LIFE-NET NEWS
by Ret Z.
Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices
2005 April 20 No Profit; No Proceeds
Volume 8 Number 27 All-Volunteer

"Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal;  give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life."

A Troubling Update on Maquiladoras
      The Border Committee of Women Workers reviews "some of the troubling changes we have seen over the past two or three years" in Mexico's maquiladora export industry:
  • We’re seeing an increase in workplace accidents and injuries. We're seeing more and more workers suffering a wide variety of health problems, both chronic and acute, including headaches, nausea, respiratory problems, vision and hearing problems, infertility and premature births, muscular pains, and many others.
  • Daily talks on health and safety are delivered, but it's done while the workers are working. Management calls it a way to avoid wasting time. Workers are then asked to sign forms indicating that they received health and safety training.
  • Some of the "best practices" in the maquiladoras, whether or not they were instituted voluntarily, are disappearing.
  • Maquiladora firms are providing less and less safety equipment. When workers request such items as masks or safety glasses, they are charged for them. In other cases, they are furnished with deteriorated equipment, which adds to risk.
  • Maquiladora workers are being moved back to filling multiple job roles. This has reduced the prevalence of prolonged repetitive movements, but it has intensified physical exhaustion for workers who must remain standing for ten hours a day.
  • Maquiladora firms continue the practice of not reporting workplace accidents to Mexican Social Security. Company doctors do everything they can to discourage workers from visiting Social Security clinics (Mexico's national health care system for working people). Because of this, official accident statistics have little credibility.
  • Social Security authorities have assigned particular clinics and doctors exclusively to workers from certain large maquiladora firms. These doctors often discount the importance of workers' symptoms. They fast-track their patients back to work.
  • Salaries for public-sector health doctors are low, so doctors must take on additional work, often as company doctors for the maquiladoras. An obvious conflict of interest arises.
  • Health services available through Social Security continue to be deficient in quality as well as quantity. There are not enough personnel to meet the needs of all the workers who attempt to access the services for which they are eligible. The attention is inadequate and bureaucratic. The quantity as well as the variety of medications is insufficient.
  • Where they do exist, government services focusing on prevention and health education are not publicized to maquiladora workers.
  • A little-reported phenomenon, which may be affecting the health of thousands of workers, is the thriving blood trade on the US side of the border. Workers sell their blood once, sometimes twice, a week to supplement the meager wages they receive in the maquiladoras.
  • There is an increase in the use and sale of illegal drugs in the maquiladora plants. Mostly it's a small-scale phenomenon, but some supervisors turn a blind eye because the workers seem more alert and energetic.
  • Local neighborhood poverty has seen no improvement. Maquiladora workers continue to build makeshift shanties out of cardboard and wooden pallets.
  • Local authorities still exhibit great indifference to the need for basic services in workers’ neighborhoods. Sewage, water, and electricity are all lacking. People must continue to use old barrels, which may be contaminated with chemicals or hazardous substances, to store drinking water from local cisterns.
  • Inadequate nutrition and outright malnutrition persist: Workers can't afford to buy enough healthful food.
      Source: Border Committee of Women Workers

