LIFE-NET NEWS

by Ret Z.

Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices

May 6, 2009	No Profit; No Proceeds
Volume 13 Number 1	All-Volunteer

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

Homeless Man Celebrated for Saving Drowning Teen

WINNIPEG, CANADA  After seven years of being homeless, existing in the shadows of Winnipeg's bustling downtown, Faron Hall is not used to this kind of attention. At a small clearing on a bank of the Red River -- the place where Hall sleeps most nights -- a throng of reporters and the mayor listened today to his every word.       "It's overwhelming," Hall, 44, said in a quiet voice to a row of TV cameras. "I just live the simple life, get by day by day."       Hall is being hailed as a hero for risking his life last weekend to save a drowning teenage boy. The act of bravery from a member of the city's least fortunate has captivated Winnipeg residents and has garnered Hall praise, offers of help, and recognition from city hall.       "He saved a young man's life," Mayor Sam Katz said as he handed Hall a medal to pay tribute to his actions. "The city of Winnipeg has a protocol involved, and when a citizen goes to the length that you did and risk your own life to save another human being -- it's the mayor's award of valor."       Hall was sitting on the riverbank Sunday with his friend, Wayne Spence, when he heard a loud splash. He looked up to see a young boy in the water. Despite the fact that he's a chronic drinker and not in the best of health, Hall was moved to jump into the frigid, fast-moving water to try to help.       "Adrenalin, and the fear in him," said Hall. "He was calling. That was it. I couldn't really live with myself if I just let him go by. He was in dire straits, to be honest."       Hall had not swum since he was 13, when he took swimming lessons at an inner-city pool. Still, he managed to battle the current to get to the boy, who initially tried to latch tightly onto him. Hall pushed the boy back, for a moment, then grabbed hold of him and started dragging him to shore.       Hall's strength ran out several meters from the shoreline, and disaster loomed. Spence waded out and dragged both Hall and the boy onto the riverbank.       Since the rescue, Hall has been showered with gifts. A woman who witnessed the rescue has given him a room in her home. Katz has given Hall two season tickets to the minor-league Goldeyes baseball team. The Southern Chiefs Organization has offered him bus fare to see his father on a reserve west of the capital city.       While Hall is anxious to get away from the spotlight, he hopes his story will persuade people to see homeless people in a new light. "Just respect (them), 'cause they're people too. Show compassion. Not pity, 'cause I believe none of them want pity.       "I just treat people the way I want to be treated, which is with respect and understanding."       Source: Canadian Press

Group of Lawmakers Sees Segregation on Reservations

WASHINGTON, DC  A small group of powerful House Democrats has asked the Justice Department to investigate whether American Indian tribes are engaging in modern-day racial segregation against black "freedmen" who are descendants of former tribal slaves. The lawmakers, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers of Michigan and former civil rights leader John Lewis of Georgia, say five major tribes have been systematically removing freedmen from their membership or relegating them to second-class status without voting rights and other benefits.       In a letter sent last week, they asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate whether the tribes are violating treaties and breaking the law. "Over 40 years after enactment of the landmark Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, there is a place in the United States [where] African Americans cannot vote or receive federal benefits as a matter of law," the letter says. "They are called 'freedmen,' but they are anything but free." The lawmakers said the tribes' practices prevent the slave descendants from accessing millions of dollars in federal tribal funding for housing, health care, and other services.       Justice Department spokesman Andrew Ames said the agency would "review the letter to determine what action, if any, is appropriate."       Mike Miller, a spokesman for the Cherokee Nation, one of the tribes named in the letter, called it "sad but not surprising."       "As the Cherokee Nation has explained to more than 100 members of Congress through meetings," said Miller, "this issue has never been about race but only about who is a citizen of an Indian Nation."       Jon Velie, an attorney who has represented freedmen in a bid to stop the Cherokee Nation from revoking their tribal citizenship, said, "The letter sent from six of the most influential members of Congress is a great sign of hope for the Freedmen, who have endured a second-class status for too long. Congress' champions of civil rights have taken the issue of the Freedmen to Attorney General Eric Holder -- a man who has shown great courage in taking on the issue of race."       Cherokees and other tribes have long argued that they simply want to restrict their membership to blood descendants. On Capitol Hill, concerns about the treatment of tribal slave descendants have been growing in recent years, particularly among the Congressional Black Caucus.       Source: Associated Press

