Local resident to tackle hunger in Philippines


By: Jamie Musick, Meadville Tribune

West Mead Township, PA, January 18, 2007 — Poverty and hunger can become very big bumps in the road, obstructing the path to social justice. So, in a place where 20 percent of the population is undernourished, is hope for a better tomorrow little more than wishful thinking?

Not according to local resident Marcia Metcalfe who hopes to smooth out the way. This week, Metcalfe is traveling to the Philippines with Freedom from Hunger staff and supporters to promote micro credit loans and health protection programs there. "It’s something I care a lot about," she said. "So many of the health issues are treatable. (For example), we know that if all kids are immunized, they won’t get the diseases."

And the business loans have produced extraordianry results, with extremely high pay-back success. Freedom from Hunger officials cite the case of one woman who used three loans, under $100 each, to grow the profits of her urban business. The money allowed her to provide goods to much busier population areas by paying for transportation from her rural home into the city.

Metcalfe recognizes these formulas for success and is eager to learn more. During her first week in the Philippines, she will travel with a delegation of Freedom from Hunger staff and supporters to observe the Credit with Education Program in rural areas. She will spend another week working with Freedom from Hunger staff and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) to assist with the development of a package of health care services for their members.

As an activist for peace and many social issues, Metcalfe said this trip will allow her to contribute to social justice by seeing what’s going on firsthand. "If we can't figure out a way to deal with these issues, I don’t see how we can have peace and justice," she said. "If we can give the opportunity for justice, then it can help with other issues like war and the problems in Iraq."

Metcalfe said she started working with Freedom from Hunger last year under a micro finance and heath protective initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop new health protection services for families served by Freedom from Hunger credit partners in the Philippines, India, Burkina Faso, Benin and Bolivia.

"When I retired from health care after more than 20 years, I had no plans to do any more health care work and never expected that I would be working with international health issues," she said. "The opportunity to work with Freedom from Hunger was just too interesting to pass up, and the actual experience has been something that I never could have imagined or anticipated."

She said her first involvement with poverty was helping develop a healthier economy for different countries by creating profiles detailing the major health issues and statistics of the country, as well as how health care services are organized. Metcalfe said she then did an extensive literature review from 2001 to the present on health intervention programs and practice. The review developed into a research idea, which is now in the design phase that includes increasing access to health care, especially in rural areas.

"Often the main problem for women to lift out of poverty is when a family member gets sick," she said. She added that other areas of concern in the Philippines are finances and malaria control.

"I’m hoping to learn firsthand how Credit with Education works by meeting with the women," Metcalfe said. "I also hope to learn about their interests in health care to design projects to meet their needs. After seeing the potential of these people, I knew there was real hope."

Read more about Metcalfe's experience in the Philippines.

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Established in 1946, Freedom from Hunger works to bring innovative and self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty. In 1988 the organization developed Credit with Education, the world’s first program that combines the provision of micro credit loans to very poor women with vital health and business education.

Freedom from Hunger’s Credit with Education Program currently serves nearly 400,000 women, most of whom live on a dollar a day or less in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The program offers women working capital loans, from as little as $20 to as much as $300, to set up and expand home based businesses. The women have proven themselves to be excellent credit risks, repaying almost every penny they ever borrowed, a total of more than $380 million, plus interest.

Though a combination of cash credit and vital health/nutrition education, women can buy more and better food, invest in their children’s education, take control of their families’ health, and help each other to have a greater influence in their communities.

Jamie Musick can be reached at 814-724-6370 or by email at jmusick@meadvilletribune.com

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