Service Learning Blog 3

Service Learning from November 17, 2011

Activism:

On this day our group met up with Lariza, our service coordinator.  We wanted to review our project with her, and wrap up our experience.  She gave us more information on YAYA and the National Farm Worker’s Ministry, and told us how appreciative the women of AMA were for our assistance.  Lindsey, Carmen, and I are each very excited to see the play once it is ready to be shown, and we hope it is a great success.

Reflection:

The information Lariza gave us covered issues women face as a farm worker.  Lariza said they were the most exploited workers in the country, even more vulnerable than the men.  In the fields, women will wear baggy clothes and wear bandannas over their faces to prevent sexual harassment.  90% of women farm workers in California see sexual harassment as a serious problem.  Women are afraid to report sexual encounters for fear of losing their jobs, being turned in to immigration authorities, or being separated from their families.  Women working in the field are also susceptible to serious illnesses because of the pesticides they are constantly exposed to, which can cause infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects in their children, which is an example of reproductive injustice (p. 214).  The government could prevent this discrimination by creating and enforcing laws to protect the women workers, their health, and children, however they continue to let the injustice happen to save money and create less hassle for the businesses that employ these women. 

While there are some laws against these heinous crimes, they often go unheeded because it is easy for the employers to get away with it.  “In 1979 the UN adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,” but the US has yet to adopt it (p. 271).  We have acknowledged that the violence and sexual harassment of women must be stopped, but we have done nothing to stop it.  Sociologist Michael Kimmel said, “sexual harassment fuses two levels of power: the power of employers over employees and the power of men over women” (p. 266-267).  Without the eradication of inequality, oppression, and injustice these crimes against women will unfortunately continue.

Reciprocity:

To hear Lariza speak of how much we helped and meant to the women of AMA was moving and rewarding, but I think the experience and the opportunity to help them was enough in itself.  Lariza told us more about the play, detailing each specific scene and how it will give farm workers more knowledge about the pesticides they work with and their dangers.  The first scene is a group of farm workers talking to bugs about the dangers of pesticides.  The second scene is about preventing the pesticides from being brought into homes, with suggestions such as washing the farm workers clothes separately from others, washing off and changing clothes before hugging your children.  The third scene discusses how pesticides affect reproductive and women’s health.  The final scene covers pesticides in the home, giving information such as how many pesticides are in bug spray and cleaning supplies, and how to prevent the necessity of using them too often.  I truly hope many people come to see the play and are able to learn about the harms of pesticides, and how to prevent the many illnesses that are caused by pesticides. 

Word Count: 561

Work Cited:

Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Okazawa-Rey.  Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives.  Fifth ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Youth and Young Adult Network of the National Farm Worker Ministry.  www.nfwm-yaya.org

Service Learning Blog 2

Service Learning from October 23, 2011

(I’m so sorry this is being posted so late!)

Activism:

On this day Lindsey, Carmen, and I went to Seville and finished our work with AMA and NFWM.  Lindsey and I finished painting our set, and put further details on it to make it truly spectacular.  Carmen and other volunteers from AMA worked together to make posters with information of the Poison Control Hotline, recycling information, and more information that the audience who comes to see the play may need.  Once again, the time flew by and before we knew it we were faced with our finished products.  We are very proud of what we have accomplished, and we were sad to have our project end so quickly.  We hope to go back to Seville to see the production if we’re able.  We plan to meet up with Lariza (our coordinator from NFWM) sometime soon to review our project and see if there’s anything else we can do. 

Reflection:

This past week during our Environmental Scavenger Hunt, we learned about women’s impact on the environment, and how women are working to prevent more destruction to the environment.  This is precisely what NFWM and AMA are working to do with their project.  These groups are concerned with the harsh chemicals that large produce corporations are putting into the environment.  The groups are working to promote environmental justice (p. 541) for the workers and families that are constantly exposed to the chemicals.  Through the play the groups have created, they are teaching the workers and their families the truth about the chemicals and the illnesses that can come from them.  I admire their work very much, and I’m very grateful to have been a help to their cause.

