Associate Director of THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA, Julia Perez, on PBS’s Horizonte

Julia Perez, the Associate Producer of THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA, was on Arizona’s PBS show Horizonte to discuss the film and the consequences of child labor in America’s fields.  Horizonte, a weekly public affairs program, focuses on Arizona issues through a Hispanic lens and is hosted by José Cárdenas, senior vice president and general counsel of Arizona State University.

Cárdenas has interviewed a veritable who’s who of Arizona newsmakers on HORIZONTE. Governor Janet Napolitano, Congressmen Ed Pastor and Jeff Flake, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, Mesa Mayor Keno Hawker, political consultant Alfredo Gutierrez, Arizona Attorney General Andrew Thomas, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Mesa Police Chief George Gascon, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor have all joined Cárdenas in the Horizonte studio to discuss issues ranging from public policy to education.

Julia Perez has been advocating for many years on the issue of child labor in US fields and became involved in the film because she believed in the power of media and film to make real change–both in the stalled legislation to change child labor laws and the lives of child migrant farmworkers.

Intern with Shine Global this Fall

Shine depends on our wonderful  interns to help us complete our work.  Without them we would not be able to make our films.  We offer the opportunity to learn how our films are made and see the inner workings of both a small non-profit and an independent film production company.  Please note that we only hire college students for our internships and can work with schools to offer credit.

For all internships positions we are looking for candidates that:

• Are a student of an accredited college or university
• Have living accommodations in or around NYC
• Have at least 3.0 GPA
• Are interested in social advocacy, educational outreach, non-profit business, and/or media
• Must be able to work independently and meet deadlines with little supervision

We are currently looking for a Fall intern to start in September and work through December 2011.

GENERAL INTERN – Fall
LAST DAY TO APPLY 9/2/11

The General Intern helps in the office with research and development as well as various tasks as they come up. The General Intern also takes an active role in designing and implementing our online marketing. In the fall of 2011 we will be finishing the distribution of THE HARVEST, with Executive Producer Eva Longoria, working in post-production on INOCENTE and another possible project, developing a third documentary, and exploring the options of expanding into narrative features.

This internship offers the opportunity to be exposed to the inside workings of independent film production at a variety of stages as well as providing insight into the workings of a non-profit organization.

In addition to the qualities above, our ideal candidate would:

• start in September 2011 and be available to work the entire semester

• be familiar with MAC OS, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), social networking, and internet research

• be able to work independently

• have excellent organizational skills

• have excellent communication and writing skills

• Video editing and/or photoshop skills are a PLUS but not necessarily required.

• Spanish language skills are also helpful but not required

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Assist film producers in the office

• Help with fundraising events

• Research news stories, foundations, and potential project ideas

• Manage Shine Global’s social networking pages

• Update the Shine Global website

• Help with marketing Shine’s documentaries online

• General administrative work

• Simple editing projects

The internship is unpaid but we are happy to work with you to earn credit at your school.

TO APPLY

Please send a cover letter and resume to alexandra (at) shineglobal (dot) org detailing your qualifications, past experiences, and interest in film/non-profit work that make you the ideal candidate for this position.

General Motors joined Eva Longoria to screen The Harvest/La Cosecha in DC

General Motors supported Shine Global and the child migrant farm working community by sponsoring a screening of The Harvest/La Cosecha in Washington, DC.  The event was hosted at the Capitol Visitors last Thursday, June 16^th, by Eva Longoria, Shine Global, and GM.  GM’s support of the screening enabled Shine Global to show The Harvest/La Cosecha to members of Congress and their staff and aides as well as key activists and political organizers to illustrate the lives of the child farmworkers in the US who work to feed us all.  Earlier in the day, Eva Longoria joined Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard and other activists for children’s rights to introduce the CARE Act , which aims to raise the minimum age for children working in agriculture and offer them more protections than they have under the Federal Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Roybal-Allard joined Eva Longoria at the screening and spoke again about the need to provide greater protection for farmworker children.  “I simply do not believe that our child labor laws reflect how we as Americans value our children,” she said.  Dolores Huerta, the co-founder of United Farm Workers of America and activist for farmworkers’ rights, also attended the screening.  She has worked tirelessly to ensure that all farmworkers have rights and was brought to tears by the film.

