December 2008/January 2009 Summary
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! I am forwarding news that has come my way related to our ongoing concerns. The attachments contain information from:
1.Quakers in Costa Rica hosting an international conference to ban depleted uranium weapons. It is exciting to read about this work considering Iowa Yearly Meeting's long and deep relationship with Costa Rica.
2. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture's upcoming 10 Days of Prayer to End Torture campaign . Since our IYM(C) has published a minute regarding our abhorrence or the use of torture, and we decided at our last yearly meeting to sign on as a sponsor of this campaign (as well as a few of our monthly meetings, and AFSC), it is important that we follow through on our stated concerns. The 10 day campaign to bring awareness to Washington asking the government to ban our use of torture begins tomorrow (Jan 11) and goes through Jan 20. As always, I encourage anyone interested in this issue to go onto their website.
3. When Theoneste was speaking at IYM(C), he was talking about the violence in North Kivu (Dem Rep of Congo) and the effort to develop a healing companions program to help women who had been raped as a result of the violence there. Since Theo spoke to us, the violence has only increased. I have included the latest news from AGLI reporting of the work there, and giving information on how to support their work there (similar to what was done in Kenya).
We have some good news to report since I sent the last sent a monthly summary. After we sent our letter to all of the senators and representatives of Iowa Yearly Meeting, regarding our concern about the treatment of flood day laborers, we were contacted by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin's office. I talked to Tom Larkin, the Senator's Cedar Rapids aide on the phone for quite a bit of time, expressing our concern not only for the enforcement of labor law concerning the flood workers, but also about how immigration issues fit into the yearly meeting's concerns regarding the workers in Postville. Tom requested a personal meeting to discuss this, and also invited Sen. Harkin's immigration aide, Kim Taylor to the meeting. Bob Yeats and I met with the two of them for an hour and a half in December, and we had a very thoughtful discussion about our yearly meeting concerns and what we might do about them.
I asked them about what WE could do, and they had a number of good suggestions. Perhaps the most important was Kim Taylor imploring us to have discussions with our neighbors about these issues. We need to help change the language in this country! Apparently, Tom Harkin's office gets mail continuously with hateful language concerning immigrants, and we need to help change the discussion in this country about how we speak about the "invisible people" who do the work behind the scenes. Our elected representatives also need to hear from us because whenever immigration legislation comes up, the mail is overwhelmingly anti immigration reform. We must make our voices heard, so that Harkin has support to take a humane stand. (I had no idea that they get so much anti-reform - and even "hate" mail- even when the legislation is not pending. Kim told me she had received 11 e-mails that morning alone!) Tom Larkin mentioned also that it would help to hear from constituents about the employee free choice legislation.
We also discussed the importance of the new Labor Secretary (and many of us are heartened at the thought of Hilda Solis) but they mentioned that is we are truly concerned about treatment of local workers, we need to contact our state officials. In Iowa, that is the labor commissioner, Dave Neil in Des Moines. Those of you in our other states will need to find out who the person for you to talk to is.
Through the years, we have sent a number of letters to our elected representatives. However, this is the first time I am aware of that we have had such a personal response to a letter that IYM(C) sent out!
I have some personal news from Friends Peace Teams (and a request for some help):
Val Liveoak, a founding member of Friends Peace Teams, and the person pioneering AVP and reconciliation work in Central America and Colombia has just returned from her latest trip there. She will be coming to our area on March 15 - 17 to speak at Augustana College. She will be here for another week after that , and I am lining up other places for her to speak. Iowa City Meeting has already signed up for this. If any other monthly meetings- or outside groups that you belong to- would be interested in hearing her, I will be happy to schedule it.
Likewise (and since I mentioned AGLI and Kenya above), Getry Agizah, the woman who put together the Healing and Rebuilding our Communities programs after the election violence there, will be coming to the United States this March and April. Like Theoneste, her original visa was turned down, and so she was unable to speak at the yearly meetings that had engaged her. AGLI is appealing to bring her here, but we need new engagements for her. I am looking to have her speak at Cornell College in the beginning of April. If ANYONE who would be interested in having her come and speak, please get in contact with me.
I know that we are all so busy doing our work for peace and social concerns. Remember that any news you send to me to share with the rest of the yearly meeting encourages us all. It is a good way for us to work together even though we are separated by so many miles.
In the meantime, best wishes as we continue into 2009.
love,
Deborah