Fired Palestinian Workers Report Factory Horrors

SALFIT, WEST BANK  Umm Raed's sick husband hasn't worked in more than 20 years. Her own family can't or won't help support her and her seven children. So her job in the Royalife factory in the Barkan industrial zone, built on illegally confiscated Palestinian land in the Salfit governorate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was the household's main source of income.       But since autumn 2008, Umm Raed and a number of other women from her village have been out of a job. Sick of low pay, dangerous conditions, and bullying treatment, in the summer workers at the factory took action. Supported by the Israeli labor rights organization Kav LaOved, they first complained to the factory management and then called for a strike. The striking workers were fired, reinstated under a court order, and then fired again.       Sewing bed linens for export to the US, Turkey, and European countries including Germany and Spain, the women described working conditions reminiscent of the horror stories that come from sweatshops in China or maquilas on the US-Mexican border.       "We were paid only six or eight [$1.50 or $2] shekels an hour while men got nine or 12 shekels [$2.25 or $3]," explained Umm Raed, drinking coffee during an interview at her friend Kalila's house. The Israeli minimum wage is 20 shekels per hour, three times that being paid to the women interviewed for this report.       "We get no vacations, no sick pay, not even pay slips. Once when Umm Ahmad made a mistake, the manager made her stay and fix it without paying her for the time. There is no air conditioning or heating in the factory, so it's hot in summer and very cold in winter, and animals get in through the open windows -- I once found a mouse in the material. And the managers are always screaming and shouting at us, trying to pressure us to work harder."       The women reported working from 6:30am to 5pm, sometimes for seven days a week when large orders need to be filled. And the work continues under unsafe conditions.       "There are often accidents because we are cutting fabric," said Umm Raed. "There is no protection from the machines and no proper safety equipment."       One young woman suffered a broken leg in 2006 after a roll of nylon she was helping to carry was dropped by a factory manager. She was, according to Umm Raed and her friends, sent to a hospital in Salfit in a private car; no ambulance was called. Despite her being unable to work, the factory management failed to pay any of her medical bills and threatened her family if they complained. After four months, said Umm Raed, the woman was given 3,000 shekels ($700) on the condition that she signed papers saying that all her legal rights had been respected.       According to the sacked women from the Royalife factory, rates of pay there have increased since they were fired, and new workers not involved in suing the company are now paid up to 13 shekels ($4) an hour -- still well below the minimum wage. But, as of Monday, the women who first stood up to management were still out of work, and Kav LaOved was calling for international demands for Royalife to reinstate them on legal terms.       Source: Electronic Intifada

Oakland Police Massacre Rooted in Job Discrimination

USA  The killing of four police officers in Oakland shows the desperation of an ex-felon. Lovelle Mixon was trying to avoid going back to jail and at the same time unable to find any employment that would give him a second chance. It's a story repeated all over America, even if it does not always end in a killing spree.       In 2007, the National Institute of Justice found that 60% of ex-felon offenders remain unemployed a year after their release. Other studies have shown that upwards of 30% of released felons live in homeless shelters because of their inability to find housing. And those are the lucky ones. Many camp out on the streets.       A significant number of them suffer from drug, alcohol, and mental health challenges and lack education or any marketable skills. More than 70% of all US prisoners are literate at only the two lowest grade levels.       Nearly 60% of violent felons are repeat offenders. They are a menace to themselves and, as the nation saw with Mixon, to others. In some cases, they can be set off by any real or perceived slight or insult, or they simply lash out from bitter rage.       What's needed is to strike a fine and delicate balance between public safety and ex-felon rehabilitation. A big obstacle to making ex-felons law-abiding, productive citizens is the continuing inability of many ex-felons to find jobs. Officials of cities have been repeatedly challenged to take action to end employer discrimination against ex-felons. The demand has been to restrict what employers can and can't ask on job applications.       In a revealing study in 2003 and duplicated several years later, Northwestern University Professor Devah Pager hired groups of African-American and white young men with identical resumes and experience to pose as job applicants. Some were told to say they had a drug felony. The study found that when they checked the felony conviction box on applications, it reduced the white applicants' chance of an interview by 50%. For black applicants, their chance of landing the job was reduced by two-thirds.       To counter employer discrimination against ex-felons, nearly a dozen states, counties, and cities have enacted laws in recent years to sharply limit what employers can ask applicants about criminal records. But that reform effort has stirred fierce resistance from employer groups.       Similar legislation has been kicked around in Congress since 2005. It hasn't fared much better. A bill called the Second Chance Act is a relatively mild measure to pump about $100 million to local and state agencies for education, job and skills training, counseling, and family unification programs to stem the high rate of recidivism among ex-felons.       Source: New America Media

