Christian Aid

The human face of the debt crisis

'Every day you hear the government come out and say, "Oh we have met our debt repayment deadlines, we have paid," and parliament and everybody claps. These people don't know anything about that. Just walking around you see people living in dirt yards, scrap board houses. '

So comments Angela Stultz-Crawlle, co-ordinator of a community development centre in Kingston, Jamaica, on the divide between rich and poor in her country. In 1995 Jamaica spent more on interest repayments than on health and education combined.

As a member of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition, Christian Aid is calling for a one-off remission of debt for around 50 countries. The debt crisis affects real people in their everyday lives, especially the poor.

In Bolivia spending on education has fallen by about 40 per cent while debt repayments have increased. So for children in El Alto (Bolivia) debt means puddles on their classroom floor, no desks to work on and a blackboard with holes in it. A teacher says: 'Every day is a sacrifice. We know we are not giving the children the education which they deserve or seek. The blackboards are useless: when you are teaching maths the kids are not able to even see the figures.'

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