Reciprocity:

What stood out to me the most this week during our time in Seville were the three members of the AMA Youth Group that came to help us create signs.  These three girls, ages 20, 18, and 10 are family, the two oldest are sisters, and the youngest is their cousin.  We asked them about their work with AMA, their lives, their goals, etc., and this led them to tell us their heart-wrenching story.  The two sisters lost their mother in a car accident when the older sister was seven, and then lost their father to cancer just a couple of years ago.  To see these girls bravely tell their story to us -a group of strangers at the time- was incredible.  The strength and fortitude they have shown at their age is inspiring.  Even though they have suffered a tremendous amount of loss, they are still optimistic and hard-working girls.  They are striving to make a good life for themselves by finishing school, working, and going to college. 

These girls blew me away and made me ashamed of myself.  Just earlier that week I had called my mom (again) to complain about the rising gas prices and my car’s terrible gas mileage.  I would need more than just two hands to count how many times I have complained about trivial things within the past month alone.  While my life has not always been a bed of roses, I have no reason to complain about my petty problems while there are people who are truly suffering every day of their lives and are just trying to survive.  I am so glad those girls came in and told us their story.  It helps put life in perspective, and teaches us to count our blessings.

Work Cited

Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Okazawa-Rey.  Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives.  Fifth ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

My friend posted this in her blog, and I thought I'd pass it along.  I feel like it goes along with our readings this week about the slut walk and women's sexuality.

Service Learning Blog 1

Service Learning Journal from October 16, 2011

Activism:

This week we (Lindsey, Carmen, and I) went to Seville for the first time to work with NFWM and AMA.  We were very excited to begin our project, and quickly began work on the set for the play AMA is producing.  In the play there are two “sets,” one location is a kitchen and another is in a field.  To make sure we had a professional looking set, we traced a projected kitchen image and a field image onto two separate drop cloths and began painting them.  The hours flew by, and by the end of our time we had completed the field backdrop and most of the kitchen backdrop.  Our goal for the following week was to finish our backdrops and make more posters for the play and also for things such as the Poison Hotline and other information.

Reflection:

In our first week of class, we learned, “Knowledge is not neutral” (Women's Rights, Women's Liberation, Women's Studies).  Knowledge comes from experience and in turn is turned into an action, proving that one way or another people are not neutral.  I think this statement accurately sums up AMA and our group’s goal while we are working with them.  AMA has crafted a play to explain the dangers of pesticides, not only for the men who work in the fields that have been sprayed with them, but for the women and children living in the surrounding area.  The women of AMA have made it their goal to educate others in Seville, and hopefully all over Florida about the harm pesticides cause, something most people working and living near the fields do not know.  The women of AMA are very strong and think very highly of working to create awareness of issues such as this one, to protect the farm workers and their families.  I think these women are very brave to take up this fight to ensure safety, and perhaps influence change.

Reciprocity:

I grew up in a conservative and sometimes racist town here in Florida that thrived on the work of lower-class “Mexican orange pickers.”  I had not really ever thought much on the issue of farm worker’s safety or on the laws and mandates that are required of companies to keep their workers safe, but I accepted it for what it was and never objected to anyone’s (usually rude) opinions of the farm/plant workers.  After interacting with and learning more about their struggles through AMA and NFWM, my mentality has been greatly altered.  AMA and NFWM have given me a broader sense of these farm workers and their situations in America.  I have been shown through this first hand experience of how hard working these farm workers are and how they are worthy of more respect and deserving of rights than they are often given. 

Work Cited
Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Okazawa-Rey.  Women's Live: Multicultural Perspectives.  Fifth ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Word Count: 473

Analysis of an Advertisement

Originally I drawn to the ad very easily, but then I realized what Natan Jewelers was implying.  Natan has a whole series of ads depicting what a woman sees when a man proposes to her, especially when it is with a Natan ring.  Most of the advertisements show an overweight, balding, or ugly guy holding a closed ring box, and then in the picture beside it, the ring box is open, and the guy is suddenly thin, with hair, and a handsome face.  While all of these ads flared my temper, the one I put in my blog affected me much more so, because it depicts women as being willing to do anything once she has a pretty piece of jewelry. 