Law Threatens 100,000 Bollywood-Dancing Breadwinners
      Shabnam, like her co-workers, is all dressed up for the show at the Ellora Bar, one of the 700 dance bars that are an integral part of Mumbai's (Bombay's) famed nightlife. But tonight their audience consists of just two middle-aged men. Shabnam is trying hard to match her steps to Bollywood dance numbers, but she is listless. She says she needs a bigger, more appreciative audience.
      Other girls in colourful ghagra (traditional Indian skirts) and backless blouses loiter about and try intermittently to entertain the two men. The Ellora is not the only nightspot where business is dull. It may shut down altogether once the Maharashtra state government's order to ban dancing bars comes into effect four weeks from now. Dancing girls throughout the state number around 100,000. In other parts of Maharashtra the bars are already closed.
      Some say the bars may have to close down even sooner: Patrons are abandoning the bars after the government announced earlier this year that it was banning them across the state, because, it says, they are a breeding ground for prostitution and crime. The state government's home minister, R.R. Patil, says, "The bars are corrupting the moral fiber of our youth."
      This has generated a heated debate in the city, which is home to the world's biggest film industry, Bollywood. Bollywood director Karan Razdan believes the government has no right to define what is morality. He says the government's order is hypocritical. "If they are banning beer bar dancers, they should also ban Hindi film heroines because they are also doing the same thing. They are also earning their livelihoods by singing and dancing. The only difference is that heroines earn millions while these poor bar girls earn only thousands [of rupees]. They support their families and the government is taking away the means of their livelihood."
      The bars were licensed by the government to promote Indian classical music and culture. The dancing girls perform to Indian songs; the audience showers currency notes on them. Customers are allowed to talk to the girls, but not to touch them.
      Dancer Shabnam, aged 30, is angry and worried. She supports a family of six, including her four growing children. "I look after my children myself," she says, "and if these bars are shut what will we do? How will I support my children? I'm not even educated, I'll not get a job."
      Krishna Choudhury, a teenaged amateur filmmaker, has spent months with a family financially supported by a dancing girl. "I know many of them, and they all have the same story to tell: taking up the dancing job to support the family because there is no male member to earn a livelihood for them."
      Sangeeta Patil, 32, has been dancing for 16 years. She says the dancers will fight to the finish.
      Source: BBC

Real Revitalization Through Neighborhood Murals
      Murals are more than just pretty pictures to adorn the side of a building. They can be educational tools, graffiti repellents, economic development incentives, and a colorful way to bring together neighborhoods. It worked for countless Philadelphia neighborhoods and it can work right here in South Jersey, says Jane Golden, executive director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (PMAP), who will speak before the seventh annual Regional Business/Arts Summit on April 28 in Mt. Laurel. "What we hope to be able to do is inspire people to start art programs that promote economic development and education."
      Since 1984, the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (PMAP) has fought blight and graffiti by bringing 2,475 murals to city neighborhoods. "Public art helps give character to a city," Golden said. Many of the murals were painted by children between the ages of 10 and 17. The 2,700 children in PMAP's 10 educational programs are involved in every step of the process, from designing a mural and setting up community meetings to painting it and organizing a dedication ceremony.
      "Some of the kids we work with have been in trouble with the law. Some are just regular kids," said Golden, a mural artist herself. "Murals can engage kids in a way that an art class cannot because they have to work as a team."
      Source:  Courier-Post (Camden)

Botswana Moves to Scrap Bushman Rights
      Botswana's government is pushing a bill through Parliament to scrap the key clause in the Constitution which protects "Bushman" rights. The move comes halfway through the Bushmen's landmark legal action against the government, in which the same clause forms a major plank of the Bushmen's case. The trial marks the first time in Botswana's history that the clause has actually been tested in court, but the government aims to scrap it within a few months.
      The clause, technically known as s14(3)(c), says that the general public can have their right to free movement restricted within "defined areas" if this is necessary for the protection or well-being of Bushmen. In practice this should mean that the Gana and Gwi Bushmen's ancestral land within the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is protected. The Bushmen rely on this clause for part of their case against the government for evicting them from the reserve.
      The Bushmen's own organization, First People of the Kalahari, said in a statement, "How can the government even think of changing this section halfway through our court case? This section was included in the Constitution to give us protection. Now we are trying to rely on the section for the first time in history. Can it be a coincidence that a few months later, the government has decided to remove it?"
      The government claims that it wants to render the Constitution "tribally neutral". But whilst a bill to remove unfair constitutional privileges for Botswana's eight majority tribes has been discussed for many years, the government has only recently inserted a provision to remove the only protection for Bushmen. The government's party has been in power since independence, and its majority allows it to push any bill through Parliament virtually unhindered.
      As the case drags on, at least 22 of the original 243 Bushmen who are taking the government to court have died, most in relocation camps far from their land. During the trial, Bushmen witnesses have given graphic accounts to the court of how they were forced off their land.
      Source: Survival International

