Zonta Club of the Pikes Peak Area April 2003 Newsletter Volume III, Issue 4

PONDERINGS FROM THE PREZ!

Hello Ladies,

Happy April! Spring is coming. I'm so glad it's lighter longer during the day, and it'll be so great to see the grass turn green. (Let's hope it does)

I recently attended a foreign language conference and they passed out the following information. It reminded me of our international interest in Zonta, so I present the joke here without any intent to offend anyone.

You are all awesome! We work together like a well-oiled machine. My Kudos Kolumn is overflowing -

Kudos Kolumn

See - Didn't I tell you we all work (and play and eat and talk and . . . .) together beautifully?

Our Big Apple fund has $905!!! We9ll have lots more if the lovely raffle prizes continue to appear at every meeting. Remember all this money will be split among the members who attend the next international convention in NYC in June, 2004. Start saving now.

Birthday Greetings to Shannon Rowan on April 5!

Enjoy the coming of spring!
Kris

Bits from Betty
by Betty Edwards

Conference - March 14 - 15

The conference was entitled: Trafficking & Trade: The Impact of Globalization on Women. It was coordinated by Karen Beeks, who is the Executive Director for Global Partnerships for Humanity. Club members will remember that Karen Pauley worked with Karen Beeks in 2000 organizing and participating in the Beijing Plus Five conference. Both were class events.

Friday was jam packed with inspired speakers and panel presentations. The day started with a message from Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a leader for Democracy in opposition to the ruling military regime in Burma. You may have seen the article in Parade magazine a couple of weeks ago. She has been awarded several honors including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. We were all touched to have a direct message from her from Burma reminding us of the profit motive which exists in all trafficking practices as well as her encouragement to improve the situation of women.

During the conference many references were made to Globalization and the attendent expansion in the movement of goods, capital, and migrant workers. As we all know, not all workers are legal, especially in the case of women. There are estimated to be 4 million persons who are victims of international trafficking each year. An estimated 50,000 of these victim enter the U.S.

I was pleased to be the moderator of the session - NGOs and Trafficking of Person. Three presenters (from India, England, Denver) covered case studies from India and Italy as well as reviewing some services that are available to victims along the front range. National laws and funding were highlights, as was the role of NGOs as operators of resettlement efforts for trafficked women.

There was a buffet in the evening, and a silent auction was held to raise money for women and children on the Burma/Thailand border. There were donations from Zontians in Denver that were very popular - a basket with coffee/cups, jewelry, and several beautiful Estee Lauder compacts. A display of photographs showing the refugee camps and medical clinic on the border was very moving.

When I told people I was attending a conference on trafficking, some wondered about my sudden interest in either the drug trade or city planning. I had to explain that the two-day Denver event, sponsored by more than 20 local and national organizations (including ZONTA District 12), focused on the trafficking of humans, specifically women and children. The conference was organized by Karen Beeks, Executive Director of Global Partnerships for Humanity in Highlands Ranch, CO, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness of human rights abuses of women and one of the major funders of the conference.

Freedom Network USA, a national coalition of organizations that provided both funding for the conference and special training workshops for people working directly with trafficked persons, defines trafficking as "the recruitment, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining, by any means, any person for forced labor, slavery or servitude in any industry or site such as agriculture, construction, prostitution, manufacturing, begging, domestic service or marriage." In other words, trafficking is slavery. It is the recruiting of unknowing persons, usually with false promises of a good job and other benefits, for unpaid or low paid work, often accompanied by poor living and working conditions and abuse, often sexual.

The goals of the Trafficking & Trade conference were to provide a forum for the discussion of the issue and connect organizations that work to eliminate trafficking or provide services to trafficked individuals. Sessions presented by scholars and organizational representatives highlighted trafficking from various international locales including Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, India, China, Bosnia, and the nations of the former Soviet Union to such areas as Western Europe, Israel, and the U.S.- including the Front Range.

Conference attendees soberly listened to disturbing fact after fact, statistic after shocking statistic. For example, we learned that an estimated four million people internationally, mostly women and children, become victims of trafficking each year, with perhaps 50,000 of those are trafficked to the U.S. We also learned that there are an estimated 5,000 trafficked Chinese women in Los Angeles. That Israel contains approximately 700 brothels, with 250 in Tel Aviv. And that thousands of Pakistani children under the age of 14 are indentured workers, assembling soccer balls or weaving rugs, of which the U.S. is the largest importer. Dr. Leslie R. Wolf, President of the Center for Women Policy Studies, described trafficking as "racism and sexism united in the ugliest possible way."

The conference also encouraged participants to view trafficking as part of a bigger picture, that of the global economy. Saturday's keynote speaker was Ritu Sharma, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Women's EDGE, a Washington DC-based organization concerned with international economic issues as they relate to women around the world. Sharmu discussed the concept of economic globalization, which she defined as free movement of capital, goods, and labor across national boundaries. "Free trade" she said "is a myth." International trade is highly regulated, but those regulations benefit certain interests - countries, products, and people - over others.

Sharmu explained that with women growing 90% of food worldwide, and making up 70-90% of factory workers, women are not just in the global economy, they are the global economy. Today's international trade can benefit women but often does not. Women's EDGE has pushed governments and trade negotiators to look at how trade agreements impact women, and has encouraged international aid organizations to invest in women - their education, business enterprises, and human rights.

Also focused on the larger global economic issues was Nate Sillasen, a representative of Jubilee, Colorado. Jubilee is a national effort to persuade the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to cancel the huge debts of certain developing nations. These debts, which have already been paid many times over through interest, keep poor nations poor by consuming funds that could be used for the health and welfare of its citizens.

