Empowered women can do amazing things, b

Empowered women can do amazing things, but they are up against a lot. Find out more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkfYDi9Jmw

Making Juarez Healthier and Safer

Ciudad Juarez is not a place that most Americans think about (at least not outside El Paso).  Many people here in Phoenix – a six-hour drive from Juarez – know nothing about the city.  Many more know what they read about the city in the news, where reports of violence, drugs, and corruption depict an incomplete narrative of the city.  Violence related to drug trafficking is rampant there; according to the BBC, Juarez has the highest murder rate in the world.  The systemic corruption and complicity between drug traffickers and municipal officials is essentially indisputable.  Poverty is virtually endemic to the character of the city.

But Juarez is a city that is being choked to death – choked by pollution from the exhaust of mile-long traffic jams at the border and dust from unpaved streets; by toxic maquiladora waste and century-old industrial residue from the El Paso-based ASARCO smelter; by NAFTA clauses that are designed to inhibit economic equality; by fear of drug cartels and law enforcement alike.  What sorts of creativity might these conditions be stifling?  What forms might progress, art, and society take if these constraints were not there?  What solutions might expedite justice for the people of Juarez?

My impression of LOH is that they understand the problems and actively seek progressive solutions in addressing them, even if the solutions are carried out one article of clothing at a time.  While traveling to Juarez with Charis and Kelly from LOH in November of 2009, I was able to meet some of the residents of Juarez who are affecting change there.  A handful of presentations, both at the ALDEA cooperative as well as the city spaces themselves, illuminated the structural nature of the problems in Juarez.  I left the city with a clear picture of the connectedness between NAFTA, drug policy, labor exploitation, violence, corruption, poverty, and gender inequities along the border.  I also was able to see the effects that working in a fair and equitable fashion is having on the women of ALDEA.

It is easy to sit here in the US and deride Juarez; it is also easy to be compassionate from a distance.  By their mission, LOH is making things easy for the rest of us – we just need to support their mission.  They do not send proxies to Juarez, or operate via mail, or make handoffs at the border. They go there themselves and speak the language.  It was clear to me that Charis and Kelly – and most likely the other representatives of LOH – are loved at ALDEA and in the colonia we visited.  Their work enables families to sustain themselves where the state has failed; their work gets women out of the maquiladora cycle; their work means that mothers can actually spend their time being mothers.  These are the things that will make Juarez a healthier and safer place to live.

-From Guest Blogger, Steve Marotta – Student in ASU’s MA of Social Justice and Human Rights program and LOH Juarez Delegation participant.

Consumers talk fair trade

Enjoy a guest blog from LOH Fair Trade Boutique Supporter and frequent customer, Alonzo.  He’ll tell you all about why he shops fair trade through LOH.

Why do I shop at Las Otras Hermanas…Well I guess why wouldn’t I!?

We constantly have the excuse that I don’t have time to do this or that, as far as volunteer work, not having time to help others. Well, this is a great way to not only help a local business, but help the women of Juarez, Mexico, who are one of the providers of shirts, soaps etc.

I shop at LOH because I can buy cool stuff, in the center of the valley, and know that fair wages were paid to the people that created whatever it is I am buying. I have bought Christmas gift baskets (in fact I did a lot of my Christmas shopping there), necklaces, journals, shirts, toys etc. I feel good about the fact that what I buy, was not created in sweatshops!

Thanks, Alonzo, for your amazing support!!

Fair trade and the recession

According to Gallup Polls, consumer spending is down 20% from last year, but the sale of Fair Trade products are up 15%, according to FLO.

What does that mean?

Well, we’d have to do a really intensive study to tell you exactly what it means, but we here at LOH can tell you what we think it means.

In this recession, with so many people low on money, we believe people really care about and put a lot of thought into the purchases they are making with their limited financial resources.  There are so many reasons why a rise in fair trade could be going hand-in-hand with the global recession.

…Perhaps the recession is making people more aware of the hardships of people around the world who are paid below a living wage, and therefore they care more about buying fair trade products.

…Perhaps people care more about the quality and the story behind the products they are purchasing.  The quality of fair trade products is outstanding because each producer cares so much about their final product. Additionally, consumers can put a face to the product they are buying.

Whatever the reason, here at LOH we applaud consumers for making the choice to spend their hard-earned dollars on fair trade.  In the end, they are making the world a better place for workers everywhere.

