Debt & AIDS Event at PSU – Education and Action

For the last several months of Winter Term at PSU, we, a group of college seniors, have participated in a Senior Capstone course, International Debt Relief taught by Dr. Patricia Rumer. Our curriculum has taught us about a number of interrelated topics, such as the Millennium Development Goals, The Jubilee Act, PEPFAR, the ONE Campaign, and the issues they address such as HIV/AIDS, global poverty, and the cancellation of illegitimate debt. We worked in three groups to study the Millennium Development Goals and with community partners to create an educational/advocacy community event.
The goals 6 and 8 of the MDGs focused a public event on campus featuring film and educational speakers, Debt & AIDS: an International Perspective. The event took place on February 26, 208 at the PSU Native American Center. For many of us, this was our first attempt at creating a community event. We were extremely pleased to have Argentine Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel speak at our event. We were also grateful to have Beverly Keene, a colleague of Sr. Esquivel, who translated for him and contributed her own insights as Jubilee South coordinator. Our third speaker was Vice Provost Sean C. Smallman of PSU, who has independently conducted his own extensive research on HIV/AIDS in South America. After the presentations we had a lively Q&A session with all three speakers.
The other main component of our event was two short films, one of which was directed and produced this term by our very own classmate, Carrie Stiles. Entitled, The Haiti Resolution: A Call to Action, it effectively covers the context and history of Haiti’s odious debt, and the current legislation being pushed for its relief. The 10-minute film features footage of Desmond Tutu, Wangari Matthai, and interviews with Nancy Yuill and Beth Poteet, co-chairs, Jubilee Oregon, our community partners for the Goal 8 group. The final cut of the film will be used by Jubilee Oregon as a promotional tool, and will be posted on You Tube for further exposure.
The other film showed at our event was “Our Brother’s Keepers,” directed by Katherine Mullins. It is a documentary set in Lusaka, Zambia that gives a perspective of the AIDS crisis in Africa. The film reveals some of the social implications of debt and AIDS in Zambia. Hundreds of thousands of Zambian children have been orphaned by AIDS and this film follows two families in their fight to provide for their siblings and just survive. Throughout the film there were clips of a speech made by Stephen Lewis, former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who demonstrated the “bigger picture” of the causes and implications of debt on poor countries, like AIDS orphans. Stephen Lewis will be in Portland to speak on May 9th, World AIDS Orphans Day. If you are interested in hearing him speak, look for the details on Jubilee Oregon’s website, www.jubileeoregon.org.

ADVOCACY:

During our 10-minute break and at the conclusion of the event, our audience was able to converse with our speakers, learn more about Debt and Aids from our community partners who were tabling in the back, and most importantly, take action by sending an email or signing postcards to our congressional representatives in Oregon and Southwest

(photo from Julia Cortez, El Hispanic News, Portland, OR)

Jubilee Oregon welcomes Nobel peace laureate, Adolfo Perez Esquivel and Jubilee South Coordinator, Beverly Keene

Adolfo and Beverly founded Jubileo-Dialogo 2000 in Argentina. Adolfo won the Nobel Peace Prize in the early 1980’s for his human rights witness during the time of the rule of the generals in Argentina. He continues to make the connections between militarization and economic justice with a focus on debt cancellation. In 2005 Adolfo led a Jubilee South delegation to Haiti to address Haitian concerns about militarization and debt.

Twenty Jubilee supporters gathered at Holladay Park Plaza’s penthouse, as guests of Nancy Johns, to discuss the new phase of debt – especially in Latin America where Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia have settled their obligations with the IMF. In the case of Argentina the IMF and other creditors accepted 35 cents for every dollar owed.

The newly formed Bank of the South has promise of a new approach to regional development and lending, but grassroots organizations in South American are looking for how and what this new bank will fund and support.

Adolfo expressed his frustration with the lack of political will among Latin American governments to take strong stands against IMF policies as well as to take responsibility for the debts incurred. Ecuador is the hopeful exception as it is conducting the first official debt audit to see what debts were legitimate – e.g. benefited the people and which debts were illegitimate.

Rev. Chris Laing presented Jubilee USA t-shirts to Adolfo and Beverly in appreciation for the Jubilee North-South partnership on debt and their continued efforts to support Haiti’s citizens’ debt network.

100% Oregon Congressional Delegation Co-Sponsors Jubilee Act - House and Senate versions!

In August, 2006 two Jubilee Oregon activists, Pat Rumer and Andy Szatkowski met with Judah Ariel, Washington DC staff for Congressman Earl Blumenauer to discuss future debt cancellation legislation. Judah suggested that Jubilee Oregon organize outreach to the entire Oregon delegation with the goal of bi-partisan support of the ACT. That became Jubilee Oregon’s goal for the 2007 Sabbath year.

Education and Outreach – Winter 2007
Andy, as chair of the Jubilee OR advocacy committee, worked with others to meet with Portland-based congressional staff to discuss the elements of the proposed Jubilee ACT. Jubilee Oregon collaborated with the Portland Area Global AIDS Coalition and the Oregon Fair Trade Coalition in these visits to make the links between debt and AIDS and debt and trade.

Jubilee ACT introduced – June 2007
Congressmen Blumenauer and Wu signed on as cosponsors as soon as the ACT was introduced. Jubilee OR hired a summer intern who set up appointments and organized visits with other members of the Oregon delegation.

Fall 2007 – Rolling fast and Senate version of the bill introduced:
Jubilee Oregon and many individual Oregonians participated in the rolling fast with Rev. David Duncombe during September and October. Jubilee OR collected paper plates to send to their Congressional representatives, signed postcards and organized a special Fast Day action on Debt and AIDS.

Five Jubilee Oregon volunteers participated in the Lobby Days in mid-October and met with both Senate and House staff asking them to cosponsor. Rev. Duncombe’s fast was critical to Representative Greg Walden’s decision to cosponsor.

November-December – Advocacy with Oregon’s Senators:
At every public event for six weeks we asked people to sign letters and petitions asking Senators Smith and Wyden to cosponsor. The week before Christmas Pat Rumer received calls from both Senators advising Jubilee OR that they had signed onto the ACT as cosponsors.

Jubilee OR’s board sent thank you notes to the entire Oregon delegation. In early 2008 Jubilee OR board members met personally with Senator Smith and Congressman Blumenauer to say thanks in person and presented each with a Jubilee t-shirt.

What did we learn?
Organization, setting a clear goal, persistence PLUS lots of letters, phone calls, and personal visits convinced Oregon’s representatives and Senators that their constituency cared about this ACT and the impact it would have on debtor nations as a first step towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.