Poverty and Powerlessness Fuel Growing Georgian Rage

GEORGIA, TRANSCAUCASIA   Since losing a war to -- and its markets in -- Russia, Georgia has seen worsening poverty and unemployment. The recent failed rebellion was only the latest sign of discontent with President Saakashvili. Upcoming protests promise to challenge his leadership even further.       It wasn't what serious coup attempts generally look like. The rebellion led by a Georgian army tank unit based outside Tbilisi collapsed almost as soon as it had started. The soldiers laid down their weapons and surrendered without a shot being fired after President Mikhail Saakashvili publicly threatened to quash their revolt by force.       An interview given by Georgian Ombudsman Sozar Subeliani to the independent news agency Civil Georgia reveals just how much tension is brewing in Georgia's military forces. Subeliani and his colleagues recently probed the current circumstances in Saakashvili's army. The soldiers complained to him about a "lack of medicines, water and food." They were forced to chop firewood for their superior officers, while they themselves had insufficient heating. Such complaints suggest the Georgian troops are similar to Russian soldiers, their enemies to the north, who have often complained of similar conditions.       Saakashvili likes to watch his army parade down Tbilisi's Rustaveli Boulevard bearing weapons, uniforms, and steel helmets from the US. It fosters the impression that his army has been modernized. Approximately 150 American military advisers are working frantically on transforming the Georgians into soldiers that might be fit enough to join the NATO alliance. But the reality is sobering. While Saakashvili repeats the claim that his country is ready for NATO membership, if you trust what the ombudsman reports, the country's military forces actually have much more in common with the military forces of a Third World country.       When the president addresses his own people rather than Western politicians, diplomats, or journalists, Saakashvili already admits that he rules over a land of paupers. While touring a textile factory in the province of Ajaria on Monday, he told workers there that "Georgia's main enemies are unemployment and poverty." Since the end of its violent conflict with Russia last summer, Georgia's foreign trade has contracted by 70%, and foreign investments in the country have dropped by two-thirds.       For centuries, the primary market for Georgian products -- such as wine, tangerines, and vegetables -- has been in Russia. But as long as Saakashvili remains president, Russia refuses to re-establish diplomatic relations or even negotiate trade relations.       In the wake of the Russian victory that ended the five-day war in August, Georgia lost all control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two of its former provinces. But the war also cost Georgia access to Russian markets, which condemns the country to poverty for years to come.       Source: Der Spiegel