To the extent possible, the conference attempted to strike a positive note as presenters described what governments, non-governmental organizations, grass roots organizations, and ordinary citizens can and are doing to combat the widespread trafficking problem. We heard about worldwide anti-trafficking laws; efforts to lobby Congress and enlist the support of U.S. state legislators; anti-trafficking strategies of the World Bank; programs to economically empower women in developing nations; and how we can educate ourselves about the impact of international trade agreements on our own communities.

Also part of the conference was a silent auction to raise money for women and children on the Burma/Thailand border, (with donations from Denver Zontians), and a moving display of photographs showing the refugee camps and medical clinic on that border.

In addition, the conference was honored by a special message from Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy activist and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize who was held under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 by the military government.

"Such a conference," wrote Suu Kyi, "reminds us that there is a continuing need to highlight the vulnerable position of women and children even in situations where the protection of basic human rights is the fundamental issue." "Too often," she continued, "women are seen merely as goods and chattels at the disposal of a society dominated by male concerns Women have to be so valued that the price of treating them as disposable goods would be so high in emotional, spiritual and economic terms that any perceived benefits would be greatly offset by a very real loss to family and society." Suu Kyi offered warm wishes and gratitude to the organizers of the conference for their contribution to "the rights of women and, consequently, for the good of the human race."

Soup kitchen Co Springs - Food for the homeless

• Donations of Plastic containers
• Donations of Personal Hygiene Items-soaps, lotions, women's products
• Hands on work at the soup kitchen - 5 Zonta members 2x a month for 3 hours each

• Donations of phone cards, gift certificates, money, gifts at Christmas time
• $750 donation from club

• Gifts of diaries, journals, markers
• Color Analysis Presentation to girls who were part of the program by Earlene Herman and Ava Heinrichsdorff

St Judes Ranch - Donations of Card Fronts

Cell Phone Donations for Dist 12 Project - Refurbished and handed out to Women at risk

Rebuilding Together - Volunteer Project in April to assist with building/refurbishing a Co Springs home

Young Women in Public Affairs - an annual college scholarship of $500 to a young woman applicant going into public affairs(none in 2003 due to applicant quality)

FUND RAISING

Nuts - Profit $1667 - Premium nuts(cashews, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, mixed nuts) sold in November by members. Large boxes of nuts shipped to Pat Kosley - a fun group function at Pat's house to bag the nuts in 1 lb bags.and sales continue to increase!

Mothers Day Fashion Show - Profit $1262 - Broadmore Fashion Show-models are members. A fun event for all.hope to increase numbers to 200 this yr to increase profit

Sweater Sale - Profit $445 went to Big Apple Fund. Donation of hand knit sweaters from estate of deceased Zonta member, Audralee Holland sold to members.

Raffle items donated by members at each monthly meeting nets approx $15 per meeting - money to Big Apple Fund

Teri Hermans with President Kris Wells From Pueblo Area Meeting 2002

Teri Hermans I am currently an RN Manager at Zurich Insurance Co....working with approximately 50 RNs who do telephonic nurse case management for workers compensation clients throughout the U.S. We have a great group of professional women who have many years of experience in hospital and home care nursing. As I have had a number of years of nurse case management and insurance work in my background, I have really enjoyed expanding these nurses professional capabilities. I went to nursing school in Denver as a second career, graduating in 1981, and working at Swedish in ICU and on the neurosurgery floor. Prior to that I worked as an Interior Designer, utilizing my degree from University of NE (1969). My folks still live in Denver...along with one daughter - recently married who is a 2nd grade teacher in Castle Rock. My Dad is a retired Army Colonel - growing up we traveled all over the world...I graduated from High School in Tehran, Iran - and we just had our first High School reunion last summer in Las Vegas (15 out of a class of 50 in the class of 1965...had a great time!). Our oldest daughter is a Lieutenant in the Air Force stationed in California. After college in 1969, I joined the Red Cross and spent a year in Vietnam as a Recreation worker.....an incredible year. I met my husband in Cu Chi, Vietnam at the Barf Lounge (still happily married after all these years). Many of the Red Cross Donut Dollies are women with whom I remain friends, and I belong to an organization called American Red Cross Overseas Association...6 of us are having a girls getaway in Cancun this year. I love to cook...garden (each year buying a number of plants which the deer eat)...shop, and of course travel. I still enjoy the interior design field - and helping friends out. Our friends are outgoing...partiers who like to eat, travel, and enjoy life. This year Jerry and I will go to the Caribbean in May...and Italy in Sept. I heard about Zonta through Kate Brewster. Enhancing the status of women is something I do in my present job, and Zonta provides opportunities to expand that spectrum both locally and internationally. We have lived in Colorado Springs for the past 7 years, and Zonta also has given me an opportunity to meet professional women outside my work...I hope to contribute to Zonta by utilizing my organizational skills, and continuing to assist with fund raising opportunities. Treating people as I like to be treated....is one of my guiding principles...a positive attitude and enjoying life are so important..because we are not here that long!

Message from Adrian Davis

Dear Friends,

I have arrived safely in Brazil and have begun my semester at the Universidade Federal of Juiz de Fora. I will be in Brazil studying and living with a Brazilian family until July. I am studying Portuguese, Brazilian culture, History, Art, and Geography. The experience of living and learning in a foriegn country with a different language and culture is invaluable for my academic and personal growth. I am really enjoying my time here. After I leave Brazil I will continue on to India and study and live in Pune, India (3 hours from Bombay) for six months. After my year abroad it will finally be time for me to graduate from the Colorado College. I have loved my time at the Colorado College and have tried to maximize every opportunity avaliable, the opportunities that you all have helped bring to me. I will continue to e-mail and as I approach the conclusion of my undergraduate study I welcome your suggestions and/or information about opportunities and possible directions to take after college.

Thank you,
Adrian Lauren Davis