This year, the 2010 Annual Awards Night will be held on October 23rd at 7pm at First Mennonite Church here in Denver.  The 2010 Global Justice and Peace Award will go to GRUFIDES, El Grupo de Formación e Intervención para el Desarrollo Sostenible, a grassroots organization based in Cajamarca, Peru that promotes sustainable development through the environmental conservation of natural resources with a particular focus on respecting human rights. Former executive director of GRUFIDES Mirtha Vásquez will serve as the keynote speaker and receive the award on behalf of the organization. The John Proctor Member of the Year is to be announced.

DJPC’s 2010 Salon Discussion Series invites you to the August Film Series event, CRUDE: The Real Price of Oil. Join us Thursday August 19th at 7:00PM as we view this documentary that focuses on the lawsuit filed against Chevron on behalf of 30,000 indigenous Ecuadorians living in the Amazon. The speaker will be Michelle Doherty.

The infamous $27 billion “Amazon Chernobyl” case is one of the largest and most controversial legal cases on the planet. CRUDE is a real-life high stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures.  Written by Crude Production

Website: http://www.crudethemovie.com/

Thursday August 19th

7:00-9:00PM

Denver Justice & Peace Committee

Denver Inner City Parish | Community Room

1212 Mariposa Street, Denver 80204

Free parking is available along the street as well as in the lots beside the building.

Enter through the door located off of 12^th Avenue.

Website: www.denjustpeace.org | Phone: 303-623-1463 | E-mail:djpc@denjustpeace.org

CRUDE Film Trailer:

The main theme evident in all of the interviews with Mexican citizens was that they had families to support, bills to pay, or simply were looking for a better life. They all knew that there were many dangers and much uncertainty associated with attempting to cross the border but they also viewed crossing as their only way to survive. Through discussion following the film, we heard firsthand accounts from those who recently returned from a Migrant Trail Walk in Arizona. They attested to how difficult the multi-day journey is and even mentioned that seasoned hikers found the task difficult after only a few days into the trip. They also reminded us that unlike immigrants that attempt the crossing, they had the comforts of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical assistance when necessary and still found the journey mentally and physically challenging. They walked approximately 10 miles a day for almost a week. I find that for the immigrants able to complete such a journey through unknown desert terrain with what they can bring on their back and only 2 gallons of water if that, and for those that fail yet continue to try again, this attests to their will and determination to achieve their goals for a better life. This determination also proves, for me, that no matter what obstacles are placed in front of them, they will continue to find ways across the border as long as the United States continues to equal hope.

Action Steps: While the film focused on enforcement at the border, we are also seeing an increase in enforcement in the interior. Gabriela Flora of AFSC was our speaker and related 3 proposed actions at this event. The most pressing is calling Governor Bill Ritter (303)866-2471 to tell him not to sign onto Secure Communities. Please call right away, and continue making calls through the month of July. Secure Communities is a program that would “send the fingerprints of anyone arrested and booked for anything to Immigration…[including] the wrongly accused and innocent victims of domestic violence.” This program “will create fear and mistrust in our communities.”

Stop Secure Communities Now flier

Another action step is a 24-hour fast beginning Sunday, August 1st at 6:00PM until Monday, August 2nd at 6:00PM. Those who wish to will “camp overnight outside the GEO Immigrant Detention Center” and the following 24 hours will have “ongoing educational opportunities, time for deeper reflection on solidarity and…prayer.”  The fast will be broken at AFSC’s monthly interfaith vigil at 30th and Peoria in Aurora.  Please see flyer for the various ways you can participate.

24-hour solidarity vigil and fast flier

The final proposed action is signing a faith-based petition asking Governor Ritter and the Colorado Legislature “to reject any legislation or policies resembling Arizona’s SB 1070, a law that denies due process for immigrants, increases the likelihood of racial profiling, and criminalizes those who offer direct aid for immigrants.” Instead, the petition states that “what is needed to fix our broken immigration system is leadership by the federal government…to enact humane, comprehensive immigration reform that reunites families and provides a pathway to legal status for those who are undocumented.”

Petition Document

DJPC’s 2010 Salon Discussion Series invites you to the July Film Series event, Crossing Arizona. Join us Thursday July 15th at 7:00PM as we view this documentary that focuses on the Arizona border and the desert climate that has caused a rise in migrant deaths as they attempt to cross into the United States. The speaker will be Jennifer Piper who works with AFSC.

