|
Moderator: Welcome to the Global Women's Voices
chat. Please use the form above to submit your questions.
|
|
Deborah Hayes: I am involved in fair trade coffee campaigns in the US to benefit South American farmers. Do you feel this is a helpful and viable way to contribute to the economic stability of women and children?
Maria Aguiar: I think the fair trade coffee campaign is one viable way to support women but one broader way is to increase the work around the FTAA that is being pushed through fast track legislation and will have a devistating impact on the products of developing countries that Latin American women produce. I would encourage anyone in Fair Trade Coffee to also work against the FTAA fast track or support Grassroots International's women's projects.
|
|
T.J.: Can you describe the main goals of your work or your organization's work?
Maria Aguiar: I work for an organization called Grassroots International we see ourselves as promoting global justice in partnership with social change organizations and one might ask what that has to do with the womens movement. The answer is that we have longterm partmnerships with womens organizations in latin american in the carribeean. These are org which we support through grants and we public education here in the US about their work as well as advocacy for issues which our partners see as important. These organizations work not only for women in specific but also promote political economic and social in the context of their countries. These partner organiizations whith whom we work are often active participants in the latin american and carribean womens movement.
One of our partnershipw is with an organization called ASSEMA Association of Settlement Area Marahao, Brazil. ASSEMA grew out of the struggle of Brazilian women in the river valley area of North East Brazil, who were involved struggles for land right sn access to land and were and are rural agricultural workers, who harvest the Babassu palm nut. Their work was based on the notion that there should be women in leadership and development alrernatives and these women were active member of rurla womens workers unions sturggle to build a better future for themselves and their communities led them to establish a local association that targets sustainable development alternatives in ways that are based on the Babassu nut and are ecologically friendly. They have developed agricultural processing plants which are based on a co-op model that use every part of the Babassu palm nut to pruduce products which are marketed in the local market as well as increasingly in the international market. This development process has provided opportuinity and created jobs for women to gain more leadership skill s for women to gain more management and to run their own co-op buissnesses but it has also shown thm that they must continue to participate braoder organizations to change public policy that impacts upon them as workers and as women. They have gone from being a local organization to building a reginoal network that involves women from 4 states of North Eastern Brazil and this network is fighting to change laws that affect access to lland and primary natural resources for women. The women also participate national organizations where they have an opportunity to act on policy that is related to womens economic delvelopment social and political rights on a global level.
|
|
dan: What are some of the challenges you have encountered in your work?
Maria Aguiar: There is 2 levels on level is contextual challenges and I think that those are faced by women all over the world in differing degrees but I think the impact of corporate globalization coupled with the rise of rightwing fundamentalism if we can pull our voices together as an international movement to challenge those to factors we will create a base for building a better world. On the personal level one of my largest challenges of the balance of work and play that it is much easier for women to work, work, work all the time so as women we should all find ways to help each other play to clebrate beauty and to have fun.
|
|
James: What are some of the main challenges facing women in Latin America and the Carribean?
Maria Aguiar: In my experience and in my study I found that Latin American women just like women in the US face gener oppression based on strutctural issue and by that I mean the way our economies are organized and the way that society is organized. But in addition we face gender oppresion in the private sphere in our homes families and communities based on the way gender oppresion has been internalized in our culture. The expression of gener oppresion in Latin America as compared to the US are somewhat different but they are seen in each culture. However in Latin America there is an economic oppression due to corporate globalization that many of us refer to as the feminization of poverty.
|
|
Liz: What differences do you find between the women's movement in the U.S. and the movement in Latin America?
Maria Aguiar: Being a women of Latin American origin living in the US I find that I am fed and nurtutred by my connection to Latin America and the Latin AMerican women's movement particularly in the 90's has become a really broad and pluralistic movement in which the voice of different identities within the womens movement has been voiced and heard in a way which I think the womens movement in this country hasn't been embraced. The Latin American women's movement was very active in building national and regional networks where people are coordinating public education and awareness actions and activites throughout the regin and an example in Novemeber on the commemoration of the assatination Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic (see The Time of the Butterflies by Alvarez) women in Latin America celebrate a day of no more violence against women. So you can imagine the power of women all over Latin America organizing events and activities on the same day.
|
|
Samantha: I am sure that when you began your work you had a vision of what you wanted to accomplish. Do you feel like you have fulfilled that dream? And do you continue to have that same vision today?
Maria Aguiar: I had a vision of a more equitable society, which difference based on race and class and gender as well as language and culture would be embraced and where people and women would be more important and prosperous. I still hold that vision and my daily work and life are about finding ways to support that vision and I recently was at the World Social Forum in Brazil organized under the banner another world is possible and being there gave me great hope that 50,000 people came from countries all over the world to share their expereinces on building this other world and womens voices were heard and loud there. The women from ASSEMA and other organizations around the world were present making thier voices heard and working together with other social movements to build a world where people are more important and profit. We are not there yet but I firmly beilve that another world is possible.
|
|
Gabriela: Hello, nice to meet you. I would like to know what do you think of Violence agaisnt women in the third world
Maria Aguiar: I think that there is generally a perception that may be a myth that there is more domestic violence in 3rd World and developing countries. As a volunteer I work with a battered women's serivce organization in Boston and we know from our work with our statewide hotline that DV is an equal opportunity disease of this society that knows no boundaries when it comes to race or class or cluture. I do think women in 3rd world countries face economic violence, meaning that there are assults on their livelyhoods because of a lack of access to resources due to inequities in the distribution of wealth because of governemnts who are forced to pay back loans to Wallstreet rather than invest in the education of their own citizens. That type of economic violence is called a Structural Adjustment Policy that is developed by international financial institutions dominated by our US government and coprotations that impose these positions on the governments of developing countries so if we want to work towards ending violence against women in 3rd world countries we as women in the US must find ways to change to ploicies of our government and our corporations and the international finacial isntitutions housed in this country. That would be a great form of sister-to-siter solidarity. Get involved in the campaing to boycott World Bank bonds!
|
|
Samantha: What prompted you to become involved in social justice issues?
Maria Aguiar: As a women of Brazilian women iin the US I loved with many contradictions that hightened my awareness of social injustice. I have always been involved in social justice work but I became more invovled in womens organizations when motherhood made me acutly aware of the additional burdens and the lack of support of our role as women. So it was very practical.
|
|
Moderator: Thanks to our speaker and everyone who joined us for this chat. Don't forget to visit our Campaign page to take action. After the chat, continue the discussion on the FeministCampus.org Bulletin Boards!
Maria Aguiar: Thanks
|
|
|
