Whistle Blower

The movie the whistle blower blew my mind. It was a super intense movie. It was so crazy to me that it was based on true events. There were so many people involved from the very organizations that were supposed to be protecting the people of Bosnia. The conditions that the women were kept in were so terrible. I thought that it was interesting how the main character Cathy was treated by the other men that she worked with before she even stumble upon the trafficking. You could tell that the men felt they were superior to her.  In the book Girls Like Us the fact that family members sell these girls into these sex trafficking rings is explained. The way that the movie depicted it was so eye opening. The mother had no idea that the uncle sold her daughter. Raya’s aunt was also aware but allowed it to happen and even benefited from that fact that her husband sold her niece. As the group of us what the movie we were in terror as the web of officials involved began to untangle. It was outrageous to us that UN and other government officers could turn a blind eye to this. I helped having the group there to talk and discuss what was unfolding. We also discussed how the man involved had diplomatic immunity and when they were eventually sent home no punishment was ever issues to them. It is hard to believe that men can treat women as object and to those extremes. On a daily basis women are objectified by men and even by one another. The extremes and the violence that results during trafficking is unbelievable

 I can truly say that I was completely ignorant on the issue of human sex trafficking. Throughout the  reading  of girls like us and watching this movie I have a better understanding of the issues and risks of human sex trafficking. The movie seemed to play into the stereotype of my initial understanding of trafficking, Shackles and modern day slaves. Girls like us showed me the aspects of trafficking that occurs in our own backward. It makes it clear that sex trafficking is a global issue.

Girls Like Us

“Even when I would do street outreach at night, the older women would point me in the direction of the younger girl and say, “she’s a kid, she needs help. You should talk to her””

Throughout reading this book and looking to outside resources the aspect of age has jumped out at me. Lloyd discusses on numerous occasions the young girls that she meets through the GEMS program. What about the older women? The quote I chose shows the older women in jail directing Lloyd toward the young girls. Lloyd suggests that it is both out of “maternal nature” and the “unspoken belief that it is too late for them”.  I think that this is a major underlining problem in Lloyds book. The major issue it that sex trafficking is terrible for women of any age. According to Jyoti Sanghera “Children are deem innocent and in the need of special protection” what about the women? Does the fact that children that were sex trafficked eventually grow in to women? Why is it that Lloyd thinks that there is an “unspoken belief that it is too late” among the older women she encounters? I think that it is important to realize that women seem to reach an expiration date once they are considered an adult. Young girls have innocence and need help but once adults these women where is the help for them? Is innocence just for youth? I think that innocence varies. I think that women and children both have innocence and that it should be taking into consideration. Overall this quote makes me uneasy I think that is important that all women are considered in the issue of sex trafficking. No matter the age of the women and young girls that are being trafficked the issue of human sex trafficking is terrible. I do think that it is important to keep all women in mind, from young to old. It is not too late to help anyone.

Service Learning Revision

Date:3/15/2012

To: Professor Tweed

From: Ashleigh Augustine

RE: Service Learning Proposal

Mission Statement: To fight for agricultural justice and women’s rights in the farmworker community through fundraising and volunteering with YAYA and communication and cooperation with our forthcoming global partner.

Organizational Structure:

Secretary: Record keeping (includes tracking attendance), maintenance of Google group

Scheduler: Maintains Google calendar and plans attendance to events

Task-based committees:

▪ Headed by a Committee Chairperson who acts as the liaison for the committee and ensures efficiency of meetings

Community partner liaisons (2): communicate with community partners and attend YAYA meetings

Global partner liaisons (2): work with fundraising committee

Ethics Committee (3): Ensures mindful action, implements “three strike” policy

Three Strike Policy:

▪ Failure to complete a task or attend a designated event results in one strike

▪ First and second strikes result in voting restrictions

▪ Three strikes results in a meeting with the ethics committee and Professor Tweed

Fundraising Organizers (4): Responsible for coordinating an event and delegating responsibilities to other members to ensure that we provide at least $190 (for food), 19 rakes and 19 shovels to YAYA for the community garden project.

Every member is accountable for his or her own attendance and participation. If a member is unable to attend an event, they must notify the scheduler. The Ethics Committee and “three strike” policy were conceived to deal with situations in which a member fails to be accountable for themselves.

Our group is democratically structured and focuses on working with, rather than for, our community. We have modeled our organizational strategy based on NGOs operating through task-based committees where personal accountability and leadership can foster efficient achievement. Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN), as discussed in Women’s Activism and Globalization, have a similar mission. One of their goals is to “instigate change” by building community and sustaining relationships with farmworkers (144).