Israeli Deprivation Called 'Hunger' for Headlines
      Adapted from a piece by Gilad Charish, Esq.:
      Recently more and more people have been using the term "hunger" in Israel. Politicians and media wanting to make headlines and charities vying for donations all invoke the word "hunger". They're hyping the struggles of hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens. If "hunger" itself is not enough for a donation or a headline, they emphasize that in Israel about half a million children are "starving".
      The term "hunger" conjures up horrific images and feelings. It is important to differentiate between the genuine hunger of Somalia the situation of Israel's lowest decile (10%). One must distinguish between having nothing to eat, not even bread, and a decline in the level of nutrition. Don't pay attention to those who hunger for headlines.
      There is a very small percentage of people in Israel who are bereft of everything. The truly penniless are the unfortunates who live in the streets and in shelters.
      I have been active in this field since 1990 and I can guarantee you that today in Tel Aviv there is not one person who does not have food to eat or a place to sleep. In Tel Aviv there are four shelters. These shelters are open to all. Everyone is treated with respect and given a satisfying and nutritious meal at no charge.
      Gagon is one of those shelters. At Gagon every person is welcomed and given a clean bed to sleep in, a shower, clean clothes, three meals a day, doctor's care, and the ability to see a social worker who helps the homeless in Tel Aviv and Yaffo. These shelters safeguard the homeless from the dangers associated with hunger.
      In 2003, researchers at Brookdale College discovered that the state of affairs for the poor in Israel was not outright hunger but rather "nutritional deprivation". According to the research, the lower decile consumes mainly wheat, potatoes, rice, vegetables, and pasta. They are lacking in nutritional foods like meat and poultry products and other vital food products for children.
      We must be careful to ascribe the correct terms for the situation facing the poor in Israel. It is a disservice to misinform and misguide the Israeli public concerning the welfare of their fellows. We need to thank Brookdale College for defining this important problem correctly.
      Source: A Full Plate

Paid Work and Soccer Relieve Post-Tsunami Woes
      When the Guardian last visited post-tsunami Nusa, Indonesia, in mid-February, the residents' main worry was income generation. For most villagers, this is now being taken care of by a paid work program being run in the sub-district by the international aid agency Mercy Corps.
      Every day except Sunday, all adults who are not otherwise employed -- and only about a dozen are -- or looking after small children don boots, gloves and hats, form work parties and continue the monumental job of cleaning up the village and surrounding fields. Much of the village is now clear of the tons of debris the tsunami dumped on it. The fields look clear, but actually there are still thousands of thorns, glass shards, and nails in the ground. Many fallen tree trunks remain embedded in the ground. "We really need a couple of chainsaws," said Mohammed Abdullah, as he wiped his brow. "Then we'd be able to do much more."
      Each worker receives 35,000 rupiah (£2) a day, with the group leaders and village coordinator making a little bit more. "Not only does the work give them money but it makes them feel better," said Ichsan, a Mercy Corps project manager, "because the village looks smarter and it means they're not just sitting around feeling depressed."
      Once the cleanup is completed, the village will move on to stage two: construction of basic facilities and homes. "The plan is for the whole program to last six months," Ichsan said. By then, the 70% of the villagers who are farmers hope to be able to return to cultivating their land, both the plantations that escaped the tsunami and the inundated rice fields.
      Also helping ease frustration and depression is the success of one of the village's football teams in the sub-district knockout tournament organized by the Turkish delegation that is running health programs in the area. Hidayatullah, named after the non-governmental organization running one of the relief posts in Nusa, has reached the semi-final and is hoping to win the cup.
      "It has been great for the village," said the captain and top scorer, Usman. "Hundreds of people come and watch each match. They forget their troubles and it gives them something to talk about."
      Source:  The Guardian

#  LNN  #  Small  #  Hauls  #

  • About 7 million illegal immigrant workers in the US are providing the Social Security (SS) with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year through payroll taxes withheld from their wages, but they will not be eligible for public pensions in retirement. Their contributions to Social Security add up to 10% of last year's surplus. Money paid by illegal workers and their employers is factored into all Social Security Administration (SSA) projections. Many illegal workers buy fake ID packages that include a SS card, which gives cover to their employers, who could be fined for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants under a law passed in 1986. The SSA receives a flood of W-2 earnings reports with incorrect -- sometimes fictitious -- SS numbers. It stashes them in an "earnings suspense file" that has been mushrooming, now totaling $189 billion. SS officials suspect that a large portion of that suspense file corresponds to earnings of illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants see SS taxes as the price of working in the US. Retirement doesn't enter the picture for them. (New York Times)