Student Food-Donation Event Stunted by Penn Dining

PHILADELPHIA, PA  Penn students are becoming famous for donating their uneaten meals to the homeless. Since reading days last semester, Wharton freshman Ricky Oxenhandler, along with College freshmen Becca Elman and Jake Werlin, a Daily Pennsylvanian photographer, has been working on More Than Pennies, an initiative to donate students' uneaten meals to homeless people and shelters around Philadelphia. What started out as a few students hand-delivering meals to homeless people in and around SEPTA stations has quickly grown into a University-wide initiative assisted by the Undergraduate Assembly (UA) and Penn Dining Services (PDS).       After overcoming a few hurdles with PDS, the group last Wednesday held a large-scale end-of-semester event allowing students to pledge meals they wished to donate. The project first involved students individually collecting non-perishable items in take-out cartons from campus dining halls and delivering them to Philadelphia SEPTA stations and homeless shelters. As the initiative grew, Oxenhandler, Elman, and Werlin worked to get more students interested and involved by collaborating with the UA.       While More than Pennies originally planned to continue collecting individual take-out cartons for three days last week, PDS protested the plan. Oxenhandler explained that PDS was worried that they would not have enough food left in the dining hall to last each day.       PDS proposed having students sign pledges on one day declaring their donations. It would then provide food in bulk of an equivalent monetary value to the amount students donated.       Elman said although the pledges allowed a space for students to state the maximum amount of meals they would be willing to donate, PDS guaranteed only one meal per student.       Oxenhandler said the new plan is mutually beneficial by allowing Dining Services to remain fully operational. Bulk items will last longer and can be catered to the different shelters' individual needs. Also, he said, it makes the logistics of food transportation easier because students do not have to transport thousands of individual take-out cartons.       However, said Elman, from the total amount that PDS said they spent according to pledges received, they have only allocated $3.61 per meal, assuming they only accounted for one meal for the 532 donors, said Elman.       Participants in the initiative say if Dining Services won't be more cooperative, they will revert to their original plan and simply take food from the dining halls, said Oxenhandler. "There's a lot of bargaining power on the student's side."       Source: Daily Pennsylvanian

New Poverty in Germany Could Lead to Social Unrest

GERMANY, EUROPE   A total of 1 million people get help every day from Germany's "Deutsche Tafel" food banks -- and that number is set to increase because of the recession. The organization's head, Gerd Häuser, talks to SPIEGEL ONLINE about Germany's new poverty and the dangers of social unrest: SO: Mr Häuser, you know what poverty looks like in Germany. Does the worsening economic crisis make you feel afraid? GH: I wouldn't say I'm afraid, but I've become unsure. Economic trends can no longer be predicted; the forecasts are no longer reliable. Only one thing is clear: The number of unemployed will rise significantly -- and with it the number of people who need our assistance. SO: Are you seeing that already? GH: Not yet. There is a time lag in the visible effects of the crisis. The social systems kick in first of all. But in the long term, the number of people receiving Hartz IV [welfare payments for the long-term unemployed] will rise -- and they can hardly live on the money they receive. Already, 1 million people come to us every day, which amounts to about one-seventh of welfare recipients in Germany. SO: Are companies donating less because they are affected by the crisis? GH: Naturally we are seeing savings being made in certain areas, such as with suppliers, for example. But we have not yet noticed a decline in donations of products. The food sector is feeling the crisis less because people are more likely to cut back on luxury goods than on their daily staples. Even in bad times, for example, there are five different frozen pizzas available in supermarkets. And there are always some left over for us. SO: Is it just Hartz IV recipients who seek your help? GH: No. In the past, our clients were mainly homeless people. Today, however, there is a new poverty, which is affecting families with children in particular. These are people who are working full time but whose income is still not enough. This affects people with part-time jobs, single mothers, or employees in the low-wage sector who need to top up their incomes with welfare payments. And more and more senior citizens who are living on the minimum state pension are now coming to us.      ... The gap between those people who have enough and those who have too little is unfortunately increasing. In the long term, it poses the threat of social unrest.      ... Ordinary people do not understand why (the state) is haggling over every penny at the bottom of the heap while billions are being paid out at the top. As a result, some people are losing their faith in the state, which in the long term could turn into a threat to democracy.       Source: Der Spiegel

