Monthly Archives: January 2014

On the Road to Santa Cruz

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Guyana, The Writer's Life

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Road through jungle - Barima-Waini Region - GuyanaRoad through the jungle – Barima-Waini Region – Guyana
Photo Credit: It’s Always Sunny in Guyana Blogspot

 

I have started work on my second novel. It’s a journey back to my final year as a high school teacher at the Mabaruma Secondary School in Guyana’s northwest region. Whenever I think of that year, I relive the days I walked alone with God along the red dirt road through the jungle to and from school. At the time, I lived in Santa Cruz (fictitious name for the indigenous Amerindian settlement) located on a hilltop some five miles distant from Mabaruma, the administrative center of what is now called the Barima-Waini Region.

On the Road to Santa Cruz, my working title, is a story about jealousy and betrayal. Attractive, twenty-six-year-old Sister Barbara Lovell, the only child of an Afro-Guyanese father and Indo-Guyanese mother, is a teacher of the religious community, Sisters of Christ the Redeemer. When conflict erupts with Sister Frances Stang, a German-American missionary who also teaches at the Mabaruma high school, Sister Barbara’s life is turned inside-out. Her adversary is a powerful force. The surrounding forest offers no refuge.

The story is set during the period 1979 to 1980, covering events leading up to the assassination of Walter Rodney on 13 June 1980. Betrayed by a man in whom he trusted. Wrenched from us at 38 years old. The Guyana-born scholar and historian, a frontline leader of the political group, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), had become a threat to the dictatorship government.

Following his return to Guyana in 1974, Walter Rodney succeeded in bringing together racially divided blacks and Indians at his public meetings.

“For the first time they were listening and looking at each other as brothers, comrades, that there was some common bond,” writes Abbyssinian Carto, a WPA activist in the struggle and civil rebellion during 1979 to 1980. “We come from different religious and different races and stuff like that, but we really are not different.” (Walter A. Rodney: A Promise of Revolution, edited by Clairmont Chung, 2012.)

The research process in novel writing is vital not only for historical accuracy, but also for developing complex, authentic characters that readers will love and hate. Influenced by Dr. Rodney’s teachings about self-emancipation, Sister Barbara’s conflict with Sister Frances takes on other undertones.

Betrayal can be a devastating experience, as it was for Sister Barbara that year in Santa Cruz. Sometimes, we may never recover from its effect on our lives. But, I believe it’s a valuable learning experience. People we think we know well are not always what they appear to be. To make matters worse, the people with power over our lives do not always have our interests at heart, though they claim to be.

Walter Rodney was prepared to risk his life to free his people from ignorance and fear. Did he die in vain?

Should We Be Concerned About the TPP?

19 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Economy and Finance, United States

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TPP - Stop Corporate Power GrabTPP – Stop Corporate Power Grab
Photo Credit: Expose the TPP

 

Have you heard or read about the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement?

This proposed free trade area of the Pacific Rim grew out of an initiative launched by the governments of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore back in 2006. They were soon joined at the negotiating table by the United States (Feb 2008), Australia (Nov 2008), Peru (Nov 2008), Vietnam (Nov 2008), Malaysia (Oct 2010), Mexico (Jun 2012), Canada (Jun 2012), and Japan (Mar 2013).

Together, these twelve nations represent nearly 40 percent of global GDP and about one-third of all global trade, larger than the European Union (EU) as a regional trade block.

Do you live in one of these twelve countries? Is your country considering joining the TPP negotiations? Does your country trade or do any business with any of these countries? If so, you may have cause for concern.

After 19 rounds of negotiations, each member nation must now vote the terms of the TPP Agreement into law. On 9 January 2014, the US Senate Committee on Finance (see their latest release) presented a Bill to Congress seeking renewal of the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) or fast track legislation to allow our President to speed up approval of the TPP Agreement. Under fast track authority, Congress has up to 90 days to vote on the Agreement. This offers little time for congressional oversight and public debate.

With only five of its 29 chapters pertaining to trade issues, the TPP Agreement is not a traditional free trade agreement. Outlines of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement published by the Office of the US Trade Representative indicate legislation will also cover environmental protection, financial regulations, government procurement policy, intellectual property, labor rights, and telecommunications.

What is unusual and alarming is that the TPP rounds of negotiations have been shrouded in secret. Members of Congress, governors, state legislators, the press, civic organizations, and we-the-public have been left out in the dark. On the other hand, multinational corporations have had privileged access during negotiations and to the full text of this Agreement. No doubt, they have played a crucial role in framing the terms of this Agreement.

The only knowledge we-the-public have about some of the terms of the TPP is through five leaked documents. These include the draft Investment Chapter (Public Citizen verified June 2012), draft text of the Intellectual Property Rights Chapter (WikiLeaks Nov 2013), two documents showing the state of the negotiations (WikiLeaks Dec 2013), draft text of the Environment Chapter (WikiLeaks Jan 2014), and the Report from the Chairs for Environment Chapter (released Jan 2014).

Based on what little we now know about the TPP, the diagnosis is not good. In addition to more job losses, increased threats to our environment and health, exposure to unsafe foods and products, we will face even greater challenges from global corporate power that already shackles our government.

I am very concerned about the TPP.

Brazil: Visit of Cut-and-Sew Client – The Other Side of Outsourcing

12 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Brazil, Working Life

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Stitching on Leather ChairPhoto Credit: Indigo Furniture Company – UK

 

We live in a globalized world in which outsourcing production or services to another country has become a way of doing business. For those who have lost their jobs to lower-paid, overseas workers, outsourcing is a painful reality. For workers in an emerging economy like Brazil, outsourcing offers an opportunity to rise out of poverty.

