Winds of Peace Foundation

Steve Sheppard | August 26, 2010

We’ve talked about the exploits of the Genesis Cooperative in Ciudad Sandino, outside of Managua.  It has been an inspirational journey to observe, and a privilege to accompany the women and men who have made this initiative come to life.  (You can read previous references to Genesis here, dated July 7 and June 21, 2010.)

The journey has not been an easy one, however, and there is now a new threat to the courage and perseverance of these would-be entrepreneurs.  The spinning equipment for which they have been awaiting delivery for months, is now stuck in Venezuela through no fault of Genesis.  Please read the following e-mail that Winds of Peace received today from our friends at Jubilee House, which has been assisting the women in their venture.

“Dear Friends,

We don’t usually do this, but we desperately need your help. We need you to send an email.

You are receiving this email because you receive our e-newsletter. We really need you to help us in this emergency regarding the work of the Jubilee House Community and the Center for Development in Central America, including the Genesis Spinning Cooperative.

As many of you know, the Genesis Cooperative has been working for more than 3 1/2 years without pay to build their yarn factory that will be part of the organic cotton supply chain for fair trade clothing. The Genesis co-op needs your help now. Here’s why:

Ten and a half months ago the Jubilee House Community contracted with Coker International, a used equipment company in Greenville, SC, to deliver the machinery needed for the Genesis spinning plant. Coker requested a $100,000 deposit in Oct. 2009 and in early Dec. 2009 another $50,000 because they claimed the disassembly of the equipment was “very close to being done” and expected to be ready to load the machinery in early January. Since then, we have spent every day calling and emailing with Coker, the plant in Venezuela and other contacts, trying everything we can think of to get this equipment moving.

Now, after months of delays and lies, we are being told by the original owners of the equipment, a company in Venezuela, that they have never been paid for the equipment and Coker will not provide us with receipts to prove otherwise. Two of the machines have been shipped but are being held by the shipping company for lack of payment by Coker of fines, fees, and damages incurred by Coker’s complete refusal to deal in a serious manner with this problem. All other machines, approximately 12 containers, will not ship because Coker hasn’t paid for the equipment. (For details on the equipment saga, see our blog on Genesis Equipment).

Please contact Jack Coker at Coker International and urge him to act with integrity and responsibility to resolve this situation immediately. This is our last effort to get Coker to respond and fulfill its obligation before we enter a long drawn out legal process that will inevitably lead to more hardship for the women of Genesis.

Below you will find a sample email (don’t forget to sign your name). Please send an email to Coker International at: jack.coker@cokerinternational.com, paula.yarborough@gmail.com, angel.magliano@gmail.com with a copy to us at jhc@jhc-cdca.org and forward this to your contacts.

You can also call to give the same message. Coker International: 864-335-5200, Jack Coker’s cell phone: 864-304-4161, Angel Magliano’s cell phone: 864-313-3133.

Thank you for all you do!

All of us at JHC & CDCA

Dear Mr. Coker,

As long-time supporters of the work of the Jubilee House Community in Nicaragua, we are appalled to learn of your unconscionable treatment of this non-profit organization and even more so of the hardworking women and men of the cooperatives they support. Please act with honesty and integrity to immediately fulfill your contractual obligations with the Jubilee House Community on behalf of these courageous women and men of the Genesis Spinning Cooperative by immediately delivering the agreed-upon spinning equipment to the JHC Nicaragua.

Thank you for doing the right thing.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]“

This is nothing less than a travesty of justice for people who have given everything they have- materially, socially, emotionally, physically- and face the demise of their dream in the shape of dishonesty.

There.  You have the circumstances and the opportunity to render some help. It is most deserved….

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Steve Sheppard | August 16, 2010

One of the many needs within Nicaragua is that of fighting against abuse, of helping the sexes- and men in particular- to understand the needs, rights and expectations of all members of the society.  Abuses of women, in particular, take all forms: physical, psychological, economic, and social in nature, and to an alarming degree. 