Frustrated ranchers go out day after day to repair cut fences and pick up the trash that endangers their livestock and livelihoods. Humanitarian groups place water stations in the desert in an attempt to save lives. And now there are the Minutemen, an armed citizen patrol group taking border security into their own hands. “Crossing Arizona” reveals the surprising political stances people take when immigration and border policy fails everyone. Text from http://www.crossingaz.com/web_pages/synopsis.html

Website: crossingAZ.com Trailer: Link to film excerpt

Thursday July 15th

7:00-9:00PM

Denver Justice & Peace Committee

Denver Inner City Parish | Community Room

1212 Mariposa Street, Denver 80204

Free parking is available along the street as well as in the lots beside the building.

Enter through the door located off of 12^th Avenue.

Website: www.denjustpeace.org | Phone: 303-623-1463 | E-mail:djpc@denjustpeace.org

July_Flier_Crossing Arizona

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

Father Marco, "El Diablo"

Join us Saturday June 26th at 5PM as we view the premiere of this documentary at the DocuWest Documentary Film Festival.

This event is co-sponsored by DocuWest :  www.docuwestfest.com

DocuWest – We Have Issues! Awarded Best Film Fest 2010 by Westword           Festival Dates: June 23-27

DocWest looks to explore the world of our people, our politics, our societies, our history and ourselves through the lens of filmmakers from around the globe. Our objective is to present our audiences with stories that are not only astonishing and jarring, but awe-inspiring and thought-provoking; stories that enable dialogue and discourse to take place over the people, events or subjects presented in each film.

Father Marco, a humble priest from the mountains of Peru, is being followed. A private security firm is filming and photographing the priest’s every move; their meticulous reports are code-named The Devil Operation. Marco’s allies are murdered and tortured, but he and his disciples refuse to be victims. They turn their cameras on the spies and develop a counter-espionage plan that leads to South America’s largest gold mine, owned by the Newmont Mining Corporation of Colorado. For the past two decades, Father Marco has defended farming communities against the Yanacocha mine’s abuses, earning him the nickname The Devil. Peru is one of the world’s top gold producers and the state has ceded power to transnational corporations who guard their territory like outlaws in the Wild West. Film-maker Stephanie Boyd has spent 10 years documenting the farmers’ struggle and became caught up in this real-life political thriller.

Film website: http://www.guarango.org/diablo/menu-in.html |  Trailer: http://vimeo.com/10013863

Tickets: $5 Available online or at the door but if you buy them from DJPC, part of the proceeds will go to DJPC. You can send cash or check to DJPC 1212 Mariposa Street Denver, CO 80204- make sure you mention it is for “The Devil Operation” film ticket and include your name so we know who to hold the ticket(s) for. You can also come into the office and pay but we do not have the tickets in our possession as of yet. We will keep a track of names and the tickets will be available at the door on Saturday June 26.

Saturday June 26th 5:00PM

Foss Auditorium

at the American Mountaineering Center.

710 10th Street, Golden, CO 80401

Parking is Free

.pdf version of June flier: June Flier- Devil Operation

Catherine Raveczky

So much of our labor is exported to where it is the most cheap, which allows us to be consumers of cheap/low-cost goods. Countries in which the IMF loans money often undergo structural adjustment that liberalizes the economy, but is harmful to farmers and local producers who cannot compete with cheap imports from other countries. This is how many countries come to rely heavily on imports and as a consequence, have a difficult time paying back loans. There is often no blame for irresponsible lenders but on those countries taking the money, although they would not need loans if they were not in debt in the first place. Another interesting piece of information is Chapter 11 of NAFTA. It is a clause that allows corporations to sue governments if they think a government prevented future profits. For instance, if the government banned a product due to the environmental harm it caused, the corporation that manufactures that product could then sue for future profits lost.

To end the evening we watched a 20 minute film entitled, “The Story of Stuff.” The website can be found here: http://storyofstuff.com/index.php

Some alternatives/solutions attendees came up with are spreading awareness of the issues by simple conversations or posting information, such as the “Story of Stuff” film, to networking sites like Facebook where they are likely to have a wide audience. Making different lifestyle choices was another suggestion and can be done by educating yourself on fair trade issues and only buying “fair” products.

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