CCIDD Newsletter November 2005 Report

The Society of the Divine Savior made the decision last June to not continue their sponsorship of the CCIDD effort due to insufficient financial and human resources within the congregation. Fr. Paul left CCIDD at the end of August for his new assignment as a parish priest in the diocese of Queretero, Mexico.

The best laid plans of mice and men as the old saying goes. I was very sad to hear of this decision that meant the losing of Fr. Paul and threw CCIDD into turmoil as regards to its leadership and future. Indeed, we needed to take some significant new and bold actions to avoid CCIDD's closure. We needed leadership and economic viability.

We were forced to drastically downsize our workforce. By August 21, only our maintenance personnel, Rogelio and Manuel, remained. We will be bringing back some of our laid-off personnel on an as-needed basis when groups are here for programs or there are other needs.

The major challenge was to find a new director. No easy feat. But I believe God was smiling on us. While talking with the director of the USCMA, she steered me to Sister Kathy Long at the Chicago based 8th Day Justice Center. Kathy came for an interview and to experience part of a program in July and accepted to be our new director soon after. She arrived here to begin her work on Nov. 1 having already recruited three young and able people to form our program team before arriving. They will be in Cuernavaca by December when we will begin staff formation in order to be ready to receive our first incoming group on Dec. 27. Sister will say more about herself and the three new program associates in her column. However I wish to reflect another old saying…..hope springs eternal….by expressing my excitement as to what this new year will bring based upon the high quality, experience and commitment of Sister Kathy and the three new associates.

We already have thirteen groups scheduled for 2006 but are working on finalizing some additional strategic partnerships with organizations like Educating for Justice, CRS, Just Faith Movement, CTA, etc. However, we still have some empty dates so we encourage you to consider organizing another group to come or promote CCIDD among others that could benefit from our programs.

Early this year we initiated a series of open registration programs where individuals or small groups could register to come for specific dates. The response was extremely low and disappointing causing the cancellation of all ten programs offered. This coming year, 2006, we have scheduled only one open registration program for August 15 - 27. Interested people should contact us here at CCIDD. Please help us promote this effort.

Any advance payments, contingency fund or CCIDD donations, program payments or other money transfers for CCIDD should now be sent to:

Please enclose a brief note explaining who is sending what and why. The decision to not close but attempt to continue with the valuable programs offered by CCIDD has meant CCIDD must pass through a difficult time incurring significant debt before we can again get on a solid footing financially. Would you consider sending a donation if you are in a situation to do so. Thank you in advance for any support you may be able to provide. Y que Dios te paga!

Itinerancy is part of the life of Dominicans. We are preachers and teachers who go where the ministry and the voice of God calls us. Thus I have come to CCIDD. My passion for justice and work in promoting human rights has been a journey taking me to Bolivia some years ago, working with parish justice and peace committees in the USA, promoting catholic social teachings to catechists and youth in confirmation programs and weekly catechesis.

To stand for justice and seek another world where right relationships are the norm is a work that calls us to active listening to many cultures. Recently I have been engaged in ministry at 8th Day Center for Justice, a collaborative justice -focused work with 40 catholic religious congregations. We worked to promote systemic change, doing social analysis and theological reflection as a means to educate and empower each other to be a source of transformation. As a Christian I promote the Gospel of nonviolence and compassion.

Coming to CCIDD I am challenged to see the Spirit of God in our global society that is now so connected through technology and communication. We as sisters and brothers across borders are connected, are of one human family, one family of God. How do we love one another? How do we stand in solidarity with one another? How and what do we know of each other? These are questions we will dialogue about here at CCIDD.

Cuernavaca is a beautiful location to ponder various realities. This Center of Dialogue, CCIDD, engages all of us (participants, staff and those whom we encounter here in Mexico) in an opportunity for cross-cultural exchange. We learn from each other. God gives us blessings in abundance, may we receive these with open hearts. Come join us!

Jessica Jerman - comes from Wisconsin, USA, a 2003 graduate of Edgewood College, Madison. Jessica has a degree in Spanish, is a certified social worker and has proficiency as a yoga teacher. Health, spirituality and justice are particular interests of hers.

Jennifer Betz - comes from Ohio, USA, a 2002 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Jennifer has language skills in Spanish, German and French. Of particular interest to her are women's issues/rights, transformation through popular education and writing.

Darryl Langendoen, comes from Ontario, Canada, a 2004 graduate of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Darryl has skills as a community organizer, church leadership training and has a degree in social work. He has interest in combining faith and social justice, dialoging with others in seeking alternatives solutions for basic needs.