It is certainly condescending to women, especially since men see this and may form the opinion that they can do anything, and all they have to do for sex is just buy expensive jewelry, and the woman will just fall all over them.  The ad is explicitly objectifying the woman, giving the attitude that the woman is just a thing that can be bought to obtain what the guy desires, as discussed in chapter five of our textbook.  The ad “reduces the woman to her body, and values her only as a sex object” (page 208) by using the influence of the ring to get sex.  The ad discredits women as being pushovers and being so focused on materialistic items that we will succumb to anything if we’re are just given something expensive.  The ad wants to make women believe that they are only worth what their boyfriends/fiancés/husbands buy them, and that when we are given something as grand as expensive jewelry, we must return the favor by showing our gratitude through what the ad implies men want most - sex.  

Work Cited

Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Okazawa-Rey.  Women's Live: Multicultural Perspectives.  Fifth ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Service Learning Proposal

Service Learning Proposal for National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM)

Group members: Carmen T., Amanda M., and Lindsey H.

October 5, 2011

Meredith Tweed

WST 3015-002

Community Partner Profile:

National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM)

 Address: 4420 Parkway Commerce Blvd

               Orlando, FL 32808

 Contact: Lariza Garzon

Community Partner Mission Statement: “Together With Farm Workers Harvesting Justice” (National Farm Worker Ministry).

Political and /or Social Basis for Organization: The National Farm Worker Ministry works to assist local farm workers in their campaigns for their rights.  They work with various groups such as AgJobs, CIW Campaign for Fair Food and others to ensure that farm workers voices are heard.  Many farm workers are afraid to speak up about any abuse they are subject to, their low wages, and any illness they may contract after being exposed to pesticides or other work-related accidents or illnesses.  However, with the assistance of the National Farm Worker Ministry, the workers rights are brought to attention by picketing, educating the public, and organizing boycotts (National Farm Worker Ministry) to ensure justice for America’s farm workers.

The Proposal:

TO: Meredith L. Tweed

FROM: Carmen T., Amanda M., and Lindsey H.

DATE: October 5, 2011

Proposal to Assist with the Creation of a Play for a Service Learning Project

Need for volunteers for the Community Outreach Program: Our group will be working with Allianza de Mujeres Activas Inc. (AMA) through the National Farm Worker Ministry.  AMA’s mission is to “help the Hispanic farm worker community and families of limited income in Central Florida to improve their social problems and health challenges.  In doing so we offer workshops, cultural programs, information and links to organizations that offer assistance (Allianza de Mujeres Activas Inc.).  Currently, AMA is putting together a play to raise awareness about the harm of pesticides, even when one is not working in the field.    AMA has received a grant from the government and has begun working on a script, but they need assistance with finalizing the script in addition to building and painting the set, creating the costumes, and bringing materials that will be used to create the set.  Through this project AMA hopes to reach out to those who are suffering from the adverse side effects of pesticides and they hope to raise awareness to prevent illnesses due to pesticides.

Plan Proposal:

AMA and NFWM have set aside two dates later this month to begin working on the play.  They need volunteers to help with obtaining materials and constructing their set and costumes to raise awareness.  Our group has committed to be there for both dates so we can assist AMA in their creative process to ensure the show reaches out to as many people as it possibly can.