General Motors is committed to building a healthy global community. The GM Foundation focuses on four key areas: education, health and human services, environment and energy, and community development. The foundation consistently serves as a leader in educational support within corporate giving programs. In health and human services, they provide support in research, prevention, and treatment of various conditions. In the area of environment and energy, the GM foundation is dedicated to providing support to organizations that aid in the protection of human health, natural resources, and the global environment. Within community development, the GMF supports programs that strengthen community awareness and improvement.

Their combined efforts within these four areas work towards the broader goal of building a healthy global community. The foundation works not just in the US but globally, funding programs in over 200 countries around the world. The diversity of their commitment allows the foundation to do make remarkable gains for humanity in a broad array of issues.

Shine Global would like to thank General Motors for their support of The Harvest/La Cosecha and the rights of child farmworkers.

Directed by the acclaimed director and human rights activist U. Roberto Romano, The Harvest/La Cosecha will be coming to theaters in New York and Los Angeles this summer and 30 other communities for special one-night screenings.  Please contact us if you’d like your community to be on of them!

Visit: www.theharvestfilm.com for more info!

Refusing to Bend – Threatened by pesticides near their homes, the children of CA farmworkers launch a battle

Threatened by pesticides in the fields outside their homes, the children of Central California farmworkers have launched a ground-level battle against agribusiness

Text by Rosie J. Spinks | Photos by Rowan Byers

It’s a short walk—about five or six steps—from the neat and cozy kitchen of Carolina Rios’s family home to the edge of the strawberry fields that serve as her backyard. On a calm Monday evening in April, Carolina’s father, Sabino, stands between two rows, his crisp white sweatshirt blending with the mist hanging over the farm.

Bending down, he places a ripe berry between two fingers and, with a flick of the wrist and a firm yank, plucks it from the plant. That’s the best way to pick a strawberry, he says. Sabino would know. He and his wife have been piscadores, or strawberry pickers, for 20 years, since emigrating here to Watsonville, California, from Mexico.

The berry that Sabino has picked in his demonstration is of a certain type: fresas chiquititas, he calls them. Small strawberries. They’re small because the fields in which they grow are too close to the family’s home to be treated with certain pesticides.

Sabino points to other fields visible from where he stands.

“Fresas más grande pero más peligroso,” he says. “Bigger strawberries, but more dangerous.”

Sabino and his wife have long known that the pesticides routinely sprayed where they live and work are potentially toxic. It’s why they wash their work clothes separately from their children’s clothes. However, they recently learned that a new fumigant approved for use in California may present an even greater threat to their family’s health. They have their daughter to thank for that.

“When I came home from school and told them about it, it was the first time they had heard of methyl iodide,” 17-year-old Carolina explains. Her parents nod in agreement.

In December 2010, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) approved methyl iodide for use in the state. This despite fierce and ongoing opposition from scientists, environmental advocacy groups, and agricultural communities, who say methyl iodide poses a danger to farmworkers and residents—though not to consumers, since this particular fumigant degrades long before it can leave residue on a crop. Meanwhile, the manufacturer, Arysta LifeScience, insists it’s safe.

For Carolina and her peers, there’s no debate. They believe that if methyl iodide is used in their community, it will end up in the groundwater they drink, in the air that dries their laundry, and on the boots that their parents wear home from the fields.

In the months since methyl iodide’s approval, no growers in the Watsonville or neighboring Salinas area have applied for the permit to use the pesticide. These young activists have had something to do with that. And they intend to keep it that way.

“My house is literally surrounded by the fields,” Carolina says frankly. “We’re doing this to protect our homes and our families.”

To read the full article please visit: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201107/pesticides-farmworkers.aspx?sms_ss=f

To learn more about farmworkers and see the dangerous daily exposure to pesticides endured by child farmworkers and their parents see THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA coming this summer to theaters.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-HarvestLa-Cosecha/113753142021299
Twitter: @theharvestdoc

Watch War Dance Returns on shineglobalwebtv.com

Don’t forget that you can still watch War/Dance Returns, the short follow up documentary to War/Dance, streaming for free at www.shineglobalwebtv.com!