Downtown Devil Story

Read a blog from Downtown Devil about LOH and Executive Director Charis Elliott

What’s Wrong with this Picture?

With a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish, minors in Latin American Studies and Economics, and a M.A. in Social Justice and Human Rights, I consider my training enough to have taught me the most important points of international development, my true passion.  However, everyday I realize more and more that what most teachers, development experts, and governments will tell you about the “best” international development methods are totally wrong.

The U.S. Government spends billions of dollars in development aid every year. Jeffery Sachs tells us that with $195 billion  in aid, we can end extreme poverty in our time.  Beautiful!  But there’s something missing.  Well, actually, half the world’s population is missing from all of the most important development scholars’ work.

According to the UNDP (United Nations Development Program), of the billions of dollars that we (citizens of the world) spend on development aid every year, only 1% ends up in the hands of women.  1%!!!!  I’m not a mathematician or anything, but 1% way less than 50%, right?

Too much text? Watch our video on YouTube instead (or we’d prefer in addition to…)

So, here’s the other problem, many institutions agree that women spend more money, time, and resources on their community than men.  Men invest 30-40% of their income on the betterment of their community.  Great! But women invest 70-90% of their income in their communities.  When women control greater wealth, they also find it a priority to spend that money on their daughters’ education, health, and empowerment (UNDP, PAI, Half the Sky).  Globally men…well…don’t.

Not to say there aren’t men who don’t support women’s empowerment.  In fact, Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, was a champion of women’s empowerment.  He insisted that “there in no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women” and “gender equality is more than a goal in itself; it is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable government, and building good governance.”  He obviously thought women were pretty powerful.

So let’s review the statistics?  Why are women being so marginalized?

Because of cultural and social biases against women around the world, of the 1.3 billion poorest people in the world, 70% of those individuals are women. 2/3 of illiterate adults are women, which won’t change since 2/3 of the children currently not enrolled in school worldwide are girls!  Women do twice the unpaid labor of men, and when they are paid, they make 3/4 of the pay men earn for the same job (this is globally, ladies, developed and developing world!).

The excuse many employers give for paying women less is the totally outdated belief that women’s salaries are supplemental to their husbands.  However, globally 1 in 4 households are headed by a single woman.  Not surprising, since 20-50% of women will experience domestic violence at some point during their marriages.

Women own 1% of the world’s wealth, and 1% of development aid ends up in the hands of women.  But it’s been proven time and again that when MONEY (development aid or otherwise) ends up in the hands of women, their families, their communities and their countries are better off!

More and more organizations are realizing this: Population Action International, Kiva.org, Camfed, Girls Helping Girls, Pennies for Peace, Care, Tostan, Equality Now, Grameen Bank, Pro-Mujer, and of course, yours truly, Las Otras Hermanas.  These organizations are run by women and men, and collectively we are trying to create a world where women are valued and empowered to change their world.  But, if you’ll notice, these are all non-profit, non-governmental organizations.  As organizations without governmental funding, we have to fight for every dime we receive.  Until major governmental institutions realize the value in putting development in the hands of women, we’re still going to have to fight the fight alone, with support from caring citizens and foundations.  Imagine what Sachs’ proposed $195 billion could do in the hands of women, if governments would listen to the results organization like ours are getting!

With the $40 daily wage we pay our producers, going off of the 70%-90% women contribute of their income to their community, we are pouring $28-36 daily into developing their community.  That’s not to mention the Community Development Fund that the women control.  At Las Otras Hermanas, we are putting development into the hands of women, and we will continue to do this, because we know it works!

So join the movement! Speak out in solidarity with women around the world!

Click here to Get Involved with or Contribute to Las Otras Hermanas.

-Blog Post by LOH Development and Outreach Director, Kelly McCarty

LOH is a fast-paced organization

A note on interning with LOH from Graphic Design Intern Sarah Hibner.

My favorite part about interning with LOH was the plethora of events we got to participate in. I’m instantly reminded of two events in particular, Local to Global Justice, and First Fridays – Each of them for different reasons.

Local to Global Justice was a Teach-In that lasted two days, and took place at Arizona State’s Tempe campus. It was an especially important event for LOH because Vero, a visiting member of ALDEA, was in town from Juarez. She was a speaker at the event, and also helped us table throughout the two days. This event was so rewarding because of the sheer amount of information I received on a variety of causes, coupled with the amazing people I met. Aside from LOH, I haven’t had much experience in the non-profit or human rights sector, so my internship experience has been very enlightening to say the least. At Local to Global Justice, I learned about human trafficking, human rights abuses, animal abuse, permaculture, femicide, alternative living, the Dream Act, and many, many other causes. Also, the food was amazing. Green donated food the first day, and I can’t remember who donated it the second day, but both were so delicious! I can’t wait to go to this next year.