Despite Rain, Moorestowners Walk Against Hunger

MOORESTOWN, NJ  Despite cloudy skies and steady rain, 126 walkers of all ages turned out to help combat poverty at local and international levels. The CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Walk was held in Moorestown for the 30th time on Sunday, with walkers assembling at First Presbyterian Church on Bridgeboro Road.       Seven Moorestown churches participated in promoting and gathering volunteers for this year's walk, with First Presbyterian taking its turn as host location. According to CROP Walk coordinator Tom Hottenstein, the walk is sponsored nationally by Church World Service (CWS), a cooperative ministry providing sustainable self-help and development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance in 90 countries.       "The goal is to raise awareness of the need for food and water in many other countries in the world," Hottenstein said.       Walkers registered at tables for their respective churches or at the nondenominational table and submitted envelopes containing sponsor contributions, 25% of which will be distributed to local charities and organizations. The rest of the money raised will be distributed to international projects that address the causes of hunger, said CWS Associate Regional Director Kathleen Kusterbeck.       "It doesn't buy food, it supports local development projects," said Kusterbeck. "People in their own country do it. We don't have the staff." She said the CROP Walk has been held annually in the state since 1974, usually in the fall, with an average of $175,000 to $200,000 collected statewide.       Since most sponsors give a flat rate rather than donations based on miles completed, they usually drop off the contributions they've collected, even if they elect not to walk in the rain, Kusterbeck said.       Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a faith-based, nonprofit membership organization with 2.6 million members and more than $61 billion in assets, has committed matching funds for the Moorestown event.       Local businesses also lent a hand, with Wegmans of Mount Laurel donating bottled water and Acme in Moorestown donating fresh fruit for the walkers, according to Susan Satkofsky of Cinnaminson, a volunteer for Trinity Episcopal Church in Moorestown.       After a blessing delivered by the Rev Jonathan Miller of First Presbyterian, the walkers burst through a paper banner and began their trek. After a block, Miller was leading the group by quite a distance, moving at a brisk jog.       Source: Burlington County Times

Life-Net News Extras

High-Schoolers Turn Drug Houses into Homes

PHILADELPHIA, PA  Andrew Meak doesn't have any ordinary after-school job. He joins 14 others from Edward Bok Tech, Eighth and Mifflin streets, for the school's Construction Club when classes let out. The students take great pride in their work, from installing insulation to hammering up baseboards, and their choice of what to revamp is more transformative to a neighborhood than just a coat of new paint.       Instead of picking any old house, these young builders are taking former area drug houses confiscated by the City and rehabbing them into livable shape. The 15 are currently working on a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 907 Cantrell St. The students painted and installed plumbing on the second floor -- all before there was electricity in the house. The walls, once covered in graffiti, are now sealed and coated in beautiful earthy browns and sky blues. New light fixtures, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and shower stall soon will be put in. The group also added insulation and a new fuse box. The once boarded-up windows have been replaced with sparkling, easy-to-open-and-close white panes.       With the support of nonprofit Sunrise Philadelphia Inc, the club gets the financial backing it needs to complete the home makeovers. Now in its 10th year, the free after-school and summer programs range from homework help and gym classes for elementary students to robotics and cosmetology classes for older kids.       About six years ago, company founder and CFO Loretta Crea read about a house sold by the City to a local nonprofit. She wrote to District Attorney Lynne Abraham, asking for a similar arrangement with Sunrise. Crea's request was granted after going through the proposal process and, in 2004, Sunrise purchased a residence at 427 McClellan St for the bargain-basement price of $1. It had been confiscated by the DA's office during a drug investigation.       Once the sale to Sunrise was completed, Crea turned the house over to the nonprofit's Construction Club, one of the organization's most popular groups, where high-schoolers with interests in home repair are given introductions to plumbing, carpentry, electricity, and masonry work. Sunrise hired a professional cleaning service to dispose of the waste and ensure the house was safe for the students. Then the latter went to work. For three years, the pupils worked from 3:04 pm, when they got out of school until 6 pm to repair the house. In 2006, a first-time home buyer purchased the place for about $75,000, which was below market value.       The project was such a success that Crea wanted to keep it going. She wrote another letter to the DA, submitted another proposal, and searched the list of confiscated properties for one that was more conveniently located to Bok. When one appeared on the list, Crea handed another dollar to the DA's office, and the Construction Club hit the ground running. The latest property was purchased at the start of the current school year.       Source: South Philly Review

Africa Disaster Preparedness 'Woefully Inadequate'

