| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2004 April 28 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 7 Number 29 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| ILO Observes Annual Work-Safety Day |
|
In the 20th anniversary year of the massive Union Carbide
gas leak that affected nearly 250,000 people in Bhopal, the
United Nations labor agency today observed its annual
"World Day for Safety and Health at Work" with a worldwide
commemoration of those who lost life or health in workplace
accidents. From Addis Ababa to Zimbabwe, from Bhopal to
Belgium, the UN International Labour Organization (ILO)
staged memorials, marches, symposia and talk shows.
ILO estimated that more than 2 million people die from work-related causes every year -- including some 22,000 children, 750,000 women and 1.5 million men. The very high figure for men reflected the fact that men often do the world's most dangerous work, it said. "A safety culture must be nurtured through partnership and dialogue -- governments, employers and workers within a framework of rights, responsibilities and duties, finding common ground, creating safe and healthy work places," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said in a message. Highlighting health issues and accidents reported so far this month, ILO said at least 44 miners died in a mine explosion in Russia; electric shocks killed 12 workers and injured three others on a building site in China, and a study in Ireland showed that hundreds of thousands of workers were suffering from stress at a cost of 4 million working days lost last year alone. About 80% of occupational deaths and accidents could be prevented if all ILO member states would provide more information to workers and use the best accident prevention strategies and practices. All of these are already in place and easily available, it said. Industrialized countries need to focus on improving poor workplace relations and management, counteracting the mental and physical consequences of repetitive, highly technical tasks, and providing information to workers on handling new technologies and substances, including chemicals, ILO said. Countries that are industrializing should give priority to improving safety and health practices in their primary economic activities, such as farming, fishing and logging, said ILO. They should prevent industrial accidents, including fires and exposure to hazardous substances, as well as work on methods to avoid traditional accidents and diseases, including those in informal workshops and home-based industries. [It's never too late to remember the worker. Hear May 12's Life-Net Radio commemorating Workers Memorial Day 2004.] Source: United Nations |
| Cramer Hill Residents View Buyout Map |
|
Camden City's planning board will vote on a redevelopment
plan for the Cramer Hill neighborhood after a public
hearing May 11. The plan includes buying some residents
out of their houses. At the first of three community
meetings hosted by the Camden Redevelopment Agency,
residents got a look at the final version of a land
acquisition map.
Donald Sico, a Cherokee Camden L.L.C. spokesman, said the major changes to the map, which will be part of the redevelopment plan for the $1.2 billion project, includes more properties listed as "not to be acquired." Also, all businesses along River Road are no longer listed as "may be acquired", and the Cramer Hill Apartments will also not be acquired after a meeting with owners who argued their apartments were in good condition. "It was a good day for business," said Jeff Lopez, the Apartments' manager, who lives in the neighborhood and still has to worry about his home. For residents, the fight surrounds not just the estimated 1,000 relocations but also the golf course to be located at the former Harrison Avenue landfill site, a focus of Tuesday night's meeting. Sico showed a video on a similar project in Atlanta. But even before the play button was hit, some of the 50 residents gathered at the neighborhood's community center were adamantly opposed. Sico said golf course maintenance and remediated landfill maintenance require nearly the same measures. Also, he noted that Cherokee will pay $50 million to clean up the site, with only 75% returned to the developer from public funds. "I am willing to listen to other ideas, but the economics have to work." What residents seem to envision are athletic fields or other public uses. Jose Delgado, a resident, said, "Part of the problem to us is that a golf course is just culturally alien to us. And not only do you want to build a golf course, but you also want to take peoples' houses to do it." Source: Courier-Post (Camden) |
| Magazine Wants You to Oppose 'Free Trade' |
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In coming weeks, the Central American Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA) will go before Congress, and Sojourners Magazine is
urging people to tell their congresspersons to vote No.
CAFTA is a proposed free trade agreement, modeled on NAFTA,
among the US and El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Like other free trade
agreements, says Sojourners, CAFTA would benefit
corporations and stockholders rather than ensuring the
labor rights of people who work for those corporations.
CAFTA would encourage privatization of public services,
thereby increasing the cost of living and the resulting gap
between rich and poor.
CAFTA would be especially harmful to women and small farmers, whose work is devalued in a free-trade economy. Subsidized imports would take the place of the products sold largely by women, many of whom are expected to turn to work in factories. Women already constitute the majority of the world's poor, and the passage of CAFTA would only add to their number. Source: Sojourners (with a take-action form) |
| Health Care for an Ailing City |
|
Some in Camden City think its health-care industry can pull
the city's workforce out of the jobless mire that has
plagued this urban hub for decades. The labor-intensive,
recession-proof industry, they say, can be the Campbell
Soup of the new Camden.
