I recently met a woman named Annette. Annette lives in a cramped, unfinished cinder bloc home on a rutted dirt road in a crowded colonia in Reynosa, Mexico. She works in one of the one hundred and eighty maquiladoras that inexpensive labor and free trade have attracted to Reynosa. The maquiladoras in turn draw a steady stream of Mexicans to the northern border from interior states like Veracruz where poor young women and men desperate for steady pay have few prospects for employment. The population of Reynosa now stands at around one million and the Reynosa maquiladoras currently employ over seventy five thousand workers, many of them young women aged seventeen to thirty years old.
Whereas some people conjure up images of sweatshops packed with women sitting behind endless rows of noisy sewing machines cranking out shirts and underwear for North American retail stores, the maquiladoras in Reynosa are oriented toward more high-tech production. Many produce electronic components for computers, automobiles, and hospital equipment. Others produce plumbing supplies, kitchen appliances, and bathroom fixtures. The maquiladoras are located in industrial parks that are clean, orderly, nicely paved, and well groomed. Many are freshly painted and some boast rather ornate facades.
Some people claim the maquiladoras are an unqualified success for everyone involved. Poor Mexicans like Annette who can't find work in Veracruz now have steady jobs. North Americans pay less for their cars, computers, and bathroom fixtures. Annette earns and North Americans save. It's a win-win situation. Others claim the maquiladora sector is one of globalization's great development failures. Maquiladoras are nothing but vehicles for big corporate profits. The US loses manufacturing jobs and vulnerable Mexicans are exploited to the hilt. Of course, the devil's in the details. As I listened to Annette and a few others in Reynosa this past week, I realized that the maquiladora phenomenon is a complex one that defies superficial cheerleading or demonization.
Annette's sister, Grace, died a year ago at the age of twenty-three. She worked at an auto company plant where she used Toluene, a powerful chemical that according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety must be immediately washed from the skin with soap and water upon contact. Grace routinely came into contact with Toluene without the benefit of gloves or an exhaust fan until she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. The cancer spread to her brain and she died last January.
This could be an isolated incident, but according to Annette and Ed Krueger, who heads the Comite de Apoyo (Support Committee), it isn't. Other women in the plant have been diagnosed with cancer and when they get too sick to work they are fired. In another plant where unprotected chemical use was prevalent some women in their late teens and early twenties discovered they were sterile. After coming under increased scrutiny the company moved its plant from Mexico to China. According to Ed, many of the young people who migrate to Reynosa from the interior are unaware of the dangers that powerful solvents like Methylene Chloride, benzene, and Cyclohexanene pose to their health. The companies take advantage of this lack of knowledge.
Wages are another issue. I met a young man named Martin who worked in a company making computer hard drives. When the company suddenly decided to end Martin's shift it fired him and about two hundred other employees. According to Mexican law, the company was obliged to give the workers severance pay but refused to do so. With support from the Comite de Apoyo, Martin organized the workers to demand their legal right to the pay and the company finally agreed. I talked to another woman named Pauline who at great length described the problems she and other workers encountered when a company refused to honor the severance pay law.
Even when companies do abide by wage laws the pay is low. Annette earns $56.00 a week for a forty-two hour work week that's divided into three fourteen-hour shifts. This is not a big income in the dollarized border economy. It's just enough to enable Annette and her husband to live in a squatter's colonia.
Most of the people who migrate to Reynosa end up in a squatter's colonia--large settlements built on land not suitable for other economic purposes where thousands of people live in close quarters. In older, more established colonias like the one Annette lives in homes are made of cinder bloc, and non-potable water and electricity are available. In newer colonias homes are made of thin wooden slats from pallets or sheets of plywood. Ed and I visited a colonia in existence for seven years where the government recently installed non-potable water taps near the homes. There was still no electricity. We had to jump over a deep, open trench filled with flowing water to reach someone's home.
While all of this sounds negative, I came away from my trip with the impression that the maquiladora phenomenon is a mixed blessing. The people I talked to want to work in the plants. They really need these jobs. In a country where many people find few prospects for employment the maquiladoras provide much needed opportunities. However, I also encountered a good deal of resentment. For one thing, people want bigger paychecks. You'll find that just about everywhere but seeing the conditions under which many of the workers live raises the issue of a living or just wage. A deeper resentment comes from being routinely and systematically taken advantage of by the companies -- working in environments that lack safety precautions, knowing people who have become seriously ill or who have died, enduring sexual harassment, and not being paid wages to which they are legally entitled. It's the constant, never-ending, aggravating struggle to get the companies to act fairly, responsibly, and legally that really angers people. The people don't just want jobs, they want jobs with justice.