At Italbras Leather Producer & Exporter Ltd.,* I worked with a number of furniture companies worldwide that outsourced the production of their upholstery leather covers. My first and largest client was the Canadian Furniture Company* with factories in Canada and the United States. Italbras had secured this contract owing to its well-equipped factory, with emphasis on worker safety, and fair labor practices: remuneration in accordance with Brazil’s minimum wage plus additional benefits of on-site meals, private bus transport, uniforms, and a medical doctor on duty.

I had direct contact with three representatives at Canadian Furniture in purchasing, production, and quality control. They were friendly, attentive, and responsive to our needs for information and in resolving setbacks.

Production Manager Brandon* and a senior sewing instructor were our first visitors from Canadian Furniture. They came to conduct a two-week training program for the production of complete sets of two new upholstery models. The sewing instructor was a small Asian-Canadian woman in her forties. With Mr. Leonelli,* our Italian Commercial Director, and Brandon walking a little distance behind us, I escorted her to the tannery where our Export Department was located.

After asking her about her trip and hotel accommodation, I said: “The supervisor of our cut-and-sew factory is happy that you’re here. She has lots of questions for you.”

“I didn’t want to come,” she said, smiling sheepishly. “The women in my team said I shouldn’t teach everything… They’re afraid of losing their jobs.”

What could I say? Until that moment, I had not considered the consequences of our cut-and-sew operations for the sewers at Canadian Furniture Company.

The training program was intense and exhausting. Mr. Leonelli assigned me the task of acting as the English-Portuguese interpreter. I learned a few new sewing terms. I’m no professional interpreter. Occasionally, in the rapid back-and-forth exchanges, I switched the languages. I gained an appreciation for the sewing skills of our female staff. Matching up the numerous notches was tough, painstaking work. They made sewing straight line, topstitched seams look like nothing. The instructor emphasized the importance of paying attention to every detail. A tiny error could create problems when mounting the covers on the furniture frames.

Were sewers laid off at the Canadian Furniture Company as a result of outsourcing some of their production to Italbras? It was not my place to ask Brandon such questions. Besides, I was in no position to criticize a system that was working in our favor.

Until corporations change the way they do business to create value for their shareholders, workers will continue to suffer the adverse effects of outsourcing.

* Fictitious name

“The Clock” – Poem by João Cabral de Melo Neto

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Brazil, Poetry

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Wall Clock with BirdsPhoto Credit: Amor a Arte (elo7.com.br)

In my Poetry Corner January 2014, I feature the poem “O Relógio” (The Clock) numbered among the top ten favorite poems by the Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto (1920-1999). I thought the theme of the poem appropriate to begin the New Year.

João Cabral visualizes the clock as a birdcage and time, the birdsong: a song of such continuity.

According to Geneton Moraes Neto, who interviewed the poet in 1986, João Cabral de Melo Neto is, above all, rigorous with what he writes. He uses words with the precision of a doctor during surgery. He despises easy emotions. He doesn’t even want to hear about poets and writers who don’t have “intellectual interest.” And he talks about his own work with a coldness that shocks those who don’t know him.

Excerpts from the interview, regarding João Cabral’s thoughts on writing poetry and the function of the poet in the world, are available on my Poetry Corner.

As João Cabral de Melo Neto was born in Recife, the capital of the Northeastern State of Pernambuco, I have selected the song “A Vida do Viajante” (Life of a Wanderer) by Luiz Gonzaga (1912-1989), a folk singer, also born in Recife, whose music rose to prominence across Brazil.

My Haiku poem “Changing Times” was inspired by João Cabral’s concept of the clock as a birdcage. While he focused on the birdsong, I saw man trapped in the birdcage, unable to adapt to changing norms over time.

You can read João Cabral de Melo Neto’s poem in its original Portuguese and English versions at my Writer’s Website.

What Can I Do For You?

05 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Guyana, Human Behavior, Relationships

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Capoey Lake - Essequibo - GuyanaCapoey Lake – Essequibo – Guyana
Photo by Marco Basir (Guyana Times International)

 

Have you ever noticed? We forge our most enduring friendships during our years of childhood innocence. During our high school and college years, we also develop close friendships with others who share similar family backgrounds, interests or ideals. We trust our best friends with our secrets. We accept our best friends with traits that others may consider intolerable because we see their beauty and goodness. We give and receive without keeping score or weighing the advantages.

As a high school teacher and an undergraduate, majoring in geography, at the University of Guyana, I met and became friends with Alex (fictitious name), a history major. A passionate political activist, he was influential in firing my interest in Caribbean political history and the struggle of the working class.

After my career as a high school teacher ended, Alex rescued me from my secretarial job at the Georgetown Head Office of a multinational oil company. He told me about an opening for an Assistant Librarian Trainee at the University of Guyana Library. I applied and got the position.

When I left Guyana for Brazil, I lost touch with my friends. Over sixteen years later, after migrating to the United States, I learned that Alex was a family man and had built a successful career in Guyana. His political activism had not abated. Desiring to reconnect with my old friend, I obtained his e-mail address. My e-mail message was brief. Lots of time had passed since we last spoke. He might not even remember me.

Alex’s response was taut. “Hello Rose. What can I do for you?”

Although separated by time and distance, I still hold certain friends close to my heart. Alex is numbered among them. While a friend may create waves in our life, we may be just a ripple in theirs.

What can I do for you?

This simple question from an old friend speaks volumes about who we are as individuals, our relationship with others, and the society we live in. In our capitalist world, we are far too often viewed merely by our usefulness to others: as voters, consumers of goods and services, workers, or the means to some undisclosed purpose.

It is no wonder, then, that we view the actions of others with suspicion. When old friends contact us, after years of separation, we assume that they’re looking for a favor from us.

I never responded to Alex’s e-mail. Some friendships are short-lived, acting as catalysts in our lives. I am thankful for the time shared with Alex.