  • Broadband networks have proven a win-win for municipal governments: Community internet heats up free-market competition for communications services, improves schools, enhances public safety and social services, and encourages entrepreneurs through public-private partnerships. These networks are relatively cheap to build and bring technology with its resulting economic opportunity to low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities that are routinely passed over by the large commercial providers (ISPs). The ISPs, spinning broadband as theirs alone to provide, have chalked up early victories, including a draconian law now on the books in Pennsylvania that strips local governments of the right to choose their own homegrown broadband solutions without the prior approval of a monopoly phone company. The US has slid from first to 13th place in national broadband penetration. (In These Times)

  • Of industrialized nations, the US contributes the least toward development assistance as a percentage of GDP -- 0.15% in 2003. That year, US aid to all of Africa amounted to about $4 billion. Ivy League economist Jeffrey Sachs, during a telephone conference with journalists last week, gave a breakdown of that number: $1 billion was a debt write-off. Another $1 billion was for emergency food aid, but half of that went to transporting the aid. $1.5 billion or more of the remaining $2 billion paid the salaries of American consultants hired to provide training, technical assistance and advice. Thus the ballyhooed four billion was more generous to American interests than to Africa's poor. (Akron Beacon Journal)

Life-Net News Extras

11 Million Dead Children Per Year
Almost 11 million children in developing countries die each year before age five, most of them from causes that are easily prevented in wealthier countries, a World Bank report says. The causes include diarrhea, measles, malaria and acute respiratory infection, which together account for 48% of child deaths in the developing world, said the World Development Indicators report, released Sunday.
      "Rapid improvements before 1990 gave hope that mortality rates for infants and children under five could be cut by two-thirds in the following 25 years," the report says. "But progress slowed almost everywhere in the 1990s."
      The annual report warns that only 33 countries are on track to reach the 2015 goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds from its 1990 level. Only two regions -- Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia -- seem likely to hit that target, the bank says. Progress has been particularly slow in sub-Saharan Africa, where armed conflict, famine and diseases such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic have driven up rates of infant and child mortality.
      Source: CBC News

AIDS-to-Food Link Emphasized
      More needs to be done to improve the access of South Africans to food, as this was having a direct impact on the spread of HIV and Aids. Stuart Gillespie, a senior researcher for the International Food Policy Research Institute, said Monday that research and experience had confirmed that HIV and AIDS and food security were increasingly entwined in a vicious cycle: "Malnutrition and food insecurity heightens susceptibility to HIV exposure and infection, while Aids in turn exacerbates and even precipitates hunger and malnutrition."
      Gillespie was speaking in Johannesburg after an international conference in Durban last week that focused on identifying strategies to reduce HIV, Aids and hunger. He said food insecurity and malnutrition increased socio-economic and biological risks that threatened people with exposure to HIV and hunger. "For example, a young woman -- her poverty deepened by a parent's illness or death from AIDS -- may be left with few options other than to sell her own body to feed her siblings, and in the process drastically increase her own risk of becoming infected.
      "In turn, HIV infection raises an individual's energy requirements by 10-30%, so it is essential that infected individuals are well nourished. Additionally, anti-viral drugs won't work properly if patients are undernourished." Gillespie argued that alleviating poverty and ensuring the availability of food could help prevent the spread of HIV and Aids.
      Source: The Star (Johannesburg)

Most material here is adapted, not quoted. Views expressed do not
necessarily represent ours. Life-Net News weekly newspage, Club
LIFENET online, the Web site www.lifenetradio.org, and
broadcast Life-Net Radio (where you can star!) together make
up Mr. Ret Z.'s private charitable enterprise. To get Life-Net e-mail
free, or to unsubscribe, just ask:   lifenetradio@broadcast.net

+ Iesous Khristos Theou Huios Soter +