In the summer of 2008, director Sean Fine, executive producer Susan MacLaury, and the original “War Dance” film crew traveled back to Uganda for the first time since “War Dance” was filmed. Finally, the people of Uganda, were able to watch “War Dance,” the film dedicated to sharing their story with the world. Approximately 7-10 thousand of people came to see the film in the Patongo camp making a lasting impression on the entire crew as well as Rose, Nancy, and Dominic.

Rose, Nancy, and Dominic have blossomed into strong and determined young adults who have become leaders in their community. They are admired for their strength and courage, and their hope shines brighter than ever.

“War Dance Returns” aired on the Sundance Channel in May 2009 and screened at:

The Maui Film Festival 2009
The Indianapolis International Film Festival 2009
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival 2009
DocuFest Atlanta 2009
Hollywood Film Festival 2009

RxArt -Promoting healing through fine art

Nobody likes going to hospitals.  The muted colors, the sterile smells, everybody looks like they wish they were somewhere else.  And that’s just in the lobbies.  Going into the actual treatment rooms where patients are surrounded by huge and frightening looking machines is even worse.  Ten years ago, Diane Brown had a CT scan that frightened her so much she decided to do something. “I was on a gurney, strapped in with an IV in my arm, and the only way I could get out was in my imagination,” she says. ”I just spontaneously imagined a painting going up the side wall and across the ceiling, and I really went into that painting.  And [then] the scan was over and I felt like I hadn’t been there.  It was amazing, so I thought, ‘I want to do that for other people.’”  And that is exactly what Diane Brown is doing with the non-profit organization she founded, RxArt.

RxArt places original fine art in patient, procedure, and examination rooms of children’s healthcare facilities.  Their mission is to improve otherwise sterile environments through contemporary art, promoting healing, and inspiring hope in patients, families, and staff.  RxArt promotes artistic expression and awareness through the challenging task of curating installations in hospital settings and engages patients with contemporary art in even the most hostile of environments.

RxArt works with healthcare staff and art professionals to consider the most appropriate artwork for specific settings.  It may be commissioned or they may purchase existing pieces.  The collection contains works by artists who are household names and whose work is exhibited in museums worldwide including Jeff Koons, William Wegman, Sol LeWitt, Mary Heilmann and Frank Stella.

The art comes at no cost to the institutions, but even so, Brown says it was initially difficult to get hospitals to participate.  It was a new idea but eventually one hospital accepted.  RxArt has so far completed 18 projects and is currently working on new projects in Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, California and New York.  In Boston, artist John Monti covered the children’s hospital walls with flower-like 3-D patterns.  In Oak Lawn, Ill.  Jeff Koons’ iconic characters found a permanent home on a CT Scanner and surrounding exam room in the hospital’s radiology department. And in New York, artist Jason Middlebrook has painted a glorious array of flowers and seeds in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Hardly any of us can deny the uplifting effect looking at a beautiful piece of art can have. Joan Sorich, the unit’s nurse manager, recalls one of the nurses telling her that the paintings just made her feel happy.  But for Sorich, the paintings are also a part of the healing process.

“We get so close to the patients and their families, it really tugs at you,” she says, “but I think having the [paintings] here … really represents our mission: life giving.  We try to help people heal and not only physically and physiologically heal and recover, but also emotionally, spiritually — everything.  I think the paintings touch on so many parts for people.”

In addition to their work in hospitals, RxArt publishes a coloring book, Between the Lines, which they distribute in their partner health facilities.  It is also available for purchase and all proceeds go to RxArt and their projects.

To learn more visit: http://www.rxart.net/

Project Africa- Orphanages in Nigeria

There are over 14 million orphans in Africa because of HIV/AIDs, malnutrition, and other diseases.  These children often have no place to go or are forced into crime and prostitution to survive.  Many of the girls forced into prostitution then themselves contract diseases and have children and the cycle begins again.

Project Africa of the I AM World Mission Outreach (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization) is working to help alleviate some of this based on the philosophy that “one person can make a difference.” After visiting Nigeria and seeing the poverty many children lived in first hand, Roy Wanta’s heart was changed forever and he decided to start an organization with the hope of eliminating part of Nigeria’s growing troubles.