I took this trip to Reynosa because I met Ed Krueger several weeks ago at a South Central Conference UCC Board meeting. Ed heads the Comite de Apoyo. As I drove and walked around Reynosa with Ed, it became clear that he knows a lot of people and that he's earned their trust and respect. The Comite de Apoyo helps maquiladora workers learn their rights and develop tactics to get what legally belongs to them in jobs they want to keep. He educates people concerning the risks associated with certain chemicals, the wages workers are legally due, and Mexican labor law. He helps workers develop effective organizing tactics geared toward producing the desired results. He does this work because he's a disciple of Jesus Christ and he has an authentic love for people, especially those who are struggling for their dignity.
The South Central Conference UCC Board voted recently to provide financial support to the Comite de Apoyo. At the June Annual Meeting in Dallas, the Conference will present each church with $100.00. Each church will be asked to multiply that amount through some creative means. Next year, at Annual Meeting 2005 in Austin, each church will be asked to give the $100 plus the additional money raised back to the Conference so it can be used to support the Comite de Apoyo and another organization called BARCA. BARCA works with immigrant women living in colonias on the Texas side of the border. Ed's wife, Ninfa, runs BARCA. I could write two pages on BARCA as well but won't at this time.
There's a direct correlation between the amount of space I've taken in this edition of The Visitor and my excitement over our support for the Comite de Apoyo and BARCA. The Outreach Board has developed a fantastic plan to turn our $100.00 into $1,000.00 or more. I'll be making more trips to Reynosa to visit Ed and Ninfa, and to learn more about their work. I'd like to organize a trip of church members to go down sometime within the next year. My hope is that the Comite de Apoyo, BARCA, and workers struggling for justice and dignity will become ongoing recipients of our church's concern and support.
Chairs of our Boards
Trustees: John Moore & Pam Tucker
Deacons: Liz Nash
Christian Education: Marilyn Vaché
Christian Outreach: John Goff
MANY THANKS
To: Tommie Pinkard and Cathy Hubbs for lovingly folding, stuffing, folding, labeling and tabbing the May VISITOR.
If you would like to be help prepare the VISITOR for mailing, please let Trish know!!
May is often a time of transitions and this past May was no exception. We have retirements, moves, new jobs, weddings, and graduations to report.
Don Brown's last day as Commissioner of Higher Education for Texas was May 31. He is delighted with his successor and is looking forward to a well-deserved vacation, consisting of only things he wants to do when he wants to do them. Don, his staff, many public representatives and board members established Texas higher education goals to close the gaps--within Texas and between Texas and the 10 largest states--in participation and success, excellence, and research. Don would be glad to share details and to explain how he will be spending his time in the future with the College for All Texas Foundation whose work focuses on the participation and success goal to add 500,000 more students--at least 300,000 who otherwise would be missing-- to higher education by 2015.
Mel Oakes also retired as of June 1, after 40 years at UT. Pat attended his last lecture--a lively review of physics from the time of Aristotle through Newton-- and made cupcakes for the students. Mel said, as he passed out their last test before the final, that "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." The students, including our own Kathleen (K.C.) Hawes- Domingue, enjoyed the cupcakes and most of the students were satisfied (Kathleen was pleased!) with their test results.
Mary Sinclair reports that she and Richard have sold their house to a young, soon-to-be-married couple and would be closing on May 28. They hoped to rent the house back from them until June 11 so that they have time to find a house somewhere. As of mid-May they still didn't know for certain whether they would be in Richland, WA, or Boulder,CO, because the Dept. of Energy hadn't announced the winner of the Hanford contract. If Richard's company wins, they'll be going to Richland; if they lose, it's Boulder. Mary and Richard are going to be sorely missed by all of us. Complicating the move, Richard has a herniated disc in his lower back which will probably require the same treatment Mary had last December. They don't know how he did it, but he's blaming Mary for making him clean out the gutters! He was taking steroids which seemed to be helping him with the pain, but nucleoplasty is a long-term solution. Mary had just come back from a trip to Hamilton to see her family. Daughter Tania & her family are very well and the boys (Jacob, 4 1/2 ,and Nathan, 10 months) are growing and very active. Mary (aka Grams) had lots of fun playing hockey with Jake. Mary's mother Joyce was doing well also and sends her love to all her friends at church. Mary's four sisters were all in town at the same time so they had an impromptu reunion to celebrate a lot of May & June birthdays, including the 60th birthday of the eldest sister Margaret. Her birthday also marked the 10th anniversary of her breast cancer diagnosis and she has been cancer-free since the end of treatment. Richard reports that he had a wonderful visit with Yoshi and Setsuko Kaneda in early May in San Diego [He consults for the city on a site cleanup there]. They are both well and wish to be remembered to one and all. Yoshi has taken on a job for one and a half years as the interim pastor at Poway UCC Church in the northern suburbs [Setsuko said he was bored out of his mind] while they find a new pastor. Setsuko is a busy gardener and grandmother for their grandson Eric [now 14 and entering high school] and their two gorgeous granddaughters.
