Ending poverty not such a far-fetched goal.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By George Furniss and Sandra Larson For The Register-Guard

Susan Ban, director of ShelterCare in Eugene, reminds us in her Sept. 23 guest viewpoint not to forget ongoing efforts to combat local poverty in our compassionate response to disasters elsewhere. We believe the deficit of attention given our local poor relates to people's pessimism about solving global poverty. Hope that inspires sustained commitment locally is tied to hope for progress on the international scene.

`Where there is no vision, the people perish' - Proverbs, 29:18. A vision is growing in Europe and America that we can end world poverty in our generation. Europe's aid organizations are uniting in a movement called Make Poverty History.

In the United States, the vision has so far focused on what we are against: the Iraq war, tax cuts for the rich and globalization. Jeffrey Sachs, the noted development economist, focuses on the positive vision in his new book `The End of Poverty: How We Can Make It Happen in Our Lifetime.' This growing anti-poverty movement, like the anti-slavery and civil rights movements before it, proclaims, `Not someday, but now!'

We just returned from Kenya, where we attended an international Christian conference and visited impoverished urban areas of Nairobi with pastors and University of Nairobi development studies staff.

We walked the rutted dirt alleys of Kibera, the world's second-largest slum, where 800,000 people live with no electricity, one water main and no sewers. Such extreme poverty was heart-wrenching, yet we come back hopeful about Africa and about diminishing poverty throughout the world.

Kenyans are taking responsibility for ending the problems of governance that cause poverty. The people are motivated by a sense of urgency. They are tired of being marginalized and are sick of corruption. A referendum on a new national constitution is scheduled for November.

There is a hopeful spirit in the packed churches we attended. Nairobi Chapel, a rapidly growing decentralized church, proclaims its vision: `Empowered to transform - lives, our society, the world.' We met pastors whose congregations are accomplishing substantial good through their orphanages and programs for health care, basic education and evangelism.

We were impressed by poor Africans' ingenious adaptations. Njeri (Mary) Kinyanjui, a social geographer with a Ph.D. from Cambridge, took us to the Jua Kali (Swahili for `under the hot sun') industries of Nairobi. We saw women making low-cost garments, men repairing vehicles in open-air garages, women styling hair in the middle of a mudpath and men fabricating household implements from scrap metal and old oil barrels. There is a pioneering spirit in Kenya, and the people's nearly universal friendliness makes our society seem selfish and impersonal.

Sachs believes that inexpensive cutting-edge technology can help promote development. Cell phones are revolutionizing communication throughout Kenya. A Canadian attending our conference shows farmers using hand tools how to dig deep wells instead of paying well-drilling firms. In Kibera, a health center uses a solar panel to generate electrical power for its lab microscope.

Sachs builds a plausible case for ending extreme poverty by 2025. His realistic and culturally informed proposals recognize the importance of private aid organizations' work and increased Western foreign aid to help the poorest countries achieve sustainable development. He proposes guidelines that countries must fulfill to receive funds, such as instituting systems of `financial transparency' to prevent corruption.

As a percentage of gross national product, Europe's foreign aid significantly exceeds America's. Sachs believes that Americans must demand that U.S. government budget priorities be reordered to yield greater foreign aid. Doing so is a crucial investment in the war against terrorism, he holds.

Americans must think big. New Orleans raised our consciousness and adds momentum to this call to action. Each of us can contribute to this movement against poverty according to our interests and skills. Whether through rocking babies, serving in a soup kitchen, writing checks, mobilizing to change government priorities, or volunteering in a foreign or domestic mission, we can end poverty - in our community, in our nation and in our world!

The Rev. Dr. George Furniss (geofur@msn .com) and the Rev. Sandra Larson, a Presbyterian clergy couple, are pastors at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Furniss is also chaplain of PeaceHealth's Senior Health and Wellness Center.