FRIDAY JULY 30, 2010

6:30 P.M.— 8:30 P.M.

DJPC’s Office located in the Denver Inner City Parish 1212 Mariposa St. Denver, CO 80204

Free parking available on streets and in building lots. Beverages and  utensils provided. Bring a dish (with serving utensils) to share.

R.S.V.P. TODAY!!! 303-623-1463

The 2010 Salon Discussion Series invites you to join us for a presentation that explores ways to develop just trade policies and fair trade opportunities as the means to counter the effects of globalization and neoliberal economic policies.

Catherine Raveczky, one of the authors of DJPC’s Global Solutions to Violence curriculum, will facilitate the evening’s discussion and engage our participation through the popular education format.

Come Thursday, May 20th from 7:00-9:00PM to the Community Room of the Denver Inner City Parish,1212 Mariposa Street, Denver 80204.

Plenty of street parking as well as limited parking  in the lots beside the building is available.

Enter through the door off of 12th Avenue. Light fair trade refreshments will be provided.                     May Salon flier: “Working Toward Fair Trade”

New house goes up with old house behind

Carrying cement block and mixing mortar by hand in 95 degree heat can be torture. Or, it can be a small offering of hope and solidarity to a family living in a one room wooden shack. Moving block after block, separating rock into piles of sand and gravel, I concentrated on the task at hand and not my aching back. I could take a break, but I hadn’t come all this way to rest and I felt better when I was working as hard as I could.  There was so much still to be done.
My husband Peter and I were in Getsemani, a community of more than 130 families in the department of Ahuachapan, El Salvador, to participate in Habitat for Humanity’s Lenten build in honor of Monseñor Oscar Romero. Thirty years ago, on March 24, 1980, as he celebrated mass, Monseñor Romero was assassinated the day after he spoke out against poverty, injustice and publicly manifested his support for victims of political violence.  Monseñor Romero became a beloved martyr and catalyst for the ensuing 12 year civil war. Yet today, the majority of the country’s 6 million people still lack basic necessities such as potable water, electricity, education and employment. It’s estimated that more than half of Salvadorans also lack adequate housing. Through local affiliates such as this one in El Salvador, Habitat for Humanity has provided more than 1 million people in 90 countries simple, decent housing and a better life.

Denise in the sand pit

Peter and I, with 3 friends, worked as part of a large group of about 70 volunteers– college students on spring break, a  high school class and a church group– to build 30 houses in 30 days to honor Monseñor’s legacy. Thankfully, we were assigned to a house where the foundation had already been dug.  Some groups had to dig foundations in the rocky  dirt– over 100 lineal feet and 2 feet deep,  with picks and shovels.  We helped two masons by mixing concrete and mortar to their specifications, delivering it, filling joints between the blocks, bending rebar, moving block, leveling dirt and a variety of miscellaneous tasks.
Habitat’s houses in El Salvador are made of cement block, heavily reinforced with rebar because of the seismic activity in the area.  The houses are generally three rooms– a living area and two bedrooms, with a bath (toilet and shower) entered from outside. Most women use firewood for cooking so the “kitchens” are outside the house so the smoke can escape. Houses average about $8,000 and the interest free loans are repaid over 20 + years. Families and/or friends contribute hundreds of hours of “sweat equity” (i.e. labor) to build the houses.

Mom and two of her kids at build site

Our family’s new house was being built next door to their old, wooden one. Mom took care of 5 children, sold chocolate- covered bananas out of her house, while her husband worked in the logging business in another part of the country.  Family incomes in Getsemeni average between US$100 and $250 monthly, and many adults work as housekeepers, security guards and market vendors.
Peter and I have been on several Habitat Global Village builds (i.e. outside the US) and upon returning, we are often asked, “Did you finish a house?”.  The answer is always “no”, we just completed a small portion.  On this trip, our basic accomplishment was helping lay about 8 tiers of cement block.  That didn’t seem like much at all.
The truth was, I wished I were in the capital, participating in the mass demonstrations and celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the death of the country’s beloved Monseñor Romero. Instead, we were in a remote area, and I moved some block.  Some sand.  Some gravel.  Some dirt.  I watched the kids that will live in the  new house and hoped that it would represent a change for the better in their lives.
We were given T-shirts that said “Somos albañiles, no maestros de obra.” That means, we are workers (or masons), not master builders.”
When I looked up that reference, I thought about the importance of being a small part of a larger whole.  Here is part of the prayer, composed by Bishop Ken Untener and often called the Oscar Romero prayer:

Some neighborhood kids look on

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work…
We plant the seeds that one day will grow
We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development..
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker
We are workers; not master bulders
We are prophets of a future not our own

Find out more about Habitat’s trips outside the U.S. at www.habitat.org/gv

Example of the type of barren land sheep herders experience

Professor Tom Acker teaches Spanish at Mesa State College and spoke about his experience interviewing and advocating for H2A Range Workers and their rights in Colorado. During his presentation, he spoke of the importance of having an inside connection with former H2A range worker, Mr. Ignacio Alvarado, who had experienced working conditions and knew where to find locations of sheep herders throughout the year. Professor Acker and Mr. Alvarado were able to keep a record of their interviews of various sheep herders with the help of Mr. Jacob Carpenter who filmed the events.