Carol and Gary Barrett are delighted to announce that Whitney Andrew Barrett graduated on May 21 from the University of California at Berkeley with joint degrees in Math and Physics. He will join a consulting firm based in San Mateo, California.
Andrea and Karl Putz have now both defended and turned in their dissertations! They will be going to Chicago at the end of May for Karl's post-doc at Northwestern. The title of Andrea's dissertation is: "Biological Activated Carbon: The Relative Role of Metabolism and Co-metabolism in Extending Service Life and Improving Process Performance." Karl's title was "The Dynamic Mechanical Response of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites and Network Glasses." Pretty impressive stuff! Karl has a post-doc at Northwestern with Dr. Annelise Barron in Chemical Engineering. He will be studying the interaction between biological molecules, DNA and proteins, and polymers. Andrea has a number of opportunities but no offers... so she is waiting to see who is smart enough to hire her. We are certainly going to miss you both.
Rizer Everett enjoyed the recent LAMP lectures about acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicines and the talk by Liz Carpenter that was spiced with humor. The luncheon at the LAMP end-of-term was well attended and held in the Alumni Center. Rizer recommends the excellent book, "Language Visible" by David Sacks that shows the changes in the shapes of the 26 letters of the English language since 2000 BC. He also recommends the delightfully written book, "Eats Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss. The dust jacket shows the sign painter removing a comma between Eats and Shoots because the book admonishes the reader that one should look up the diet of the Panda. Truss discusses the proper way to use commas, periods, and all other punctuation marks.
Mary and Mathis Blackstock were in the Four Corners in mid-April for an Elderhostel on the Navajo. They met fine people and enjoyed exposure to the Navajo way, i.e., treat others well, no "me first" or elbowing, and honor your family tradition. Mathis observes that the Navajo must have a difficult time fending in our rough-and-tumble Anglo culture. He went on to say, "Maybe we're the worst in the whole world? It seems to me we pay a very high price for 'success,' and too bad our definition isn't a non-material form. After 80 years I want to start all over!"
Jennifer Howicz reports that daughter Emily recently had two great school successes. She wowed her teacher and parents by getting one of the highest scores in her class on the second grade math bench-marking test. (Jen says "Sadly, I can't take credit for those genes..."). Emily also received a "Cool Coyote" award for achieving one of her spelling goals. Tess continues to do well in her cast, moving around fast enough that her old parents worry about keeping up with her when the final cast comes off!
Congratulations to Julia Deisler on her new job. She is the new manager of clinical practice for Gentiva Home Health Service. Fortunately for a few of us, she will keep up a smaller massage therapy practice on weekends. Her office is in the Jefferson Building close to home and Bryker Woods where Eric attend school.
Pat Oakes from our church and Dallas Roper-Serumgard and Susan Richter from Central Presbyterian were the winning team of the first annual Literacy Coalition of Central Texas Great Grownup Spelling Bee. The team was the inspiration of Jane and Rich Thompson who found ten good spellers, had a spell-down and Pat, Susan and Dallas were the winners. Their team represented the 2 churches and was one of fifteen teams who competed at a lively lunch at La Zona Rosa on April 22. Lots of folks from both churches attended and provided a rousing support group for the spellers. The effort raised $15,000 for literacy programs in Central Texas Beth Oakes will be in town in July with the Maia Quartet for the Austin Chamber Music Festival. They will be performing on Tuesday, July 13, at Congregation Agudas Achim and Thursday, July 15, at Houston-Tillotson College. Not only will Beth be here, but so will Eugene, Emily, and Ethan! Sister Sarah Oakes spent a month traveling around Italy in May and early June. Cousin Jessamy Brown, who has attended our church numerous times, joined her for the Florence and Venice parts of the trip.
We missed Joe McMillan during much of the month of April. He was in Georgia helping his aunt Cora Gordon (91 on May 16th) after the death of her sister, Joe's aunt Mamie Myers (100 years old) who died on April 6. We are sorry for your loss, Joe, but celebrate her long life.
