After the two-year commemoration of the earthquake in Haiti, UUSC staff and members of the Main Line Unitarian Church set out to help our Haitian partners continue rebuilding their homes, their lives, and their spirits. Far beyond dire headlines and photos depicting a Haiti not worth saving, we met and stood shoulder to shoulder with Haitians who are building a sustainable future for themselves. Let me share some of their stories in the context of some important legislation.

In January, Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) introduced the Haiti Empowerment, Assistance, and Rebuilding (HEAR) Act of 2012 (H.R. 3771). The bill states, "Haiti cannot afford to only focus on its immediate needs... but should build back better." We work with Haitians who are doing just that. If passed, this bill would ensure that U.S. funds for the reconstruction support the following, all of which tie into work we're doing with an on-the-ground partner:

1. "Local communities, grassroots groups, peasant movements, and women's organizations should play a central role in the rebuilding of Haiti"
   
   UUSC is proud to be partnering with Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP), a national grassroots organization with more than 60,000 members (men, women, and youth). They support peasants (farmers) by empowering them through sustainable livelihoods, organic farming, and political organizing.

2. "Affordable long-term housing, energy, clean water, sanitation services"
   
   After providing initial emergency aid to thousands of people fleeing Port-au-Prince, MPP created a new model of rebuilding — an eco-village — using their firsthand understanding of displaced people's needs. With support from UUSC, the initial village has been completed, including 10 homes, 6 communal kitchens, a community center, compost latrines, a solar-powered pump well, and land for farming. Though they lost so much in the earthquake, the village's 10 families are pioneering a new way of life in the rural Central Plateau.

3. "Food security and rural agriculture development" that are "environmentally sustainable and respectful and restorative of Haiti's natural resources"
   
   MPP has trained these families in sustainable, organic farming practices that will enable them to feed their families, generate income, and protect the environment. Along with ensuring food security, MPP has embarked on a massive reforestation project, producing and disseminating 1,000,000 tree seedlings. They continue to look for and use appropriate technologies that conserve water, by using tire gardens and drip-irrigation systems, and trees, by making charcoal with agriculture refuse.

4. "Investments in people, particularly women and children"
   
   Organizing, protecting, and empowering women and children is central to MPP's mission. We met women and youth of MPP who are actively embracing the movement's empowerment principles. Many families are using tire gardens and cisterns to not only feed themselves but to earn income. One family we met — a single mom with three daughters — has begun using this technology to grow their food and pay for school fees. MPP is supporting these young women, who walk two hours to school each way, in attaining their goals. One of them dreams of becoming a doctor.

5. "Programs to address land use, land tenure, land for reconstruction, and land price escalation issues"
   
   This is integral to rebuilding Haiti. The land that will be home to 60 families was donated by an MPP farming co-op. Unfortunately, it's in short supply. Upwards of 40 percent of land in Haiti is owned by the Catholic Church and the Haitian government; fertile land stays fallow because farmers can't grow on it. It was amazing to see farmers growing lush vegetables on postage-stamp-size lots while acres around them lie dormant. One farmer shared that he wanted to grow more but didn't have access to land.

These are just a few people who are working for a just recovery in Haiti. It is time for the U.S. government to support programs like this that are making real changes for survivors of the earthquake. The HEAR Act would direct up to $2 billion in funding over the next two years to support sustainable long-term recovery and ensure that grassroots organizations like MPP are included in the reconstruction.

In the words of Representative Conyers, "Two years after its devastating earthquake, stability and long-term recovery in Haiti remains elusive. If we are to fulfill the commitments made by the American people in the weeks and months following that terrible tragedy, the United States must establish and commit to a long-term reconstruction assistance plan." Support our partners and the people they serve in Haiti by encouraging policy makers to support a just recovery through the HEAR Act.

To learn more about our trip, check out a recording of the From the Ground Up webinar from Haiti.

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) on a joint volunteer trip to Haiti, January 21. In the post below, trip participant Kara Smith of UUSC shares her thoughts on the progress made so far and on the journey to help rebuild the community and lives of earthquake survivors in Haiti. The UUA-UUSC Haiti Volunteer Program is made possible through the contributions of UUA and UUSC donors and a generous grant from the Veatch Program of the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, in Manhasset, N.Y.

I boarded the plane for Haiti this morning. As I packed and readied myself for the trip, questions ran through my head in a continuous loop, mostly about what it will be like two years after a massive earthquake struck.

Last Thursday our team was readying ourselves, going over logistics and schedules, and we paused for a moment of silence to reflect on the two-year commemoration. As I said a prayer for all those who perished and for those who survived, I said to myself, "This is why we do this work."