Project Africa has:

• Started Manna Children’s Home and Education Center, which currently houses 45 orphans and helps more than 300 children daily. An attached clinic provides free basic medical care for the orphans in the Children’s home as well as the surrounding community.
• Started building a safe home for girls with the aim of keeping them off the streets and out of prostitution.  They have refurbished sewing machines to help the girls learn skills that will support them.
• Plans to start a well drilling project to provide safe drinking water. Some women walk hours a day just to obtain water that is contaminated with disease and dirt.   Water will be free for all people in the community and excess water could be sold to help pay for teachers’ salaries.
• Through private donations, the orphanage was able to purchase land to plant pineapples and raise hogs in an effort to be somewhat self-sustaining. This will also be a teaching tool for the children to learn about horticulture and animal husbandry.

Project Africa is always looking for volunteers who have skills that will help them reach their goals, especially people with construction or medical skills.

For more information please visit http://www.missionprojectafrica.com/

Thank you to Roy Wanta for calling Shine Global to share his reaction to WAR/DANCE and the story of Project Africa.

2011 is “Year of the Farmworker Child”

Washington, D.C.(Vocus/PRWEB)
January 13, 2011

Today the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) announced they have designated 2011 the “Year of the Farmworker Child.” Starting in January, AFOP will devote twelve months to raising awareness about the hardships faced by migrant farmworker youth. In addition, AFOP and other supporters of the “Year of the Farmworker Child” will seek to increase public knowledge concerning the discriminatory agricultural exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which regulates child labor in the U.S.

“Children in agriculture labor longer and under more hazardous conditions than they are permitted to do in almost any other American industry,” said AFOP Executive Director David Strauss. “In 2011, we will work with our members, other organizations, and communities to help promote a greater understanding of the impact this kind of life has on children’s safety, health and education, as part of our ongoing effort to help today’s farmworker youth create better futures for themselves.”

Agriculture is currently the third-most dangerous industry in the United States, in terms of injuries and fatalities recorded on the job. For children, it is the most dangerous. Boys and girls as young as 12 years old are legally allowed to labor in agriculture for an unlimited amount of hours outside of school, using dangerous farm equipment and working in an environment that continually exposes them to pesticides-conditions deemed illegal in every other industry and that can lead to serious injury or even death. Farmworker youth are also excluded from the “hazardous work” protections imposed in all other industries, allowing children as young as 16 to operate heavy machinery and perform other dangerous functions that are strictly reserved for adults in every employment field except in agriculture.

Migrant farmworker youth working long days in the fields frequently see their educational opportunities curtailed as a result. The migratory nature of farm work means that parts of the school curriculum often have to be repeated or skipped. We have evidence that more than half of these children will not finish high school and fewer still will go on to college, forcing them to continue the cycle of poverty.

AFOP will begin the “Year of the Farmworker Child” by seeking assistance from supporters to help illuminate the issues raised by the campaign. Among the activities slated to increase awareness is AFOP’s Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Children’s Essay & Art Contest, which will begin accepting entries next month. AFOP’s Children in the Fields Campaign will conduct a variety of regional activities in support of the initiative, starting in February at the “From Harvest to Harvard” migrant student conference in Texas. AFOP’s Health and Safety Programs will also be releasing their annual publication focused on the effects of pesticides on children. For additional information on how you can become a supporter of the “Year of the Farmworker Child,” please contact Ayrianne Parks at parks[at]afop.org.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/01/13/prweb8063763.DTL#ixzz1B389gyH8

Sudan elections going well!

From David McKenzie, CNN
January 10, 2011 11:17 a.m. EST

Juba, Sudan (CNN) — Tens of thousands of people across Southern Sudan went to the polls Sunday in a historic referendum that an international election observer said appeared to have been well-handled.

“There were very, very large numbers from the early hours of this morning all day long,” said David Carroll, director of the Democracy Program at the Carter Center, in a telephone interview from Juba. “They were waiting patiently, they were in a happy, celebratory mood. They went through the process in an orderly way, largely. We saw a very meaningful, important process that the southern Sudanese are engaging in with a lot of passion.”