Megan and Cameron Goff and their dad John would have liked to wish mom/wife Gail Christeson Happy Mother's Day in person, but instead they got to e-mail her. Gail is on board a ship in the Caribbean doing research. It is a two-ship experiment that had a few complications. Unfortunately, the other ship had rudder problems and they had to put in to port in Curaçao for 5 days. They had a dreadful time waiting for the rudder to be fixed--had to snorkel and go beach combing! It made them late getting back, but they were due in in early June. The whole family was thrilled to have Gail back home.
Mother's Day at church was a bit different this year. Every year Michael Adams calls a meeting of the men a week or so before Mother's Day--they are ostensibly making plans for a hunting trip. What they do, in fact, is plan a Mother's Day repast for after church. This year Michael, Kerry and Julia were in Memphis for the wedding of Jamie Adams to Lauren Neville on May 11. We'll have a full report on the wedding next month. Thanks to Pam Tucker, we all enjoyed splendid, delicious refreshments at coffee hour anyway!
 The Ross's report that son Andy (that's Andrew Ross, M.D.) has accepted a position with Eye Institute of Austin. Around the second week of July he will be moving in with them until he finds a place. (Dave and Sara will be on their annual camping vacation at the time.) Meanwhile, his wife Leslie has another two years of her surgical residency in New Orleans to complete and will then look for a position here. Sara just returned from a trip to Michigan and Ohio where she enjoyed attending the 100th anniversary celebration of Grace Mennonite Church, where her father grew up. She and her brother Dan were photographed at the grave site of their grandparents, Sarah and Daniel.
Dave spent a week attending physics meetings in Missoula, Montana, and Salt Lake City, where he gave an invited talk, despite being retired. He enjoyed attending the radio broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
On Monday, May 17, the Texas House of Representatives and the Senate recognized Don Brown and his work at the Coordinating Board by each passing a resolution. Many good words were said. Sharon and son Andrew were there and are very proud of him.
TEAM CCA, our church's cycling team, completed the 85-mile Shiner Bash on Saturday, May 15, beating Team Methodist in the process. TEAM CCA consists of John Goff (team captain), John Moore, Suzanne Bradford, Ben Gammie, and Tom VandeStadt (team chaplain). TEAM CCA is currently training for the 100-mile Hotter 'N Hell ride, held in Wichita Falls in August. TEAM CCA is always looking for new members!
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION MATTERS
On May 8, 2004, Cecile Adam led a well-received adult education forum at United Christian Church on issues relating to death and dying. On May 23, Rev. Tom VandeStadt will be initiating a "Beyond Belief" series after church, with additional sessions to be planned at that time. Please look for the separate announcement for more information.
Congratulation to Warren Junior Bowles, who is graduating from High School this year!
Summer is upon us, and with it comes the opportunity for more adults to get to know the kids. Please consider signing up for one or more Sundays this summer to share yourself and your gifts with the elementary-age kids. You'll both have fun getting to know each other better, and the kids will appreciate the fantastic array of fresh ideas and talents the many members of the church have to offer. These kids will only be this age this summer. Don't miss your chance! Sign up now for Summer School Lite in fellowship hall.
Front Porch Ministry Begins!
Beginning June 3, and continuing every first Thursday of each month, we will be serving simple sandwich lunches to homeless youth Lifeworks clients on our front porch. A dozen church members have already volunteered for this work - either making sandwiches and organizing the food, serving and cleaning up, or bringing in donations on "Cooler Sunday" (the Sunday previous to the first Thursday). Anyone else who is interested should contact Trish.
Investing in the Calvert Foundation
The Christian Outreach Board has spent a lot of time recently discussing issues of economic justice. Jesus' parables often touch upon this theme; e.g., the parable of the unforgiving servant, who pleaded with his master to forgive his debt, but after receiving refused to forgive the debt a slave owed to him. Forgiveness of debt and forgiveness of sin appear very intertwined in the New Testament.
Our ruminations were spurred by a plan of the UCC South Central Conference to raise money by giving each church $100 and, with the parable of the talents as supposed inspiration, invest the money and send back to the conference what was earned in a year's time. The returned money will, in its entirety, benefit BARCA/Comite de Apoyo a group on the Texas/Mexico boarder that promotes worker's rights and improved housing conditions in both countries. We are very excited to learn about this organization, and it has prompted Tom to take some of his continuing education time to visit them.