We also have an ethics committee to monitor our progress. In “Unlikely Godmother,” Margaret Snyder characterizes the United Nations as a “godmother,” which acted as a guardian and advocate for women’s issues (25). Our ethics committee is cognate to the UN, in that it will monitor the efficacy and ethical compliance of our project.

We are facing the global challenge of farmworker rights based on local realities, specifically the lack of resources to farmworkers in the community of Fellsmere, FL. We will be participating in discussion that takes place on a global level with our global partner. By building solidarity between our local and global partners and ourselves, we will develop new ideas to cater to the needs of the farmworker population.

Group effectiveness will be measured by involvement of the majority of class members at each event, as well as our ability to fulfill each of the goals we have set. We are also considering the individual gains of each class member, outside of the group as a whole, to be an accomplishment of overall group effectiveness. This includes phone banking with YAYA, fundraising, and planning. We will also strive to maintain sincere communication and ethical interactions with each other and our community partners. We will assess ourselves via individual surveys on group effectiveness.

Community Partner/Global Theme Profile:

We propose to address the larger systemic issues of the treatment of farmworkers, with an emphasis on women farmworkers. We know that "women produce 70% of the food on earth but they are marginalized and oppressed by neoliberalism and patriarchy" (What Is 1). These systems of oppression often deny those who produce the food equal access to the products they produce. As the price of food increases and becomes scarcer, women become malnourished, "as they eat last after providing for their children and family members" (Desai 21). One possible way of addressing this issue is to "produce food for local consumption" (Desai 24). To lay a foundation for both environmental and production sustainability, it is key that the community eats the food it grows. Local production and consumption can also indirectly address situations of "unsustainable exploitation of workers," who are denied not only equal access to food, but also other resources, such as safe housing and acceptable working conditions (Two Years 1). By establishing themselves as producers of their own food and giving recognition to both the unpaid and poorly paid labor, farmworkers can pave the way for change in regard to equal access and fair treatment.

We have not yet been able to contact a global partner. However, when we do, we will be able to find out more about their needs and goals as they relate to our own and therefore participate in both shared learning and activism.

By working in solidarity with YAYA, we are supporting activism enacted “to change the oppressive social, political and economic conditions of farmworkers” (“About”). Human rights violations such as those our local farmworkers face are worldwide issues and are experienced in many forms across many communities. While YAYA is “[i]nspired by the principles of nonviolence of the farmworker movement,” we are inspired by the efforts of YAYA and the organization’s slant towards working with, not simply for farmworker communities (“About”). As we work with each other and with YAYA, we will cultivate ethical activism through focusing on our communicative and social interactions.

This project is allowing us to get firsthand experience on how “women theorize and act on local and global levels, taking global and national politics into consideration (Tweed 1). This service learning is different from other service learning projects because it is requiring us to consider both the local and global effects of our project. It is also requiring us as a group to be aware of our privilege and set them aside in order to learn from this community and one another. When we began this project our group assumed a lot about the needs of the Fellsmere community. Through class reading and discussion we became aware of our assumptions. We have now redirected our thinking to how can we work with this community and learn from each other rather than what we can do for them. Trinh Minh-ha states “ a conversation of “us” with “us” about “them” is a conversation in which “them” is silenced”(67).  I think if we maintain open communication and focus on learning and sharing experiences with the community we all can benefit greatly. There are so many great stories to be heard. In addition to hearing the stories and experiences from the member of the Fellsmere community we will also be learning about our fellow group member’s stories and experiences.

3. The Project Proposal:

Our intention for this project is to forge relationships with farmworker communities on a local to global level, with a focus on women and how their lives are impacted by the work they do. We will accomplish our goals by dividing them up between the various aforementioned committees. We will begin developing a relationship with our local community partner, YAYA, by attending meetings and fulfilling their requested needs for gardening tools and long sleeve shirts. We will also be participating in the Fellsmere Community Garden Event, where we will be gardening and sharing and preparing a meal, while also learning from one another. We will determine the needs of our global partners through email and meet whatever need(s) that they express at that time.

We will complete our service-learning project via our combined resources as individuals, the resources we have available as UCF students, and the resources of our Orlando community. Through the expertise of YAYA and FWAF, we will be able to better understand the ways in which we can use our resources to best serve the needs of the farmworker community. We will be communicating as a group in order to continuously reevaluate our initial methodology, resources, and group organizational structure, in order to best serve our goals.