NAIROBI, KENYA  Ineffective disaster management systems, poor funding, and lack of relevant data for planning risk-reduction activities have taken their toll on sub-Saharan African countries, specialists said. Margareta Wahlström, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), said to the Second Africa Regional meeting on DRR in Nairobi on May 5, "Despite high economic growth in some countries, disasters are continuing to affect the continent's ability to build wealth for its people."       Kenyan government records estimate the cost of response to the 1999-2001 drought at $340 million. It would, however, have cost half that had there been an effective disaster management system in place, according to Ali Mohamed, permanent secretary in the government's special programs ministry.       Kenya also grapples with internal and cross-border conflicts. Experts said the country's level of emergency preparedness was tested by massive displacement in the 2008 post-election violence.       Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environmental Program, said Kenya loses an equivalent of 5.5% of its gross domestic product every seven years to recurrent floods and drought.       "Climate change is the most stark truth, perhaps, that we have to start to manage as a planet," said Steiner. "The sea level in Bangladesh is predicted to rise 60 centimeters this century. ... About 20 to 30 million people will have to look for a place to live."       Lack of climate data, for example, had reduced the ability of countries to correctly make climate predications, according to Charles Akol of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. "There is limited capacity [for] African countries to carry out loss assessments after disasters."       Davies Okoko, disaster preparedness manager at the Kenya Red Cross Society, said that disaster responders needed retraining to tackle emerging threats and that emergency services needed equipment to tackle rapid-onset disasters.       Rapid urbanization was cited as one cause of increasing risks and costs of disaster as the global urban population surpasses the rural one.       Youcef Aitchellouche, disaster management coordinator of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, called for capacity building at local level and for improved coordination between development and humanitarian aid for sustainable disaster risk management.       In Mozambique, for example, disaster management agencies were working with local communities, said Pedro Tomo, director of the national institute for disaster management. Agricultural technology centers had also been set up in remote areas to teach farmers to counter the effects of recurrent drought and flooding.       Wahlström said weather events such as the 2004 tsunami had shown that disasters have no borders. "We have to learn to be opportunistic, to take advantage of the triggers as people tend to forget disaster events."       Source: IRIN

Stigma Still Inhibits People Eligible for Food Stamps

SEATTLE, WA  Elizabeth Beckett of Bellevue was consumed by food. Unemployed and short on cash, she was always thinking about what she ate, what it cost, and how much she had left. But she didn't feel good about going on food stamps, so she didn't sign up until she learned she was pregnant: "I was like, 'Look, OK, I need help.'"       About 374,000 Washington households are on the "food stamp" program, which in Washington State has been distributed via debit cards since 1999. That's about 70% of those who are eligible. But food banks say demand for food has increased in recent months. So what's keeping hungry people from getting benefits?       In a word: pride. "There's a pride thing against receiving," said a 35 year-old Seattle woman who asked that her name not be used. She never went to the food bank, either, for the same reason, she said. "I think that in an affluent society there are too many people who think that people who receive handouts are freeloaders."       That's why, for months after she lost her job, the woman, let's call her Kate, waffled on whether to apply for food stamps. Fed up with living on peanut butter sandwiches and "way too much bread" to fill her up, she finally Googled "Washington food stamps" and signed up online. With the $200 per month she receives, she can now afford to buy produce and make more nutritious meals. "My only regret is that I didn't sign up sooner."       Beckett, 31, believes no one should have to be worried about food or embarrassed to ask for help. "I think the stigma of who uses food stamps and why they use them needs to be smashed a little. I'm an educated individual, I have two college degrees, I've done AmeriCorps."       The switch to debit cards has helped to make using food benefits less conspicuous. When it was food stamps, "people would roll their eyes and stuff," said Jennifer McCormack, who has used both systems. "Now you can pretty much whip out your card."       In October 2008 the state broadened the gross income limit to 200% of the federal poverty rate. A family of three could have a gross income of up to $3,052 per month and be eligible.       Despite these changes, many still believe federal food assistance is for "the absolutely poorest of the poor," said John Camp, who administers the program at the state Deptartment of Health. "They assume that the program isn't available to them."       Source: KOMO News

