July 20th-30th, 2007

Friday, July 27th- A Three Part Day

TNII Delegates Meet with SJA's Ecospirituality Committee

On Friday July 27, 2007, the delegates from Tierra Nueva Dos met with representatives from the SJA EcoSpirituality committee. Tom Smith-Myott, the staff liaison was present as well as Mary, Clarence, Janet, and Joe from the committee.

About ten years ago they began to discuss our spirituality and our connection with the Earth. Over the many years they have studied different topics and brought that knowledge back to the SJA community. The Eco-Spirituality’s mission statement is as follows: To educate the St Joan of Arc community about our social and spiritual responsibility to live sustainable lifestyles as compassionate stewards of God's creation.

Some of the topics they have studied are food, water usage, global warming, and wind power. For example with food, where does it come from? How are you to find healthy and sustainable food? For water, how are we treating our water? Is it safe to use? The EcoSpirituality Committee reminded us that there are all kinds of ways to not use so much water. Then there is global warming and its impact on people here and around the world. What is to make of the longer and hotter summers we experience now in many areas. And what of the effect of climate change on our worldwide species.

With Minnesota being a very windy state it makes good sense to use wind power as one of our resources. SJA has had 250 people sign up for wind power on their bill. Even though the windmills are four hours away from the Twin Cities, the power from them still goes into the whole electrical system here.

The committee stated that it has been hard to get legislation changed on the federal level. The main two reasons for this are that a lot of politicians do not believe in global warming and they do not want to change the industries.

But changes can be made on every level. It can be as simple as using light bulbs that use less energy. Of course, the staple environmental things you can do are car pool, bicycle, or take the bus.

Alba, one of our TN II delegates, leads a workshop on global warming. She works with an expert that comes in to teach them what they can do. One of the things that they are to do is plant trees in the green areas. They are also to use more efficient stoves.

The discussion moved to agua, water. We here in the U.S. for the most part are used to having water whenever we want. People take long hot showers and bubble baths for hours. But image if you only had water come from your faucet three days a week from 1pm to 6pm. Well, that is what it is like for Alba and Juan Carlos. TNII has a well that pumps from a vein of an underground river into a tank. But there is not enough water for all the houses in TN II, so each area gets water on different times and days.

In TNII there is a Water Committee. The committee operates the well water. So, they have to pay money to the Water Committee in order to get water. For awhile, the pump on the well was not working. The citizens were expected to pay more and more to fix the pump. Because of this whole bad pump, there was a time that the city went without water for two months. The situation was so bad that the secretary of the water committee was kidnapped. They were going to tie him to a post and start him on fire but Juan Carlos and some others went and rescued him. Perhaps we need to think about other’s situations the next time we take a bath.

Lunch at Mercado Central

Jesus took the bread and gave it to his friends. He also gave them the cup to share. Sharing, it is so important. Not just a meal, but the conversations, the laughter, and the smiles to go with it. At least that was the case this Friday. Everyone was smiling like the sun came out just for them. Everyone ordered something different except Alba and Juan Carlos who ordered fish (whole fish…head and all.) So, there was some sharing of some nachos. People were trying little bits of this or that. The conversations were lighthearted. It was a nice joyful, peaceful time for all.

Casa de Esperanza

Liliana Espondaburu and Amber from Mercado Central spoke to us in the afternoon about Casa de Esperanza, www.casadeesperanza.org. Founded more than twenty years ago, this organization has developed and strengthened since its establishment as a shelter for battered Latinas. Today they are a Latina agency that is grounded in commitment to their communities and to ending domestic violence.

Amber and Liliana speak about Casa de Esperanza

In the late 1970's, when the "battered women's movement" was still young, a small group of Latina activists formed Casa de Esperanza to educate their communities and advocate for Latinas in the Twin Cities. It wasn't long before battered Latinas began to ask where to find shelter. These women were in crisis and needed safety; yet it was equally important for them to find that safety in a comfortable place--where they could speak their own language and be at home culturally. Mainstream shelters were not the answer.

Casa de Esperanza is Latinas who envision the end of domestic violence. Proud of their heritage, they celebrate the character and power of their communities. Their Mission is to mobilize Latinas and Latino communities to end domestic violence. As a community based program, it provides services and education related to domestic abuse in the Latino community. They have an educational program for adults and for children. They also have one shelter and a 24 hour hot-line. Their services are confidential, free, and in Spanish.

and

Theresa Dolata has been a member of SJA since 2002. She is a writer, a stand-up comic, photographer and massage therapist. Theresa currently resides in South Minneapolis and is a member of Vail Place, a support program for people with mental illness, and a member of St. Joan's Mental Illness Ministry.

At the end of the talk, Liliana stated that she would like to build some kind of relationship between Casa de Esperanza and TN II. As we left, Liliana gave Alba some Spanish children’s books about domestic abuse to take back home to share.