One of our immediate goals in supporting YAYA and FWAF in the Fellsmere community gardening day is to fundraise one shovel and one rake per student. Another goal is to fundraise the cost per person for our visit, which includes meals and transportation. These goals are feasible because we have access to different types of resources that will help our fundraising efforts, such as on-campus technology to create fundraiser advertisements, as well as access to various campus organizations that may support our fundraising events. Our most important goal is to support our community partner and their sustainable relationship building with farmworker communities. Our fundraising efforts will provide the Fellsmere community with the tools that they currently need and will use in the future. We will also be providing labor within the Fellsmere community garden and helping with the upkeep of the plots, a service that FWAF has asked YAYA and our Global class to provide. Through this project, we hope to help YAYA strengthen their established relationship with the Fellsmere community, and that through our collaborative efforts, we will create a sustainable relationship with our community partner.

Project Timeline:

· February 22: Initial contact with Lariza Garzon of YAYA to confirm partnership

· February 24: Contact Global Partner

· March 1: In-class presentation by YAYA

o The historical events that have led to the current oppressive conditions of the agricultural

industry

o Solidarity (sustainable relationship), privilege, power dynamics, etc.

· March 10: Fundraising Event

· March 17: Fundraising Event

· March 31: Participate in YAYA’s Community Garden Project8 am Depart Orlando from NFWM office

o 10 am Arrive To Fellsmere

o 10:15 am Welcome, introductions and instructions

o 10:45 am Gardening begins!

o 1:00 pm Lunch (vegetarian options available)/ short soccer game

o 2:00 pm Back to gardening!

o 4:30 pm Debrief

o 5:15 pm Dinner

o 6:00 pm Depart Fellsmere

o 8:00 pm Arrive to Orlando at NFWM Office

· Date TBD: Debriefing meeting

Word Count 1607

Works Cited

Desai, Manisha. "Transnational Solidarity: Women's Agency, Structural Adjustment,

       and  Globalization." Women's Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles

       and Transnational Politics. By Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai. New York: Routledge,

        2002. 15-33. Print.

Naples, Nancy A. "The Challenges and Possibilities of Transnational Feminist Praxis." Women's

                Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics.

Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai. New York: Routledge, 2002. 267-81. Print

Trinh, T. Minh-Ha. Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism. Bloomington:

                 Indiana UP, 1989. Print.

“Two Years After the Events…” La Via Campesina: International Peasant’s Movement. La Via

                 Campesina International Peasant’s Voice. 12 January 2012. Web. 23 February 2012.

“What is La Via Campesina?” La Via Campesina: International Peasant’s Movement. La Via

               Campesina International Peasant’s Voice. 9 February 2011. Web. 23 February 2012.

Service Learning proposal

Date: 2/23/12

To: Professor Tweed

From: Ashleigh Augutine

Re: WST 4015 Service Learning Proposal

Mission Statement: To engage in local-to-global activism by supporting sustainable relationship-building alongside members of the farm working community, the Youth and Young Adult Network of the National Farm Worker Ministry (YAYA), and La Via Campesina. Through communication and cooperation we will strive to work with our community partners towards the shared aim of agricultural justice. Furthermore, we intend to make connections from the local farmworker community to the global food sustainability movement.

Organizational Structure:

·         Task-based committees  Hold members accountable to completion of assigned tasks

o   Maintain effective communication with group members and community partners

o   Individual responsibilities will be outlined in working charts created per event

o   Committee Chairperson: liaison for committee

·         Meeting facilitator

o    Ensure meetings run smoothly and in a timely matter 

o   Hold meetings with Committee Chairpersons

·         Co-liaisons

o    Communicate with community partners

o   Attend YAYA meetings

·         Secretary 

o   Record keeping

o   Attendance

·         Ethics Committee

o    Ensure mindful enacting of project

o   Oversee three strike policy

·         Failure to complete task or attend a designated event results in one strike

·         First and second strikes result in voting restrictions

·         Three strikes result in a meeting with the Ethics Committee and Professor Tweed to discuss the member’s role and future participation in the project

Nancy A. Naples states that many feminist NGOs are “transformed from advocates to professionals serving the needs of neoliberal states” (274). By conceptualizing the issues faced by farmworkers as systemically correlated with the adverse effects of globalization, we are modeling ourselves from the Network of Maquila Workers Rights in Central America, as Maquila workers also face oppression in the workforce based on flawed neoliberal policies (273). In this vein, our group is democratically structured and focuses on working with, rather than for our community. Our goal is to prioritize the needs for which farmworkers express a desire for solidarity. In the spirit of feminist NGOs that have come before us, we endeavor to work as professionals within a committed network of organizers, activists, and farmworkers to prioritize an ethic of communal involvement and service. We have chosen a model that stresses personal accountability, which is imperative to success in any cooperative situation.