The parable of the talents is a complex passage, and the actual intent of Jesus in providing us with the parable is not straightforward. In it, a master gives three slaves money to invest in his absence, and on his return finds that two of them did as they were told and returned to their master more than they were given, while the third simply buried the money and handed the sum back to his master. The master was well pleased with the first two, and invited them to partake of the joy of their master. He was quite angry with the third, but likewise the third was angry with him, stating that he knew his master was a harsh man who reaped where he did not sow, and gathering where he did not scatter seed. The master then metes out harsh punishment for the third slave. The third slave's words are hard to overlook - in the more traditional interpretation of master-as-God analogy, they would be directed at God, and it is hard to conceive of God has someone who reaps where he does not sow. Less traditional (and perhaps radical) interpretations of this parable see the third slave as the hero of the story, as the one who refused to perpetuate his master's ill-gotten means of maintaining his wealth: not by working, but by investing in a banking system that makes money by lending it to other rich people, or by usury against poor people.
These reflections on the parable spurred us to consider how to invest money in a way that promotes economic justice - particularly in lending to people who would otherwise not have access to capital. We investigated the Calvert Foundation, a group that does just that on both national and international levels. The various microlending programs supported by Calvert provide loans to people who, because of poverty and lack collateral, would not be able to secure loans at a bank without exorbitant interest rates. Initial loans are small and, if repaid, lead to larger loans. Not every loan is repaid, of course, but the Foundation maintains very strong financial accountability standards.
The Outreach Board has decided to use the $100 from the conference as a challenge match to our congregation. We seek individuals and families to contribute $100 and, assuming we reach the minimum $1000, invest this money in the Calvert Foundation international program for 1 full year at 0% interest return. At the conclusion we will give the entirety to the conference for their donation to the BARCA/Comite de Apoyo program. More information on the Calvert Foundation can be found at www.calvertfoundation.org. -- John Goff
June Birthdays
2 Ches Towery
4 Stephanie Phillips
6 Debbie Appel-Knowlton
8 Katy Phillips
Maggie Towery
9 Rizer Everett
Tania String
11 Cheryl Appel
Jonathan Briggs
14 Whitney Barrett
16 Nodie Murphy
17 Karl Putz
20 Emily Howicz
21 David Ashton
22 Dennis Tingle
26 Garry Cole
27 Marilyn Gaddis
28 Pat Oakes
Vic Appel
30 Eric Mubiriki
Women's Book Club
June 21, Frances Mayes' Under The Tuscan Sun at the home of Cathy Hubbs
July 19, Ian McEwen's The Atonement host to be announced
August 16, Andre Dubus' House of Sand and Fog host to be announced
What's your interest -- wildlife, the Aurora Borealis, dog sledding, visit to the UCC's newest church? Thanks to Craig Headley, members of our congregation have a chance to visit and support a small congregation developing in Fairbanks. It is up to our group to decide when to go, the mission, and the itinerary. Craig has lots of options for us to consider, and knows how to make them AFFORDABLE. Families with middle-school and high school aged children are encouraged to learn more about this unique opportunity for education and fellowship. An experience this special may justify a week away from school (if we decide to go in September or October). Meet with Craig after worship on June 13 to begin the journey...
The Micah 6 Food Pantry
There are some things that are needed at the Micah 6 Food Pantry which cannot be obtained at the Food Bank. If you wish to donate the following items they would be greatly appreciated. Please mark the items "for Micah 6 Food Pantry".
Mosquito Spray
Toothbrushes
Travel size toothpaste
Travel size soap
Disposable razors
Diapers (baby and adult sizes)
Feminine hygiene
Book of stamps
Small sewing kits
Plastic utensils
Mess kits
Small zip lock bags
Thick plastic bags (large)
Bibles
Jelly
Honey
Potato flakes
Baby food & formula
Liquid supplement
Peanut butter
Spaghetti sauce
Small canned meats
Bereavement Group
SouthernCare, a hospice located in North Austin, hosts bereavement groups and seminary facilitated by The Rev. Liz Spencer. The group meets the 2nd Thursday of each month from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon at the SouthernCare office, located in the Lake Creek Festival Shopping Center on Highway 183 North (just south of the intersection of 183 and 620) right next door to Payless Shoe.
Throughout the year, guest speakers will enlighten the group on a variety of topics related to bereavement.
If you have questions or if you would like more information, please contact The Rev. Liz Spencer at 336-0170, or e-mail at revliz_2000@yahoo.com. Registration is not necessary. Please remember that anyone in the community is welcome to attend, regardless of whether or not your loved one was served by SouthernCare.
Deadline for July/August VISITOR -- June 17
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