Rationale for Women’s Studies

The plight of women often goes unnoticed to the public and the government.  Women of different ethnicities and races (other than white) are more likely to be ignored by the government and powerful figures because those positions are often Caucasian-dominated.  It is easy for us to turn a blind eye to the undocumented immigrants that are struggling to get by in America and putting themselves at risk just to make a living, because as some Americans like to say, “They’re illegal.”  In Women’s Studies we read in a speech given by Sojourner Truth, “None but Jesus heard me” (Ain’t I a Woman?).  In Women’s Studies we are learning how to give voices to the voiceless, to make sure others hear and DO something to change the lives of the people who are struggling.  We are taught that activism is a good thing and that it can make a world of difference for those that are being ignored.  Allianza de Mujeres Activas Inc. are currently struggling to be heard and acknowledged, and Carmen, Lindsey and I are very excited to take steps to ensure equality and respects are achieved (Fight Like a Girl) for the women of AMA.

Action:

We have already met Ms. Garzon, our contact at NFWM, and set up our dates to work on the play.  Ms. Garzon is contacting us soon with supplies we may need to bring, such as paint for the set or fabric for costumes, and on our two selected days, we will drive out to Seville to meet with AMA and help prepare for the play in whatever way we can.

Timeline:

Our final project (Presentation and Reflection Paper) will be turned in on November 30, 2011.  In addition to the dates listed below we may add in another day to get together and work on our project.

1.     September 28, 2011: We met up with Lariza Garzon, our contact and discussed our project

2.     October 16, 2011: We will go to Seville (AMA’s location) for the first day of building and designing sets and costumes

3.     October 23, 2011: We will go to Seville (AMA’s location) for the second day of building and designing sets and costumes

Work Cited

“AMA: Allianza de Mujeres Activas Inc.”  Allianza de Mujeres Activas Inc. pamphlet.  2011.

Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

"National Farm Worker Ministry."  The National Farm Worker Ministry website. 3 October 2011. http://nfwm.org/

Seely, Megan.  Fight Like a Girl.  New York and London: New York University Press, 2007.

Word Count: 880

Introduction

Hi everyone!  I'm Amanda Moss, I'm a Junior and this my first semester at UCF.  I am a History major, and I plan on double minoring in American Studies and Women Studies.  I'm hoping to move on to Graduate school (William and Mary in Virginia is my dream school) to pursue an American Studies career in some capacity.

I've always been really interested in learning the history of women, reading about their lives and careers, and seeing how we've progressed over time, so declaring Women Studies as one of my minors seems inevitable for me.  One of my closest friends and I always exchange new articles and blog posts dealing with women, and we discuss, rant, and rave about them, so I am very excited about this course!

As far as activism goes, the most I often do is post statuses and web links to informative articles via Facebook, so others can (hopefully) read them, gain knowledge, and make an informed opinion.  Last year, at Valencia Community College I was very active in Amnesty International, we hosted several events during the year, and we had two or three pertaining to women, such as Maternal Health, Spousal/Children Abuse and Women's Roles in Culture.  I think activism is VERY important.  Not only does it promote your cause in a way that can change the world, such as when women marched to vote, or picketed in front of the White House, but it also creates awareness and disperses knowledge to people who may know nothing or very little (or hold a false assumption) about your cause.

My American History teacher -Professor Duce- at Polk State College (yes, I have been to three colleges in three years) showed my class Iron Jawed Angels, which certainly impacted me and further changed my opinion about the United States government.  It truly is a brilliant movie, and shows the struggle of Alice Paul and the women who set out to change history.  It shows how women and men (specifically within the government) interact, and how the government can hide anything they want, or twist it to make others (in this case the protestors) villains.  In her class we also discussed gender roles, specifically during the Industrial Revolution and during the Wars, on the home front or in the hospitals.
I love researching about John and Abigail Adams because they seem like such vivid exceptions of the traditional gender roles, especially for their time.  In their letters Abigail often gives John advice even when he doesn't ask for it, and she tends to be right on the nose with what is needed or fair.  After all, she told him while the Congress was writing the Declaration, "Remember the women," he ignored that piece of advice, and you see what happened in history.  It is speculated that the only reason John Adams became President was because of her advice to him that he heeded and the excellent parties she hosted.  I really respect both of them and during this semester I hope to learn more about couples like this.

I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus and the blogging protocols.  I'm excited for this course!