January 24-29, 2005 is the date of the 6th World Social Forum, a significant gathering of world civil organizations, movements of humanitarian groups and concerned individuals. This year´s Forum will be polycentric meaning there will be several encounters in different locations. These will be : 1) Bamako (Mali-Africa), 2) Caracas (Venezuela- America), and 3) Karachi (Pakistan-Asia). People from all of the Americas are invited to be together in Caracas. The World Social Forum (WSF) is non-governmental, diverse and pluralistic. The Charter of Principles exhorts, WSF ``is an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action.´´ The WSF is a process that invites all of us to participate, to stand in opposition to a process of globalization commanded by the large multinational corporations and the complicity of governments whose interests support these multinationals. It is not only of resistance, but more so of collaborative sharing of new ways of encountering human needs and dispensing resources more equitably.

Themes for this Hemispheric encounter in Caracas will include balance and perspectives of struggle against neo-liberal capitalism, promoting women's movements, struggles against patriarchism, supporting indigenous nationalities and youth movements. The struggle for human rights and a stand against military domination, looking at `free trade' are other issues. The whole concern over water, seeds and energy sources will be discussed in the context of alternatives to the predatory model of civilization.

Perhaps you can go or you know friends who will be there. Read about it share ideas which come from this huge encounter of persons concerned for the common humanity and Earth´s resources. This is a grassroots movement of concerned citizens expressing that another world is possible. Poverty can be lessened, health care can be improved, people can live in harmony without military domination.

The WSF process invites us in our local areas, to have annual gatherings based on WSF principles, coming together to share our needs and resources. Check out the web page www.forumsocialmundial.org.br for more details. Watch the news from this important encounter and organize a WSF encounter in your area.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer in his new book, Saving Christianity from Empire engages Christians to respond to global events, unchecked US militarism and violence by reading the Gospel of Jesus with new eyes and hearts, a new transformative view for all people. Jack, a professor at St. Thomas College in St. Paul, MN, is a regular participant along with thousands of others at the annual November vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning to close the US government funded School of the Assassins (SOA) or newly named Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).

Remembering the anniversary of the massacre the six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in San Salvador in 1989, all killed by SOA grads, an annual vigil is held to protest the existence of this school which trains Latin American military in counter insurgence techniques. Violence is a downward spiral that does not educate, inspire nor transform people to goodness, justice and equality. Military domination does not promote democracy. It terrorizes communities, assassinates leaders in peace communities and tortures union organizers.

We in the grass root School of the Americas Watch movement promote nonviolent resistance. This year we honor the victims of El Salvador killed 25 years ago in 1980, Monsignor Oscar Romero, 4 US catholic church women, Jean Donovan and Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford, Maura Clark, and Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel along with thousands of Salvadorans. Additionally we honor those killed in Colombia in February this year, 2005, in the San Jose Apartado Massacre, Luis Edurado Guerra, 37, his partner Bellanira and their son Deiner, 11, as well as another couple and their two young children. Brigadier General Fandiño Rincon commander of the 17th Brigade of the Colombian Army was trained at the School of the Americas. It is the 17th Brigade which seems to be responsible for these deaths, though the government refuses to investigate. The US government continues to invite Colombian military to the SOA/WHINSEC, saying they are working against terrorism now. The language has changed by US government officials over the years from fighting a drug war in Colombia to promoting democracy to the new war on terror.

The grassroots movement to close the School of the Americas is stronger than ever. We work against US military domination in Latin America. We hear the voices of survivors of torture at the annual vigil and we listen to the mothers of the disappeared. We lament the victims of this violence in our solemn funeral procession on Sunday at the vigil. This event of singing the litany of the deceased is a solemn spiritual experience for all present. Colombians gathered for the vigil in 2004 for the first time expressed that during this litany they were able to shed tears of lament for their own friends and companions killed in the struggle. Numerous CCIDD alumni participate in this SOAW vigil. CCIDD promotes nonviolent dialogue. The grassroots SOAW promotes nonviolent resistance. Together we look to a better world with human rights respected, torture abolished, and engaging encounters of persons working for equality and justice. For more information on the School of the Americas Watch grassroots movement check out SOAW web page, www.soaw.org. Join in a local group or come to the Strategy meeting in San Francisco February 18-19. All are welcome! Your voice is needed to preserve human rights, and stop the torture, massacres and the impunity. Spread peace and justice! In memoriam: Luis Eduardo Guerra and companions, Presente!