Millions in public and private money is being spent to expand Cooper -- Camden's largest private employer -- and the city's other major health-care providers, all of which are facing an increase in patients. But experts say that for the revitalization to spread to residents, the institutions must bridge a chasm between the thousands of jobs and the skills of unemployed, undereducated Camden residents. Thanks to a state grant obtained through the Camden County Workforce Investment Board, Cooper and Lourdes have embarked on a 60-person job-training program that many hope will be a model for larger efforts. The idea is to train employees in entry-level jobs to move up the ladder while training Camden residents to replace them. So far, Cooper has hired nine residents. The health-care institutions say they are the economic backbone of Camden, and the demand for their services has been rising. Combined, they will reap more than 10% of the $175 million Camden recovery package that the state approved in 2002. Cooper, currently with more than 3,600 jobs, has announced a $117 million expansion that its leaders say will create 300 more. Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center has launched a $53 million expansion, including a 121,000-square-foot critical-care building, a larger nursing school, and a new emergency room. Across town, CAMcare, a health center that receives federal funds, is using its $1 million from the recovery act toward a new $10 million headquarters. And Virtua Health, which has closed its inpatient facility in Camden but still maintains an emergency center and 103 jobs, will expand a drug-rehab clinic. Skeptics say pouring money into buildings will do nothing but line the pockets of the politically connected trade unions. But others say the plan has merit, for example, health economist Joanne Spetz: "We know that health care is a growth field. There is certainly room to construct more bed space, and that will produce more jobs because people have to be hired to staff that." About 12% of the jobs at the city's medical institutions go to Camden residents. This statistic is often skewed because many leave the city once they get steady work. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer |
| The Shanghai Declaration |
|
The 60th session of the Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) ended today with unanimous
adoption of the Shanghai Declaration, consisting of a wide
range of future-oriented strategies to strengthen and
sustain the progress of this vast region. The declaration
emphasizes ESCAP’s unique role as the most representative
body for the Asian and Pacific region and its mandate as
the main general economic and social development center
within the UN system for the region, particularly in the
three thematic areas of poverty, globalization, and
emerging social issues.
It gives the highest priority to poverty reduction and underscores the primacy of the multilateral trading system. Asia and Pacific ministers also adopted another six resolutions covering a wide range of strategies to combat the economic and social ills that threaten to cloud the otherwise fast-growing economic prospects of the region. They are: Regional call for action to enhance capacity-building in public health, Implementing ESCAP Technical Projects, Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network, Centre for Alleviating Poverty through secondary Crops Development, Revitalization of UNESCAP Pacific Operation Centre, and Pacific Urban Agenda. Source: United Nations |
| The Effects of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage |
|
In a move that will force a fundamental decision on the
nation, Massachusetts is slated, under court order, to
legalize homosexual marriage on May 17. Americans now must
either act to maintain the traditional definition of
marriage or see the institution redefined.
Consider the experience of countries where same-sex unions already exist. Scandinavia has had a system of same-sex registered partnership for more than a decade. Marriage in Scandinavia is dying. Even before the enactment of registered partnerships in the early 1990s, Scandinavian marriage was in trouble. Many Scandinavians were having babies out of wedlock, although couples did tend to marry before a second birth. Unfortunately, cohabiting parents break up at two to three times the rate of married parents. So, as the birth of the first child was increasingly treated as a test of the cohabiting relationship, family dissolution rates increased. As the idea of marriage grew more distant from the idea of parenthood, it became increasingly difficult to say why same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry. Once put into place, however, de facto same-sex marriage only served to lock in the separation of marriage from parenthood. Today, in areas of Norway where de facto same-sex marriage is most accepted, not only 80% of first-born children, but nearly 60% of subsequent children are born outside marriage. Probably because of Scandinavia's large welfare state and strong secularism, patterns of family change show up there first. Scholars agree that family change tends to spread from Scandinavia throughout the developed world. The Scandinavian pattern inspired the influential American Law Institute, in a 2000 report, to propose an equalization of marriage and cohabitation. Middle-class parental cohabitation is becoming more common in America. Gay marriage would draw out these trends and set us on the road to a Scandinavian-style distinction between marriage and parenthood. The spread of the Scandinavian family pattern to America would have serious consequences. Scandinavia has no underclass. Yet a middle-class ethos of parental cohabitation would echo throughout our social system, reversing the welcome turn away from underclass single parenting we've seen since welfare reform. Source: Grand Forks Herald |
| Commercial Optimism About Iraq |
|
During eight hours of intense "networking" on Sunday, in a
workship in Amman, Jordan, 300 participants from 17
countries listened to how subcontractors could take part in
the multi-billion dollar deals awarded to major US firms.
Experts included representatives of US lead contractors and
officials of the US-led occupation and its Program
Management Office (PMO) which manages the $18.4 billion
Washington has allocated to Iraq.