Our group’s effectiveness shall be assessed through measures of active participation, thoughtful communication, and shared aims of members, which work together to create group cohesion. We will also critically assess our effectiveness by considering how well we work in solidarity with our community partners and demonstrate feminist organizing as exemplified in course materials.

Community Partner/Global Theme:

We propose to address the larger systemic issues of the treatment and unfair conditions of farm workers, focusing on women farm workers. We know that “women produce 70% of the food on earth but they are marginalized and oppressed by neoliberalism and patriarchy” (What Is 1). These systems of oppression often deny peasants and food producers basic and equal access to the food they produce. As the price of food increases and food is scarcer, women become malnourished, “as they eat last after providing for their children and family members” (Desai 21). One possible way of addressing this issue is to “produce food for local consumption” (Desai 24). To lay a foundation for both environmental and production sustainability, it is key that the community eats the food it grows. Local production and consumption can also indirectly address situations of “unsustainable exploitation of workers,” who are denied not only equal access to food but also other resources, such as safe housing and acceptable working conditions (Two Years 1). By establishing themselves as producers of their own food and giving value and recognition to both the unpaid and poorly paid labor that they do, farmworkers can pave the way for larger systemic and institutional change in regard to equal access and fair treatment.

Our local issue relates to lack of resources and tools available to migrant farmworkers. We will take steps toward providing resources and tools to them by working with YAYA on a community garden project, garden tool donation and long-sleeve t-shirt drive. We may engage our global partner, La Via Campesina, in our donation drive. Throughout this project, weekly email with the La Via Campesina will clarify how our progress works in accord with the organization’s needs.

 This project is allowing us to get first hand experience on how “women theorize and act on local and global levels, taking global and national politics into consideration (Tweed 1). This service learning is different from other service learning projects because it is requiring up to consider both the local and global effects of our project.  I believe that this macro level aspect is crucial to having this project meeting the course goals.  The macro level approach is also why I consider this project different from activism or volunteer work.  In Fight Like a Girl: How to be a fearless Feminist , an article  from a previous Women’s studies course , the author discusses  how “social changes begin on a small level with a small group of people who envision a new way”(Seeley 16-17). I agree that small acts of change lead to social change but I believe this project is taking a different approach. We are taking strength in numbers approach. First off an entire class of nineteen is a group and we are partnering with both a local and global community partner. I also think that this is the prefect definition of service learning because we will also be learning throughout this project. We are putting into action the exact things we are reading about in the course. Trinh Minh-ha states “ a conversation of “us” with “us” about “them” is a conversation in which “them” is silenced”(67).   No one should be “silenced”(Minh-ha 67)/ This comparison Minh-ha makes to gossip helps me understand what the entire second section of the book is about. I don’t think it is fair to bring someone down to build up you own self-esteem or self worth. That is what Minh-ha is saying the anthropologist does. I think that through this project I will learn so much from the farm workers, the organization YAYA, and my classmates

Project Proposal

We plan to work with YAYA on their various events, specifically during Farmworker Awareness Week.

Through working together actively and effectively as a group, we plan to tackle this service learning project by breaking up into task based groups to complete each aspect of the project. Group members will complete portions of the project according to interest and are encouraged to ask for help, opinions, and constructive criticism from each other. Using our communication tools like social media and email to make decisions and gain feedback gives every member a chance to be included. To include other members of the community, group members will invite participation from members of their organizations and jobs. We realize that educating as many people in the general community to the needs of the farm workers of Fellsmere, can help encourage more volunteering and thus a sustainable relationship with the Farm worker community we are working with. For advertising, members will contact media outlets we through giving fliers and telling those from nearby businesses to donate funds, long sleeve shirts, and gardening tools to the community.

Building on our community partner YAYA’s existing relationship with the farmworker community, we intend to learn the most effective way of utilizing our local resources in order to maximize our outreach. Through this bond, we aspire to grow as individuals, as well as develop building blocks for better understanding of global and transnational feminist issues.

Project Timeline:

·         February 22: Initial contact with Lariza Garzon of YAYA to confirm partnership

·         February 24: Contact Global Partner

·         March 1: In-class presentation by YAYA

o   The historical events that have led to the current oppressive conditions of the agricultural industry

o   Solidarity (sustainable relationship), privilege, power dynamics, etc.