By the time polls opened at 8 a.m., many Sudanese had already been standing on line for hours to cast their ballots on whether the south should declare independence or remain part of a unified Sudan.

Those who were still on line at 5 p.m. were allowed to remain there until they were able to vote, he said. “It’s something that is clearly very, very important to the people of Southern Sudan.”

he Atlanta-based Carter Center has about 70 observers in Sudan and 30 observers in eight other countries where Southern Sudanese are living and voting, Carroll said.

More important than the voting, he said, is what it represents. “This is really moving Sudan into an entirely new future, and it’s meaning that the Sudanese are ready to move into a new era.”

…..Mary Dennis arrived at a polling place at 4:30 a.m. to secure her spot near the front of the line. “I had to come early,” she said. “This is a vote for our country.”

Edwina Loria, 18, was determined to cast her ballot. “I want to be a first-class citizen,” she said, “I want independence.”

John Baptiste and his friend showed up before 4 a.m. They sat on the ground with a radio to monitor news of the day’s events.

“I am on a mission,” Baptiste said. “My mission is to vote. We have waited for 50 years, and we want to be separate. We have planned for many days to be here first.”

To read the full article and to see the video reports please visit http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/09/sudan.vote/index.html?hpt=C1

Preventing Child Marriage act killed in the House

Non-governmental organizations, women’s rights advocates, and lawmakers from both parties spent years developing and lobbying for the “International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010,” which the House failed to pass in a vote Thursday. The bill failed even though 241 Congressmen voted for it and only 166 voted against, because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) brought it up under “suspension of the rules.” This procedure has the advantage of not allowing any amendments or changes to the bill, but carries the disadvantage of requiring two-thirds of the votes for passage.

Even still, supporters in both parties fully expected the bill to garner the 290 votes needed – right up until the bill failed. After all, it passed the Senate unanimously Dec. 1 with the co-sponsorship of several Republicans, including Appropriations Committee ranking Republican Thad Cochran (R-MS), Foreign Relations Committee member Roger Wicker (R-MS), and human rights advocate Sam Brownback (R-KS).

If passed, the bill would have authorized the president to provide assistance “to prevent the incidence of child marriage in developing countries through the promotion of educational, health, economic, social, and legal empowerment of girls and women.” It would have also mandated that the administration develop a multi-year strategy on the issue and that the State Department include the incidence of forced child marriage during its annual evaluation of countries’ human rights practices.

Incoming House Foreign Affairs chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) first argued that the bill was simply unaffordable. She objected to the cost of the bill, which would be $108 million over five years, and criticized it for not providing an accounting of how much the U.S. was already spending on this effort. The actual CBO estimate said the bill would authorize $108 million, but would only require $67 million in outlays from fiscal years 2011 to 2015.

Regardless, the supporters still thought the bill would pass because House Republican leadership had not come out against it. But about one hour before the vote, every Republican House office received a message on the bill from GOP leadership, saying that leadership would vote “no” on the bill and encouraging all Republicans do the same. The last line on the alert particularly shocked the bill’s supporters: “There are also concerns that funding will be directed to NGOs that promote and perform abortion and efforts to combat child marriage could be usurped as a way to overturn pro-life laws,” the alert read. The bill doesn’t contain any funding for abortion activities and federal funding for abortion activities is already prohibited by what’s known as the “Helms Amendment,” which has been boiler plate language in appropriations bills since 1973.

The main author of the bill was Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), who was incensed when the bill failed in the House. “The action on the House floor stopping the Child Marriage bill tonight will endanger the lives of millions of women and girls around the world,” Durbin said in a Thursday statement. “These young girls, enslaved in marriage, will be brutalized and many will die when their young bodies are torn apart while giving birth. Those who voted to continue this barbaric practice brought shame to Capitol Hill.”

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 60 million girls in developing countries now between the ages of 20 and 24 were married before they reached 18. The Population Council, a group focused on reproductive and child health, estimates that the number will increase by 100 million over the next decade if current trends continue.

To read more: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/12/17/how_ileana_ros_lehtinen_killed_the_bill_to_prevent_forced_child_marriages

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