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) report, published in September 2009, revealed that at least 25 of the 45 women killed in Nicaragua in the first half of 2009 were victims of domestic violence.  When she presented the outcome of the investigation, national police chief Aminta Granera stated that of the more than 65,000 women who reported that they had suffered some form of abuse, only 15,000 filed a formal complaint with the police. The women who pressed charges had suffered the worst abuse, including sexual assault, bodily injuries, mutilations and torture, Granera said. More specifically, 4,129 were cases of domestic violence, 2,253 were cases of sexual assault, and 8,645 were cases of physical and psychological harm, such as threats, blackmail and verbal abuse.  “The rest of the victims kept quiet. This shows that even though it is the leading public security problem (in Nicaragua), it is the least reported crime, and, therefore, the one with the greatest impunity,” Granera said.

In light of the reality, Winds of Peace has long maintained its support of women’s groups which seek to raise awareness of such problems and to help both women and men recognize the physical, emotional, family and economic costs related to such abuses.  One organization to receive WPF support is Foundation Sacuanjoche Women’s Group, located in and serving the department of Matagalpa.  The women who run this group are professional women whose mission is simple if difficult: promoting community development through health and social outreach, while defending the human rights of the family, especially of women and children.

Teaching women about their basic human rights is one thing; getting the men in their lives involved in the education process is quite another.  Yet this element is critical to the Sacuanjoche initiative.  We were pleased to receive an update about the progress being made in this regard and the pictures illustrating the significant participation of men in this education process in some very rural locations.  These are places where accessibility to education on topics like these has been very limited, at best.

One might think of educational efforts like this as good, worthwhile work that probably has its number of challenges.  And then I stop to think of what it must be like to arrange for seminars wherein the main participants are men and the primary presenters are women; where the transit to the classroom is often very long, very difficult and partially on foot; where the topic to be discussed is something in the men’s behavior which is unacceptable; where the behaviors being challenged have been largely acceptable in the culture for generations; and where the investment of the participants’ time is in conflict with earning a day’s income. 

In light of all these drawbacks, that men attend at all is a remarkable fact; the odds seem overwhelming.  But it’s critical work that needs doing and the Sacuanjoche Women’s Group  is making a difference in these rural lives.  You can hear it is the classroom discussions and see it in the faces of the “graduates…..”     

                         

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Steve Sheppard | August 9, 2010

I’ve been reading through the latest group of project proposals submitted to Winds of Peace for the next funding cycle.  And while each project contains its own character and nuances, there are oftentimes repetitive themes that emerge from the 30 or so proposals that we consider each year.  That’s not too surprising, given the relatively small size of the country and the fundamental nature of many of the issues there.  One such theme which has evolved over recent years has to do with preservation of native seed in Nicaragua, a practice of identifying, cultivating, planting and sharing agricultural seed which is indigenous to the country, well-suited to the climate, genetically untouched, available and capable of harvest for re-planting.  It’s not a unique idea; Decorah, Iowa is home to Seed Savers Exchange, whose mission and philosophies are remarkably similar to the rural Nicaraguans.

The native seed preservation is just one of many similar initiatives which focus upon “hanging on” to something that is perceived as natural, healthy, essential, important both past and present, environment and economy.  Albeit slowly, some cultures around the world have awakened to preservation of vanishing plant and animal species, forests, clean rivers and lakes, archaeological and architectural treasures, even our atmosphere.  This yearning for retention of certain elements of our world is not born of nostalgia, but of the growing awareness that the diversity which they represent is worth saving, or that some things in our past really were better than their modern counterparts.  For the rural farmers in Nicaragua, native seed is not simply a preference, but a need.

In our own country we take great pride in the return of the bald eagle from the brink of extinction.  We worry about the demise of the polar bear habitat.  We cheer at the birth of each new Panda bear, we stop major construction plans in deference to rare turtles or plants.  It’s as if we are slowly awakening to the awesome variety of life on earth and even if we don’t completely comprehend why it’s crucial to preserve such diversity, we somehow inherently know that it’s important. 

It’s an encouraging movement.  If only our country would have viewed the Native American populations in the same way, or that world governments would come to see their Indigenous populations as precious as native seeds….

                                                  

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