Pesticides Cause Breathing Problems for Indigenous Women

COSTA RICA, CENTRAL AMERICA  A study by the National University (UNA) in Costa Rica found that indigenous women of the country exposed to synthetic pesticides in the plantations where they work show a higher incidence of respiratory problems.       The researchers analyzed the presence of respiratory symptoms in women employed in the cultivation of bananas and who were indigenous inhabitants of the territory Bribri Talamanca on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. Through surveys and respiratory function tests (spirometry), 69 women exposed to herbicides and organophosphate insecticides were compared with 58 women working in organic plantations. 81% of women in the first group had to apply or handle the insecticide chlorpyrifos weekly and terbufos monthly in banana plantations. A smaller group applied the herbicide paraquat, the second most used in the world after glyphosate. In this work the women did not wear protective equipment, and most continued to work in the field while others were applying pesticides.       The study found that among these women, 20% had wheezing, whereas in the group of unexposed women, only 9% had this symptom. Among the women exposed to pesticides, 36% were awakened at night by shortness of breath, which reached 26% among those not exposed. The presence of chronic cough and asthma was similar in both groups.       Researcher Berna van Wendel of the Institute of Regional Studies on Toxic Substances of the UNA said that, base on their findings, they propose "seeking less-toxic or non-toxic alternatives, such as organic."       Furthermore, in June they will initiate participatory experiences with women to give them more information, to change to less-toxic pesticides, and to adopt more effective means of application that lead to less exposure. They will also promote integrated pest management.       Source: Science and Development Network

Jesuit Priest Turns Camden Problems into Opportunities

CAMDEN, NJ  Jesuit Father Jeff Putthoff has been creating positive change in Camden's youth since 1999. As one of the founders and the executive director of Hopeworks 'N Camden, Putthoff has created a successful approach to youth development using technology. Hopeworks gives its young clients reason for hope by expanding learning opportunities, working together to identify goals, enhancing self-esteem through real-world jobs, and building a community of support.       But it is not the alternative approach to youth empowerment and education or the impact he has had on young people's lives that made him on April 30 the recipient of the Monsignor Michael Doyle and Monsignor Robert McDermott Award for the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Camden. Rather, it is how Putthoff created and manages Hopeworks.       At Hopeworks, everyone is encouraged to "learn to learn." Putthoff is not going to give you an answer if you didn't try to figure it out by yourself first. Instead, he is going to say with a chuckle, "learn to learn," as youth, staff, and visitors realize that the puzzle is still theirs to solve.       Putthoff believes that where there are problems, there are opportunities. As part of his Jesuit training, Putthoff spent three years teaching English and theology and started a community service program. One of the projects was building a house. Putthoff had never built a house and he still doesn't know how. Nonetheless he was able to find the resources and people needed to complete the job.       A friend, Christine Healey, describes Putthoff as the kind of person who would "walk into a challenge or a puzzle and dissolve the boundaries." With this attitude, Putthoff makes change happen not just in the lives of youth but also in all those with whom he connects. Healey believes that Putthoff challenges people to think differently, to open their minds, to think beyond established categories and realize all the resources and solutions that abound.       Since its inception, Hopeworks has helped 78 youth enroll in college and earn 1,323 college credits through their technology training at Hopeworks. Hopeworks has also provided jobs for 237 youth and youth salaries totaling over $290,000. Hopeworks' non-profit website design business has created and maintains websites for more than 200 clients.       Putthoff has identified a critical problem facing Hopeworks youth, and he challenges people to address this need through a new Camden Diocese-supported initiative called the CRIB, which stands for Community Responding in Belief. It is creating a youth residential option, a community house for youth who have earned a job at Hopeworks and who are enrolled at Camden County College.       Putthoff came to Camden 12 years ago and often talks about how he finds the presence of God in the youth he works with.       "To be a companion with Jesus is one of my greatest consolations because it has allowed me to get to know Camden's youth, the people of Camden," he said. “I get to work with so many amazing people whose hearts desire justice and the healing of our world. ... What a gift!"       Source: Catholic Star Herald

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