·         March 10: Fundraising Event

·         March 17: Fundraising Event

·         March 31: Participate in YAYA’s Community Garden Project8 am Depart Orlando from NFWM office

o   10 am Arrive To Fellsmere

o   10:15 am Welcome, introductions and instructions

o   10:45 am Gardening begins!

o   1:00 pm Lunch (vegetarian options available)/ short soccer game

o   2:00 pm Back to gardening!

o   4:30 pm Debrief

o   5:15 pm Dinner

o   6:00 pm Depart Fellsmere

o   8:00 pm Arrive to Orlando at NFWM Office

·         Date TBD: Debriefing meeting

 Word count 1562

Works Cited

Desai, Manisha. "Transnational Solidarity: Women's Agency, Structural Adjustment, and

            Globalization." Women's Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and

            Transnational Politics. By Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai. New York: Routledge,

 2002. 15-33. Print.

Naples, Nancy A. "The Challenges and Possibilities of Transnational Feminist Praxis." Women's

            Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics. By

Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai. New York: Routledge, 2002. 267-81. Print.

Seely, Megan. Fight like a Girl: How to Be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York UP,

               2007. Print

Trinh, T. Minh-Ha. Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism. Bloomington:

                Indiana UP, 1989. Print.

“Two Years After the Events…” La Via Campesina: International Peasant’s Movement. La Via

 Campesina International Peasant’s Voice. 12 January 2012. Web. 23 February 2012.

“What is La Via Campesina?” La Via Campesina: International Peasant’s Movement. La Via

            Campesina International Peasant’s Voice. 9 February 2011. Web. 23 February 2012.

                                                                                                                                       

Work Cited

Work Cited

Concepts of Subaltern and Subaltern Studies. Abhishek Gobal. 31 Jan. 2012.

            <http://www.onlineijra.com/catogery/english%20research%20paper/Concept_of_Subal

            tern_and_Subaltern_Studies.pdf>

Petitpierre, Anne. International Committee of the Red Cross Statement. World Summit on

            Sustainable Development. Johannesburg, South Africe. 29 Aug. 2002.

          <http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/5dekb3.htm>

What is sustainable Development. DEPweb. 31 Jan. 2012.

            <http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/sd.html>

World Health Organization Home Page.  30 Jan. 2012. 31 Jan. 2012.

            http://www.who.int/en/.

World Health Organization

Subaltern

Sustainable Development

Intro Letter

Hello,

My name is Ashleigh. I am a senior and my major is Interdisciplinary studies with a focus on Life and Biomedical science, humanities, and education. I have lived in Florida my entire life and after graduation I hope to get a job teaching middle school or high school science. I have two younger brothers and a really close knit family. We really enjoy have conversations at the dinner table things we have learned. Most of the topics I have contributed lately have been based on thing I have learned or discussed in my WST courses.  I took my first women’s studies courses last semester and was hooked. I feel as though these courses have opened my eyes. The courses that I took last semester made me aware of issue that effect women lives.

 I think the main thing that I hope to get out of this course is the continued knowledge. One day last semester I was having a conversation with my father and he said to me “this course might have been the best course you have ever taking at UCF.” I agreed but asked him why he thought that. He replied “It has given you the ability to create your own opinions about things, and that’s great.” When I heard my dad reply I was kind of in shock. Was he right, was I just going with the flow and not thinking for myself prior to this course? I think that I was living in my own little world prior to these courses. I can guarantee that I was oblivious to my privileges and how my micro level impact could affect macro level issues. So in this course I truly was to learn as much as I can. I want have an understanding of globalization and how it affects women worldwide. Another thing I want to get out of this course is redemption. Writing is not my strong suit it kick my butt last semester. I hope to make improvements. I also want to strive to do better in the course.

 At the beginning of last semester is thought I could just get by but I learned that if I want to learn anything I had to read and participate. I want to go about this semester differently and prove to myself that I can take a 4000 course and succeed. I will improve my writing and MLA, that’s a promise J  

I think that some difficult factors in learning about how women organize worldwide will involve culture and religious views. I also think that for me I will have to remember to not think in westernized mind set.  I don’t know if I actually do global activism I know that in the past I have made some donations to global organizations but I haven’t actually gotten my hands dirty and done service for a global cause. I am really looking forward to the service learning project where it will give me the opportunity to volunteer. I feel like service learning is a great way to put what we learn in the course to action. I am truly looking forward to this course and to learning about transnational feminism.

Word Count 532

I have read, understand and agree to the terms of the course syllabus and the blogging protocols.