In the view of many, the escalation of violence that followed the murder of four US civilian contractors at the end of March had been "stressful" but not the end of the road. "Security is something that fluctuates. We have seen times when it has been very stressful like the past two weeks," said Susan Hamrock, policy adviser in Iraq for the US Department of Commerce. PMO press officer John Proctor acknowledged that a breakdown in security in Iraq was "something we have anticipated" and that the latest violence did have a "minor impact" on some projects in Iraq but not those of his office. "We have seen an impact regionally, not countrywide, on Iraqi employee attendance (and) day labor ... but none of our projects are behind schedule at this point." Last week, US contractor General Electric said there had been delays in some of its projects in Iraq due to safety considerations, while engineering giant Bechtel said it was continuing work on most of 50 US government projects there: "Work is continuing at roughly 90% of our work sites. The remaining few sites have experienced temporary interruptions." The security issue "is a bump in the road (led by) a minority of people in Iraq who do not want to see the free enterprise system succeed, because they know, if it does, they lose control over the people," said David Harlan of the US Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center (HACC). The HACC was set up in March 2003 to provide information to businesses and entrepreneurs who wish to set up shop in Iraq. "I think that this should not stop them, and I don't think it will stop them from making plans with Iraqi partners to come into that area," he said, adding that he is expecting security concerns to be resolved in the next 30 days. Hamzah Habib of the Iraqi Federation of Industries said he too believed that the violence rocking his country would soon be contained. His concern was that Iraqis were not getting enough of the work being awarded by the US lead contractors. "This is the second conference of its kind that I have attended and now I say, 'Iraq for Iraqis'. That means the Iraqis should get key contracts." Source: Al-Jazeera |
| Life-Net News Extras |
| A Pillow and a Blanket |
|
A young, wealthy girl was getting ready for bed. She was saying her prayers when she heard muffled crying coming through her window. A little frightened, she went over to the window and leaned out.
Another girl, who seemed to be about her age and homeless, was standing in the alley by the rich girl's house. Her heart went out to the homeless girl, for it was the dead of winter and the girl had no blanket, only old newspapers someone had thrown out. The rich girl was struck with an idea. She called to the other girl and said, "You there, come to my front door, please." The homeless girl was so startled she could only nod. As quick as her legs could take her, the young girl ran down the hall to her mother's closet and picked out an old quilt and a beat-up pillow. She could barely carry them and had to keep from tripping over the quilt, but eventually she made it back to the door. Dropping both the articles, she opened the door, where the homeless girl stood looking scared. The rich girl smiled warmly and handed the quilt and pillow to the other girl. Her smile broadened as she watched amazement and happiness light up the other girl's face. She went to bed incredibly satisfied. Mid-morning the next day she heard a knock. She flew to the door hoping it was the other little girl. It was: "I suppose you want these back." The rich little girl opened her mouth to say that she could keep them when another idea popped into her head. "No, I want them back." The homeless girl's face fell. This was obviously not the answer she had hoped for. She reluctantly laid the beat-up things down and had turned to leave when the rich girl said, "Wait! Stay right there." She turned back in time to see the rich girl running up the stairs and down a long corridor. Deciding whatever the rich little girl was doing wasn't worth waiting for, she started to turn around and walk away. As her foot hit the first step, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. The rich girl was thrusting a new blanket and pillow at her. "Have these," said the rich girl quietly. These were her own belongings, made of silk and down feathers. As the two got older they didn't see each other much, but they were never far from each other's minds. One day, the rich girl, now a rich woman, got a telephone call from a lawyer asking her to come see him. She went to the lawyer, who reminded her how, forty years ago, when she was nine years old she had helped a little girl in need. That girl grew into a middle-class woman with a husband and two children. She had recently died and left something for the rich girl in her will. "Though," said the lawyer, "it's the most peculiar thing. She left you a pillow and a blanket." Source: Unknown |
| Global Village Service Vacations |
|
The Global Village program of Habitat for
Humanity International is a series of short-term home-building trips designed to provide an educational and spiritual experience within a cross-cultural environment. Its objectives are usually met through new relationships that team members form with each other and with their host affiliates. By living and working with the host community, participants have a chance to personally witness and contribute to HFHI's effort to eliminate substandard housing throughout the world.
Accepting the opportunity to live and work with an international affiliate is often a life-changing experience. Through your willingness to work in partnership with people in other cultures, you'll learn about poverty housing, development challenges, international economics, world cultures and HFHI's ministry and mission. As you learn about important principles such as "self-help" and "sweat equity," you also learn to give of yourself in a new way. Unlike tour groups, these itineraries are not highly structured; they're balanced with plenty of work, rest and free time. Hosts offer teams a "backdoor" welcome to their community and encourage teams to visit local cultural treasures. Team members travel, live, work, pray, share and eat together, often in primitive settings. Traveling and working in foreign countries can be as frustrating as it is rewarding, so it is vital for participants to remain flexible and committed to their teams. The first commandment for every team member is: Be a blessing.
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