Through these interviews, they learned that if the herders get sick or injured on the job, some bosses tell them to go back to the ranch or are sent back to their home country instead of being taken to a hospital. One of the serious dangers these herders face are tick or other insect bites that become infected since herders can’t bathe often and are constantly around animals. Another problem is appropriate clothing and heating. Ranchers are obligated to provide food and shelter but often the clothing is not weather appropriate and the only source of heat is a wooden stove in the “campito.” These “campitos” can be dangerous since the stove is near the door and not all campitos have another exit, such as a window large enough to crawl out of. Campitos have to be approved by an inspector but they do not inspect every camper. Instead, they are usually shown one of the best campers a rancher owns and after it is approved, the inspector gives the rancher enough stickers for his other campers.

In addition to less than desirable working conditions, some herders have their documents taken from them so that they cannot leave, cannot see their contracts, are threatened by their bosses, do not have access to transportation and/or do not have cell phones for communication even for emergencies, and do not know how much they will be getting paid.

Though these conditions are bad, it is important to remember that not all ranchers operate this way. Some sheep herders are treated very nicely, with warm jackets and campers with solar panels. People and organizations that advocate for better working conditions do not want to harm the industry of local agriculture. They simply want to filter out abusive ranchers so that the H2A range workers are treated fairly and with decency.

The Action Step for this Salon was writing letters to the editor. There were two articles from the Denver Post that people could reply to. The first article is titled, “Peruvian sheepherders’ lawsuit alleges abuses by Craig ranch” and the second article is titled, “An Unfair Picture of Sheepherders,” and is written by Sharon O’Toole, a rancher. Gabriela Flora provided suggested responses as well as information about sending a letter to the editor of the Denver Post. Links to Word Documents containing this information and the full articles from the Denver Post can be found here: Action-LettertoEditor#1, Action-LettertoEditor#2.

One example of a trailer used by a sheep herder.

Information on the work Colorado Legal Services has done to expose rangeworkers: “Overworked and Underpaid: H-2A herders in Colorado”

E-mail Address for Professor Tom Acker: tacker@mesastate.edu

Youtube videos by Jacob Carpenter: Slavery in America: 90¢ an Hour & -20°F Below Zero , Back on the Range: A Return Trip to the Wage Slavery Sheep Camps , Back Country Blues: A Story of Worker Abuse in Colorado’s Wild Lands

The 2010 DJPC Salon Discussion Series invites you to hear about the working conditions of Colorado range workers who are usually seasonal immigrants and efforts to change them. The speakers are Professor Tom Acker from Mesa State College, Mr. Ignacio Alvarado a former H2A range worker and Mr. Jacob Carpenter who is a video film maker.

Join us Thursday, April 15th from 7:00-9:00PM in the Community Room of the Denver Inner City Parish, 1212 Mariposa Street. Plenty of street parking as well as in the lots beside the building, enter through door off of 12th Avenue.

April Salon flier(pdf)

In light of upcoming legislation for comprehensive Immigration Reform, here is DJPC’s official position on Immigration, written by our Advocacy & Nonviolent  Activism committee, and approved by DJPC’s Board of Directors:

DJPC’s Position on Immigration:

DJPC’s work for human rights, economic justice and lasting peace for Latin America affords a unique position from which to contribute to the current public policy debate on immigration.

DJPC concurs that a humane and just U.S. immigration policy must be adopted in the U.S., one that meets the needs of immigrants, communities and our economy.   It should respect international law and human rights–particularly the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state, provide a legal avenue for citizenship, afford the opportunity to obtain work without legal recrimination, support the lawfully authorized entry of those under duress or fleeing natural disaster, and enable family re-unification. These policy goals should be accomplished without militarization of the border, discrimination against or exploitation of immigrants whose lives have already been adversely affected by U.S. policies in their home countries.

DJPC believes, however, that this conundrum cannot reach successful resolution without first dealing with the root causes of the immigration surge and analyzing those areas in which U.S. policies act as catalysts for it. To this end, DJPC advocates foreign and trade policies that:

• Improve human rights and support civil society members at risk.

• Strengthen political and civil institutions and root out corruption and impunity.

• Create opportunities for people to remain in their home countries where they can be productive citizens and preserve family units and support systems.

• Minimize the gap between the rich and the poor, and achieve just livable wages for workers at home and abroad.

• Make education and health care more universally available.

• Defend against the trafficking of human beings, especially women and children, for the purpose of exploiting them economically or sexually.

• Reduce reliance and dependency on the U.S.

• Conduct negotiations in a transparent, inclusive and accountable manner.

• Prioritize funding for human development over military aid.

• Promote the needs of individual workers and small local businesses over those of transnational corporations.

• End exploitation of human and natural resources by the U.S. and other global powers.

• Provide strong and meaningful labor and environmental standards, and demand compliance.

• Reverse and reduce the concessioning and privatization of essential public services.

Additionally, DJPC extends this scrutiny to policies of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and other financial bodies supported by the U.S.

DJPC works to establish equitable public policy through:

• Education: of our members, our communities, our Congressional delegation on the ways in which U.S. foreign and trade policies impact economically-motivated immigration.

• Solidarity: partnering with local and national groups and international movements to advocate for these policies. Reaching out to immigrant communities and bearing witness to the struggle of our immigrant neighbors.

• Nonviolent Activism: calling, writing, visiting and keeping the pressure on members of our Congressional delegation to enact just foreign and trade policies. Participating in rallies, press conferences, public meetings, and nonviolent protests.