Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the Latin American Studies program will be hosting Jason Glaser, filmmaker and president of La Isla Foundation in Nicaragua, at 7:30pm in Bentley 129. This past summer, I interviewed sugarcane workers and their families for my capstone research and also volunteered through La Isla Foundation and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. The primary mission of La Isla Foundation in Nicaragua is to coordinate the resources of local institutions to determine the cause of the CRI epidemic in western Nicaragua. Their goals are to identify the causes of Chronic Kidney Disease, facilitate treatment, educate sugarcane workers, and support impacted families. This is going to be a great lecture and learning experience so please try to come!
Here's a very touching video created by La Isla Foundation on a mother's account of her teenage son that was murdered by the security guards of the sugar mill, Ingenio San Antonio. This is just one example of the many injustices this community faces...
Here's a very touching video created by La Isla Foundation on a mother's account of her teenage son that was murdered by the security guards of the sugar mill, Ingenio San Antonio. This is just one example of the many injustices this community faces...
Monica, this post appeals to me on so many different levels, what an intense project!! I wonder how the camera crew handled their own emotions when they were taping this; I know I would have been a sobbing mess 2 minutes into it. And yet I am not even a mother to begin to totally appreciate the depth of pain that she must be experiencing just remembering the son she will never see again. To think that the company actually had the audacity to ‘pay her back’ for his precious life!
ReplyDeleteIt’s not so easy for outsiders like me to grasp the complexity of a society in which a young promising future can be snuffed out so cruelly, because he was collecting scrap metal that no one is going to use anyway. This for me is one of the reasons why I feel so exasperated sometimes, as an aspiring development practitioner where do I start? In this one community there is so much to tackle; there’s the CRI epidemic that’s ravaging the people, as well as the obvious sharp class differences that result in such undue violent acts against the poor, which go unpunished. Not to mention the poverty that dictates that people have to scratch out a living at all costs, even if it means trespassing into dangerous territories. I have started learning though that my progress in this field will only suffer if I keep letting emotions confuse me.
I was thinking about the discussion we had in class about the issue of employing silence, both in the literal and figurative sense, as an empowering tool. What I see here is pure unadulterated pain being used as a well aimed weapon. La Isla Foundation has, with great ingenuity, presented a story which needs no editing gimmicks to expose such injustice. The woman, on her own, is emotive and poignant enough. I only hope this weapon is hitting its mark.
I appreciate your comment, Betty and thank you for your interest! This project has been very emotionally taxing and even now as I transcribe the conversations with the community members, I will sometimes tear up. Although as you said being emotional won't necessarily lead to progress and understanding but it's hard not to be at times! This situation and others like it are so frustrating and it's really hard for me to grasp how cruel people can be and how so many can overlook such a humanitarian crisis. Don't they realize that bettering the lives of their fellow citizens will only help boost the nation's morale and economic situation (money is all they care about anyways!)? I find myself wondering will there ever be a happy ending and even doubting how my small role will make a positive change in the community. But La Isla Foundation knows what they're doing and while they've only been around since 2008, they're already making waves and the residents see this and are slowly gaining hope. This is a multi-faceted problem that requires a multi-faceted solution and by involving the international community we can help to put pressure on the transnational corporations and governmental institutions that are directly or indirectly involved to provide the support needed for an enhanced quality of life that they so deserve. Ultimately, I hope that my project will convey the community's testimonies accurately and honestly to the world (well English and Spanish speaking world) and give them a "voice" that stretches beyond the scope of their community and country for that matter.
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