First Fridays – a more frequent occurrence, are always fun, but the best one I experienced was last week’s for April. Ashley and I got to apply henna the entire time, and it was such a fun and intense few hours! I got so caught up in drawing cool designs on people that two or three hours passed by in what felt like minutes. The other great thing about this Friday in particular is that almost all of the LOH staff was able to make it, which is a rare occurrence outside of staff meetings since we are all so busy and have so many cool events going on. The fact that it was Kelly’s birthday might have had something to do with it. The fact that we were all going to celebrate properly at her place later that night also probably had something to do with it.

There’s never been a dull moment at LOH, and I don’t expect there to be anytime soon. It’s a refreshing change of pace.

The Trouble in Juarez? It’s more than drugs.

From LOH Executive Director, Charis Elliott.  A response to PBS’s “The Trouble in Juarez”.

As I have been working and doing research there in Juarez for over 2 years, I know that the turf war between the drug cartels are just part of the picture.

If you look at why so many people are part of this war, are part of this illegal billion dollar industry you will find it is because companies owned by U.S. citizens locate their factories in Juárez and do not pay their workers enough to feed themselves, much less their families.  In maquiladoras, women and men work 11 hours a day, 6 days a week and are paid on average $6.50 per day.  Whereas the cost of living, food housing and rent starts at $33/day.  Conditions are terrible for workers, including in some maquilas the practice of forced pregnancy testing, forced birth control, sexual harassment and the constant threat of being a victim of the femicide; these are conditions we have heard real workers complain to us about.  I did research and found that many items, such as a coffee maker or new children’s clothing, are actually more expensive in Juárez than in El Paso, Texas – just across the border!

So, we ask you: if there are decreasing job opportunities, the ones that do exist won’t feed your families, and there is social safety net, what are you going to do?

Let’s say you are a teenage boy and you see your mother working two jobs, gone night and day, left to be in the streets of Juárez, and you get word of being able to make money with the drug cartels, without having to work very hard. You see your neighbors losing their jobs, you see people begging for food on the streets, and there are 3 kids to feed. As a teenage boy in this situation, its highly likely you will take this opportunity. Thus it begins.

In Juárez there are no food stamps, no dependable food banks, no good paying jobs, no cash assistance from the government, not even opportunities for education, even if you are a child. Though school is suppose to be free in Mexico parents still have to pay around $30 per year per child for fees, then they have to pay for uniforms and supplies.  In addition, few non-profits brave the dangers of Juarez to try to assist innocent civilians trying to scrape a living in the city.  What would you do?

But it’s bigger than that: How did this all come to be?

NAFTA was instituted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada to set up free trade zones where labor standards are bent, wages are very low, and authorities (the few there are) generally turns their heads. But most importantly U.S. companies do not have to pay taxes or customs to import goods…leaving more room for profit.

NAFTA is perpetuating the problem of massive poverty, increasing of illegal economies (such as drug trade plaguing Juárez) – the very problem pro-NAFTA governments purport to be solving!

(For more information, we suggest: Human Rights Along the U.S.-Mexico Border: Gendered Violence and Insecurity edited by Kathleen Staudt, Tony Payan, and Z. Anthony Kruszewski.)

So my questions for all of you are: Are you going to educate yourself and do something about it?  Are you going to take time to do something different?  Most importantly–though you have nothing to loose, nothing at stake, and no real reason to do anything about this–are you going to do something to help solve the problems in Juárez?

Here are some ways to help:

Support the work LOH is doing in Juárez.

Shop only ethical companies?  That does require a lot of time, research and thought, but the kind people at Better World Shopper have made it easier for you!

Buy local or fair trade!  Most of your favorite products have a fair trade alternative.  Check out options through the Fair Trade Federation.

Know who is taking advantage of lax labor laws in Juarez.

Who said change was easy? A word from Kim.

