Ten Ministry at the University of Notre Dame

For more on Restorative Justice , click here .
Resources
Rosie's Story
A video excerpt from A Place at the Table, reveals the challenges of a 10-year-old rural girl living in a food insecure household and a community's response to her hunger. Watch now.
For more on Hunger , click here .
Feeding the World by Reducing Food Waste
A TED talk featuring Elena Matsui, who discusses ways to reduce the waste of one-third of the world’s food that either spoils or gets thrown away before it ever reaches a plate. Watch now .
For more on Hunger , click here .
The Human Development Index (HDI)
The HDI is a statistic composite index of  life expectancy ,  education , and  per capita income  indicators, which are used by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to rank countries into four tiers of  human development .
The U.S. is ranked 13th on the Index.
The top 10 countries are:
Norway
Switzerland
Australia
Ireland
Germany
Iceland
Hong Kong
Sweden
Singapore
Netherlands

For a complete list of countries, click here .
A Timeline of Earth's Average Temperature
A simple graphic that illustrates when, how much and why the Earth's temperature has changed over the past 20,000 years. When people say, "the climate has changed before," these are the kind of changes they're talking about. Learn more.
For more on the Environment , click here .
Uncovering the History of Earth’s Climate
A report from PBS News Hour how researchers are understanding the history of climate change by digging underneath the ocean floor where organisms and plants have accumulated in sediment over millennia. Watch now.
For more on the Environment , click here .
Inspired Sustainability:
Planting Seeds for Action
By Erin Lothes Biviano. Answers the question: "How do we encourage and empower activists and scholars to work for environmental sustainability?" Combines empirically-based focus group data with interdisciplinary research and theological interpretation to offer a unique analysis of what encourages and what discourages sustainable decision making, including the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional conflicts inherent in confronting climate change. Read more .
For more on the Environment , click here .
Inequality in World Water Use
A short slide presentation from National Geographic illustrating the differences in water use in a few countries around the world.  Watch now.
For more on Water Access , click here .
Boundless Immigration
A Seattle based company that empowers families to navigate the immigration system more confidently, rapidly, and affordably. Features a report on the best (and worst) of 103 cities in the United States for immigrants seeking citizenship, taking into account factors such as backlog, median wait time, distance to field office etc. Learn more . 
For more on Immigration , click here .
Nationwide Anti-Mosque Activity
A resource from the American Civil Liberties Union, featuring a map of the U.S. highlighting anti-mosque incidents across the country since 2005. Learn more.
For more on Religious Intolerance , click here .
Vera Institute for Justice
Works for justice reform built on bedrock American values and grounded in action at the state and local level. Committed to securing equal justice, ending mass incarceration and strengthening families and communities. Learn more .
For more on the Criminal Justice System ,
Can American Capitalism Survive?: Why Greed Is Not Good, Opportunity Is Not Equal, and Fairness Won't Make Us Poor
By Steven Pearlstein. Challenges theories being taught in business schools and exercised in boardrooms around the country, arguing that a key tenet of Adam Smith's wealth of nations is missing: without trust and social capital, democratic capitalism cannot survive. Further, equality of incomes and opportunity need not come at the expense of economic growth.
Lays out bold steps such as: a guaranteed minimum income paired with universal national service, tax incentives for companies to share profits with workers, ending class segregation in public education, and restoring competition to markets. Provides a path forward that will create the shared prosperity that will sustain capitalism over the long term. Read more.
For more on Economic Justice , click here .
National Low Income Housing Coalition
Dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes.
Features Out of Reach -- a map of the U.S. and how much one needs to earn to afford a modest apartment in any of the 50 states. Learn more.
For more on Housing , click here .
Harm, Healing & Human Dignity: A Catholic Encounter with Restorative Justice
By Caitlin Morneau, Adaptor. An invitation to consider individual responses to harm, communal responses to crime and how the criminal justice system falls short of promoting human dignity, hope and healing. Through scripture, personal stories and eye-opting facts, each chapter encourages prayerful contemplation about ways to prioritize human dignity and the common good when responding to crime, incarceration and the use of the death penalty in the United States. Read more .
For more Justice resources, click here .
EdBuild
Raises national awareness to the unjust ways states fund public schools and works to bring about fair and equitable solutions. Learn more.
For more on the Education System , click here .
Just Engagement: The Power to Change
An eight week program from JustFaith Ministries that offers tools and tips to organize a grassroots advocacy effort for any issue. Topics include:
  • Biblical justice
  • Forms of advocacy
  • History of civil movements
  • Biblical prophetic tradition
  • Tools for faith-based advocacy
  • Call to action and resources
  • Tips for difficult conversations
For more Public Witness resources, click here .
 
Important Dates This Month

Individuals Honored This Month
April 2nd

Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed worker.
April 10th

The Peace Corps left today and my heart sank low. The danger is extreme and they were right to leave...Now I must assess my own position because I am not up for suicide. Several times I have decided to leave El Salvador. I almost could, except for the children, the poor, bruised victims of this insanity. Who would care for them? Whose heart could be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and helplessness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine.
April 21st

I saw the suffering and I let myself feel it… I saw the injustice and was compelled to do something about it. I changed from being a nun who only prayed for the suffering world to a woman with my sleeves rolled up, living my prayer.
April 21st

Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God.
April 23rd

I hope that you come to find that which gives life a deep meaning for you. Something worth living for – maybe even worth dying for, something that energizes you, enthuses you, enables you to keep moving ahead. I can’t tell you what it might be – that’s for you to find, to choose, to love. I can just encourage you to start looking and support you in the search.
April 26th

We have watched our educational system begin to fray because we have taken weapons for granted and preferred a strong military to an educated population. 
April 27th

Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.
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