Mahsh’pi’a
Impacting Global Poverty
Mahsh’pi’a, the Hebrew word that has come to mean to influence, means to have an impact. Mahsh’pi’a has its roots in the biblical cognate shin-fey-ayin, which means to flow abundantly, to overflow, to stream forth.
From our Rabbi, Joey Wolf:
MAHSH’PI’A is the name we have given to our program, because it means ‘to influence’ or ‘have an impact’. We embrace the economic reality of taking what we need, and more, from the world; and the knowledge that others live austerely. While we choose which goods we think we need and will consume, we reckon with the fact that many people will live without enough to eat and drink, and will go without basic medical care. We think carefully about who we are and our place in a global civilization. This has become a pivotal Jewish issue: there is acute poverty that laps up at the shores of the island of affluence we inhabit.
Jubilee
Havurah Shalom is a Jubilee Congregation and a member of the Jubilee USA Network. We support, through advocacy, the goals of debt cancellation for poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We believe that canceling these often illegitimate debts will enable poor countries to be able to focus their limited resources on education, health care and infrastructure development instead of paying interest to the developed world’s financial institutions. The goal is to support the people of these countries to escape from extreme poverty. For more information about how you can advocate for these goals, contact Bob Brown.
You can also go to this link http://www.jubileeoregon.org/ to find out more about Jubilee Oregon.
Green Empowerment/El Jocote Partnership Project
We are pleased to report that the solar-powered clean water delivery system in the Nicaraguan village of El Jocote has been installed. This project was built in a joint effort by Green Empowerment; Asofenix, a community development NGO working in Nicaragua; and the villagers of El Jocote. This water system will allow El Jocote residents to have running water in their homes for the first time. Now that this solar water pump/deep well system is in place the 221 villagers will have 10 gallons/person available to meet their daily needs, the amount needed per person for good health according to the World Health Organization. Here in Portland, we have 60 gallons per person. For further information about the solar water system in El Jocote, click here.
This project was part of Havurah’s Mahsh’pi’a: Impacting Global Poverty initiative. Havurah Shalom raised over $40,000 for this project, approximately half the amount needed to build the water system. We hope to continue our work with Green Empowerment and Asofenix in a number of ways: working with Asofenix on health related activities including a health assessment, local activities in Portland related to sustainable energy and youth education. Contact Linda Boise for more information or find out more about our efforts in this area.
In El Jocote, once a solar water pump/deep well system is in place, average per person daily water available: 10 Gallons
In Portland, average per person daily water use: 66 Gallons