Rosa Parks, a significant African American woman in the U.S. civil rights movement, died October 24, 2005. Many know her name and her act of nonviolent resistance in 1955. Rosa, already an activist for civil rights, was involved in voter registration and was secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1957 she sat on the bus with three companions. Dutifully they sat in the back of the bus in the `Blacks Only' section.` Another rule in the segregated Montgomery bus system was if the bus filled up and white people did not have a seat the black people had to leave their seat in their reserved/restricted section and stand for the white rider. Rosa´s three companions moved so white people could sit, Rosa quietly refused. The bus driver arrested her. Rosa did not resist arrest. Four days later she was convicted of disorderly conduct and fined $14. The Montgomery bus boycott began with this impetus and lasted 381 days, resulting that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that Montgomery´s segregated bus service was unconstitutional.

Those working for racial justice and an end to racist acts and attitudes hail Rosa Parks as a prophet of nonviolence, an apostle of the nonviolent movement. Her act of courage and resistance inspired the young Baptist minister, Martin Luther King, Jr. Her name is known and her single act of resistance acclaimed, but racism exists and in many places flourishes, though disguised in many ways. Why are U.S. prisons primarily filled with people of color? Why are people of color suspect in stores when shopping and in the housing rental and purchasing market? Why is the U.S. military putting money into neighborhoods of people of color and not in white neighborhoods? Are we aware that race as a category of defining people was produced by white people as a form of domination and separation?

The challenge before us, particularly for white people (some are uncomfortable with this name because of our superior position), is to become aware and to study about race and its foundation and its history in the Americas. With this base of information we can be more like Rosa Parks and resist this violence in which we have been surrounded in our society. Read Paul Rivel's book, Uprooting Racism, or Joseph Brandt's Dismantling Racism. Our work is to look at institutional racism and how it has strangled us and maneuvered our behaviors over the years to think in a separatist way.

After being arrested in 1955, Rosa Parks said, "I only knew that as I was being arrested, that was the very last time that I would ever ride in humiliation of this kind". Now, in 2005, almost 2006, we are called to dialogue with one another on race and racism. Race is a factor in the economic struggle of peoples in the Americas. Race is a factor in military domination in the Americas. Like Rosa Parks, each of us has a call to be an agent of change for a better world. Each of us has an opportunity to give people respect and work toward a world that shows dignity to people of all races. The time is now. Be an agent of change, work to dismantle racism!

George W. Bush met in Argentina Nov. 4-5 at a summit conference with the presidents of the 34 nations of the Americas. Only one nation was excluded at Bush's insistence…Cuba. The U.S. hoped to get its initiative, the Free Trade Agreement for the Americas (FTAA) back on track from its derailment about a year ago in Miami.

As you learned at CCIDD, the present structure of these proposed free trade agreements is more beneficial to the wealthy countries and big corporations than the many needy people of the poorer countries. Bush found this out the hard way in Argentina where there was great discontent manifested against Free Trade and himself personally. This he even recognized in the televised news conference with the Argentine president when he remarked, "Thank you for receiving me in your country since I realize I am presently not a very easy person to host".

Diego Maradona, idolized by millions as the greatest Argentine soccer superstar of all time, entered a packed stadium of 25,000 people gathered to repudiate Bush. He wore a STOP BUSH tee shirt and shouted to the crowd, "I'm proud as an Argentine to repudiate the presence of this human trash, George Bush".

Maradona also sat shoulder-to-shoulder at the packed rally with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who had come to the conference vowing to "bury" Bush's proposed Free Trade Agreement for the Americas (FTAA). Maradona embraced Chávez to rapturous cheers as he shouted into the microphone, "Argentina has its dignity! Let's throw Bush out of here!"

While their words and actions might have represented millions of people throughout Latin America, it did not represent most of the presidents at the summit although many of them did demand better agreements that provided more benefits for Latin America. Bush did not achieve his goal of significant progress towards approval of the FTAA. In fact the summit would not even support the idea of continuing negotiations toward that goal at the insistence of Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay & Venezuela.

Their position is that talks must be ended until significant issues are resolved within the negotiations of the World Trade Organization. The biggest issue by far is the enormous agricultural and other subsidies provided by the U.S. and European Union governments to their own producers to the great detriment of third world ones who cannot survive with the artificially deflated world prices.

And it does not look like there will be a solution soon. Negotiators at the WTO discussions just admitted on Nov. 8 that they are stymied and at an impasse in that neither the U.S. or the European Union are willing to make an adequate concession on this issue. So if the FTAA is not dead, it is at least buried for now.

After finishing my above article, I just saw this editorial from the Nov. 11 N.Y. Times and include it for your reading below:

Memo to Poor Countries: Stand Fast
Brazil's foreign minister, Celso Amorim, put it bluntly after the collapse of the latest round of trade talks in London and Geneva this week: unless the European Union finally stops dithering and cuts farm subsidies to help farmers in poor countries, the negotiations to open up trade in manufactured goods and services - to help big companies in Europe and America - would take "not one month, two months, one year or two years." The talks, he said, "just won't move."

