Opus Prize Winners: Huge Humanitarian Impact from Doing What Is Possible

Maggy Barankitse says she has made many mistakes. “I hope they will accept me in Heaven,” she said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall on Thursday.

“If you’re not going, the rest of us are in trouble,” responded Gousha, Marquette Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy.

Gousha’s logic was simple: Who among us measures up to people such as Barankitse? Who can say we’ve done anything in the way of service to people that is even a blip compared to what she has done for tens of thousands of children in Burundi?

You can say the same when comparing our accomplishments to those of Father Richard Frechette, C.P., who launched the St. Luke Foundation that has provided day to day help and education to thousands of children in Haiti. Frechette was the guest at an “On the Issues” session Tuesday.

But who among us can’t learn from the examples of Barankitse and Frechette, who both said during their visits to the Law School that the starting points for what they have accomplished were really quite simple: seeing need, having faith, and putting their hearts and souls into doing what is good and what God wants people to do for others?

What should we learn? What can we do? That we should keep our minds and hearts open to all the people of the world, Frechette said, and do what we can to keep “the banquet of life” open to all. “When you do the right thing, the next right thing will happen,” he said. 

Barankitse and Frechette are each past winners of the Opus Prize, a $1 million award recognizing great accomplishments in faith-based social entrepreneurship. They and six other winners of the prestigious award were on the Marquette campus for Mission Week. All eight, as well as representatives of two other Opus winners, were recognized at the keynote event for the week Thursday evening at the Varsity Theatre.

Barankitse – known as Maggy to the people of Burundi – lived through horrific violence between members of Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that left tens of thousands of people dead in recent decades, including a slaughter in her presence of dozens, including members of her family. But, she said, she refused to be broken by what she saw; rather, she became dedicated to a positive, optimistic approach to building lives of children in her African nation, regardless of their ethnic background. Maison Shalom, the organization she founded, now provides multiple services to about 30,000 children, with the goal of rebuilding healthy families. Its work includes a hospital complex serving mothers and children.

Frechette went to Haiti in 1987 to work in an orphanage. He was motivated to take on more and more services for children as he led the rise of the St. Luke Foundation. Its operations now include schools for 8,000 younger children and 1,200 high school age children. The foundation has also launched businesses employing Haitians and helps meet food needs of many. Its programs touch the lives of an estimated 150,000 Haitians each year.

Frechette described conditions in Haiti as terrible on almost every level, and, in general, not getting better. Yet, he pursues his work with love and confidence in the potential and future of the children who are involved. “I don’t see so much the bad part of it,” he said. “I see what’s possible.” Summarizing what St. Luke does, he said, “We raise children, that’s what we do.”

Two unpretentious people who have had so much impact in places on the globe where need can seem overwhelming, impact that started with determination to do what is right and good and helpful. “You go for one thing and you end doing a lot of other things,” Frechette said.

How do we make that resonate in our own lives? What more can we do to help meet the needs of people in our midst as well as those who seem remote from us? How can we use the examples of people such as Barankitse and Frechette to inspire and guide our own paths? If one goal of Mission Week is to put such questions in front of everyone involved at Marquette, consider the two sessions at the Law School successful parts of the campus-wide whole.

Video of the conversation with Father Frechette can be viewed by clicking here. Video of the session with Maggy Barankitse can be viewed by clicking here.

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An American in Beijing: Landmark Domestic Violence Ruling in China

Last weekend, a Beijing court granted a divorce on grounds of domestic violence, in a case which has garnered widespread attention and debate in China for the past year. In 2011 an American woman, Kim Lee, went public on social media websites (including with graphic photographs) with allegations that her husband, an infamous English teacher by the name of Li Yang (founder of “Crazy English”), was abusive. Her battle for due legal protection and recognition of her plight culminated in the Beijing decision, which granted her a divorce, and issued a three-month protection order against Li Yang – apparently the first time such an order has been granted in Beijing. In addition to acknowledging the domestic violence, the court ordered Li Yang to pay 50,000 RMB [approximately $8000] in compensation, and a further $1.9 million as part of the divorce.

Kim Lee has become a symbolic hero for domestic violence victims in China, and her case has ignited interest and debate about the issue of domestic abuse.

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Ending Agricultural Use Assessment Abuse

Agriculture is one of Wisconsin’s most important industries, and various state laws are intended to protect existing farms from urban encroachment. For example, Wisconsin, like many other states, assesses agricultural property for property tax purposes based on its use value rather than its market value. Assessing farmland by its use value protects existing farmers from forced sale of their land when urban encroachment raises the market value of the farmland.

Existing farmers are not the only ones benefiting, however, from agricultural use assessments. Both local and national media outlets identified a growing problem: agricultural use assessment abuse. [See here ; here ; and here.] Wealthy developers and property owners put their property to agricultural uses so that the property benefits from a use value assessment instead of a market value assessment. The use assessment often results in considerable tax savings. Most coverage of the issue criticizes the practice, but either describes the practice as a loophole or implies that local government units are powerless to do anything about it.

Most coverage fails to recognize, however, that local communities can put a stop to much of the abuse. Many new agricultural uses implemented simply for the tax benefit violate existing local zoning ordinances. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue says that tax assessors must assess agricultural land by its use value even if the agricultural use violates local zoning ordinances.

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue also says that local communities can stop the abuse by enforcing zoning ordinances. There are various reasons why communities choose not to pursue enforcement. Communities may fear that an enforcement action could bankrupt a developer which would then prevent the completion of a stalled project. Local leaders may not want the political risk involved in taking on wealthy developers or residents. Regardless of the reason for avoiding enforcement, communities are not powerless to reduce agricultural use assessment abuse.

Agricultural use assessment abuse is not a victimless transgression. Illegal agricultural use assessments harm other property owners by either shifting the tax burden to other property owners or forcing local governments to reduce services. During these difficult economic times, local governments must make many difficult choices. Local governments should not, however, allow illegally obtained tax breaks.

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