A blog post from Kim Pearson, a long-time volunteer with Las Otras Hermanas:

It was only about one and a half years ago that I came to know Charis, Las Otras Hermanas, and Fair Trade. I was a dewy-eyed freshman looking for something, some opportunity, that would satisfy a need to do anything that would make an impression on a world I found to be frankly, not very fair. I didn’t even know what Fair Trade really was when I sent Las Otras Hermanas an email. All I knew was that I would love any chance to practice my Spanish and learn first-hand about human rights, sustainability, economics, and gender issues in the context of Mexico. Now that I think about it, I did not even know the gravity of the situation in Juárez, let alone the rest of the global south.

After emailing back and forth for about a month, we finally organized an interview. At 7am on a quite cold December morning, I took the bus from my dorm to SkySong, dressed in jeans due to the weather, even though I knew I probably should have worn business attire. I was met with a hurried hello as they rushed off to interview the first applicant. Sitting in the SkySong offices, I thought to myself, “Whoa. This is kind of a big deal.” Little did I know…
The interview explained what Las Otras Hermanas does and informed me of issues in Juárez, the rest of Mexico, and the world. Happily, I was asked to go to Juárez right away and be a Transborder Communications Volunteer. Juárez! My mom hated the idea. The other interns and I discussed over dinner the utter lack of approval our parents hastened to impress upon us. My mom and grandmother were better informed than I, though. At this time, the drug wars were stepping up. Luckily, I embraced the lack of certainty, and went. I had only been to Mexico once before, after all.

After an 8-hour drive during which I came to very much appreciate and look up to those involved with Las Otras Hermanas, and a bout of errand-trips in El Paso, we finally entered Juárez, although I was only half-awake when we went through the border. The city looked peaceful at night – very sparse, but peaceful. Sleepily, we entered into the ALDEA co-op after knocking on Veronica’s door. The co-op at this time seemed as sparse as the city we had passed in the night. We bundled up in that blank room, with cardboard in place of windows, on a concrete floor. It was one of the most interesting sleeping experiences I had ever had. My mind was awake with excitement and my body was exhausted, almost too exhausted to sleep. Someone snored really loudly, too, but that’s beside the point.

The day to come was…long. Fascinating. Eye-opening. Bittersweet. Only one day, yet too much to write. We met the women cordially. By viewing their community and listening, I came to know their plight, and why this work is so desperately needed. Their determination, graciousness, and strength is not atypical of people around the world who live in dire conditions – those I had read about in books and seen on television – but it was different now. Stronger sensations of grief and anger sought direction towards the, at the time, unknown cause and incubator of this condition, although on the surface. At the time, I enjoyed playing with the little kids and their dogs. A teenager spoke to us of boys and relationships. With Alfonso, I spoke of the environment, corporations, and social work. The children asked me to roll them around in a barrel, a makeshift toy, and then pulled us to the massive pit that was one street over, sliding down the dirt, haphazardly avoiding the glass. Let’s just say, the houses, the makeshift playground, the people…seeing the people who work in the factories – to make the computers, underwear, and cars you use – was all a bit of a culture-shock, a life-shock.

From that day on, the world kind of opened up, in a bittersweet way. My ignorance was exposed, and the new knowledge, to me at least, had peeled some of the layers away from my own existence in America, dissolving the veneer and revealing the uneven political geography of power and prosperity, and the potential of those who do not have those things to rise up. What LOH is doing is one part of the puzzle of increasing self-sovereignty over the fate of millions of people worldwide.

I’m still a volunteer with Las Otras Hermanas, working the Saturday shift at the Fair Trade Boutique. Also, I’m president of United Students for Fair Trade @ ASU Tempe, a club that Charis founded the year before, and one that I have come to value very much. We work to engage students with the issues that occur as a result of many trade policies, development bodies, and multi-nationals working in the name of economic prosperity, but in the reality perpetuating a cycle of poverty. We inform them of the alternative – Fair Trade. We stand in solidarity with the people around the world who lack recourse to alleviate their situation. I feel I have grown so much through working with Charis and USFT, learning about Fair Trade, leadership, and entrepreneurship. At the same time, we have had to cope with obstacles while challenging the status quo and daring to create equity in this complex world. But hey, who said change was easy?

Thanks, Kim, for all you do for Las Otras Hermanas!

Can you win our June Fan Challenge?

Our June Fan Challenge is up on our Facebook Fan Page.

Why is our organization called “Las Otras Hermanas”?

The person with the best answer wins a $5 gift certificate to our Fair Trade Boutique.  You have till Sunday at Midnight to post!! Simply comment on the post.