For Mr. Amorim, and the other negotiators from developing countries that have been run over by the rich world in trade talks for the past 50 years, this page has two words: Stand fast. Do not give a single additional concession until the European Union cuts its farm subsidies. It's better to let the talks collapse and send the big guns home empty-handed than to be fooled again by Europe's hypocritical blather about free trade when clearly its countries, led by France, believe in free trade only when it suits their narrow interests.

For the last half-century, the World Trade Organization and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, have aggressively dismantled barriers against trade in industrial goods and services, areas in which rich countries in Europe, along with the United States and Japan, hold a comparative advantage. But when it comes to areas where poor countries could flourish, like textiles and agriculture, it has been a different story.

The developed world funnels nearly $1 billion a day in subsidies to its farmers; that encourages overproduction, which drives down prices. Poor nations' farmers cannot compete with subsidized products. Four years ago, in Doha, Qatar, poor countries finally won a promise that Europe, Japan and America would slash agricultural subsidies, in addition to further liberalizing world trade in services and manufactured goods.

If the European Union is truly going to refuse to make right a half-century of trade-distorting subsidies, which have helped the rich at the expense of the poor, then there's an easy answer: the talks should just not move.

JOSEFINA HERNANDEZ, mother of Sandra and Jorge, died of cancer a few months ago. We had been visiting her with CCIDD groups for over 20 years. She had a big funeral in which the many people traveled from the funeral parlor to her home in La Estacion Squatter Settlement lead by a performing band to make their last farewells before we all left for the cemetery The big challenge was what was going to happen to down syndrome affected Sandra. CCIDD helped facilitate an agreement within a very conflictive family situation so that Sandra is now being taken care of by her older sister while still attending her special school. CCIDD continues to support Sandra financially.

ESTER RITTER died in her hometown of Mineral Point, Wisconsin last month. She had been suffering and struggling with ALS for almost thirty years. She was a part of our CCIDD effort during the late 80's when she lived here in Cuernavaca. Following is a portion of a tribute sent us by our mutual friend Jan Swenson:

A TRIBUTE TO ESTER
Blessings on this your final journey
You have lived a life of compassion, respected diversity, deep sense of social justice
When you wanted to learn better how to manage in your wheel chair
You went to live in Nicaragua with the young men and women in rehabilitation
Paraplegics and amputees - these were tragic victims of the Contra War
But they, like you, were vibrant and determined to live life fully from a wheel chair
Later you decided to move to Mexico to live with friends
To be in a culture where you felt more at home and could continue your struggle

When I think of you, I will remember a woman of strong and spirit
A woman who wanted to be in charge of her life and decisions
You were the force behind the peace presence of the 4th of July parade
Despite your advancing illness, you dared to plan and organize an Iraq war protest
Wrapped in a peace flag, you beamed proudly as your neighbors cheered.

Ester was baptized by a Catholic priest two weeks before her death. $500 was donated to the CCIDD Contingency Fund in her memory. I am sure she is still accompanying us without the great physical effort of forcing an unwilling body to do her will now that she is freed of its burden.

INCOME: DONOR	AMOUNT (PESOS)
St. Joseph's Academy	1,359
Michael & Sheryl March	4,792
Catholic Central H.S. (Lethbridge)	22,860
St. Mary's Catholic H.S. (Ontario)	15,713
St. Michael's Catholic H.S. (Ontario)	2,743
Others of CDSBEO Program	666
Leah Edward	3,630
Michael & Delmy Hoyt-Garcia	653
Shelia Novak	327
Mary Kwiatek	270
Paula Moore	2,993
Amada Jimenez	500
Raymond Plankey (Memorial to Ester)	5,250
Pope John Paul II Secondary School (Toronto)	150
	TOTAL 61,906

RECEIVER	REASON	AMOUNT (PESOS)
Sandra	Down syndrome daughter Josefina	6,500
Florencia (Cuentepec)	Finish roof of family home; Food	3,175
Pedro Villegas	Lab Studies, Medicines	1,070
Church Tlama	Building Fund	400
Raquel Cortez>	Rent & Medicines	1,100
Pedro Mejia	Medicines	1,400
Isidro (Tlama)	Food, Medicines, School Supplies	18,155
Salvation Army	Paint for Children's Dorm	1,785
Maria (Cuentepec)	Food	100
Berna Martinez	Funeral Expenses of Husband	4,300
Herlinda's Sister	Medicine	300
Sandra	Medicine (Marta Aguilar's daughter)	900
COMUNIDAD A.C.	Breakfast Program, L.E. Kinder	11,000
		TOTAL 50,185