Since the earthquake, UUSC has worked with partners as they work for a just recovery. I am privileged to work for an organization that understands the meaning of the human struggle for human rights. It is about helping one person at a time, treating them with dignity and compassion as we build together for a better future.

Today I am on my way to meet some of the amazingly brave and powerful people whose blood, sweat, and tears are part of the mortar of rebuilding Haiti — and making it a Haiti in which all who struggle for voice, agency, and inclusion in the recovery process are respected. We will visit with partners in Port-au-Prince who are working to ensure sustainable access to food, providing skills trainings and income-generation projects, and helping protect women and girls from gender-based violence. Then we will head to the Central Plateau to work with the Papaye Peasant Movement for a UUSC-UUA JustWorks service-learning trip.

I feel truly privileged to be a part of this journey, through the work that I do at UUSC and the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners on the ground. I invite you to join our webinar From the Ground Up on January 26 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) to hear a bit more about our trip and UUSC's work in Haiti.

November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1999 to raise public awareness of the prevalence of violence against women. By commemorating this day, the international community recognizes that the protection of women is essential to the protection fundamental freedoms, stating that "the human rights of women and of the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights."

Violence against women — one of the most pervasive violations of human rights around the world — affects women's abilities to achieve legal, social, political and economic equality. With that in mind, UUSC empowers women around the world by partnering with grassroots groups that organize to protect women and girls in their communities.

• We are confronting sexual violence in Haiti with the Commission of Women Victims for Victims (known by its Haitian acronym KOFAVIV) by coordinating with camp leaders, police, and health-care providers.

• We are creating alternative incomes for practitioners of female genital mutilation with the Women Make Change project with the Nandi women of the Kakamega district in Kenya to support the abandonment of this practice.

• We are weaving a web of protection for women and girls in Darfur through partnerships with Sudanese religious leaders who provide trainings on the theological basis for women's rights.

• We are addressing the vulnerability of women and girls caused by famine and drought in East Africa, working with Caritas Garissa and the Daughters of St. Anne in Wajir and Garissa, with a focus on preventing early marriage and trafficking.

As we work with partners around the world to protect women, we need your help to ensure that U.S. policy makers are doing all that they can for women, too! The original resolution establishing the day to end violence against women calls for the full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). To mark this day, we invite you to order women's-rights postcards and campaign materials you can share with your community to raise awareness about CEDAW and women's rights. 

We have the goal to collect 3,000 postcards by February 15 to be delivered to Senator John Kerry's office on International Women's Day, March 8, 2012. Order yours today and share them with your community.

Halloween is a scarily successful time for selling chocolate in the United States. With 42.5 percent of the market, Hershey — the maker of Hershey's Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Hershey's Kisses — is a leader on sales but not on human rights. In the last 10 years, they have lagged behind their competitors in ensuring that that child labor is not used and that the rights of workers and farmers are respected in the production process. Tell Hershey today that child labor is unacceptable.

UUSC supporters across the country have practiced compassionate consumption by promoting fair trade and ethical eating. And almost 1,200 supporters have signed UUSC's Choose Compassionate Consumption pledge, furthering their commitment to make value-driven purchasing decisions.

Today, we ask you to join with over 50,000 consumers nationwide who have signed petitions asking Hershey to "raise the bar" and go fair trade. Through this campaign led by UUSC's collaborative partners Green America and Global Exchange, send a message to Hershey that it is time for the company to live up to its commitment to end forced and child labor!

Join with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), the Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition (TASSC), UUSC, and Unitarian Universalist congregations throughout the United States by working to prevent torture everywhere on Human Rights Day (December 10).

In collaboration with UUSC and TASSC, NRCAT has developed a variety of resources to support your activism. Download postcards, worship materials, videos, and discussion guides you can use to take action and share with your congregation. 

We celebrate the passage into law of four bills in the California human-right-to-water bill package. After months of hard work, the following four bills have become law:

• A.B. 983, which will help communities access funds for drinking-water systems
• A.B. 1221, which will allow communities to be eligible for already allocated clean-up funds
• A.B. 938, which will make sure people know what is in their water
• S.B. 244, which will require cities to develop plans for providing service to small communities

This is a tremendous victory. With leadership from the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of California (UULMCA) and UULMCA Executive Director Rev. Lindi Ramsden, and from our partners Environmental Water Justice Coalition, Community Water Center, and Food and Water Watch, Unitarian Universalists in California have helped their state take an enormous step forward in ensuring safe, sufficient, and affordable water for all.

Over 550 UUSC members and supporters from 37 states sent letters to UULMCA thanking them for their strong witness for the human right to water (see selections below). 

At UUSC we extend our deepest gratitude for those who have worked tirelessly over the last few years to support the human right to water in California. We celebrate this victory today and stand in solidarity with all those promoting the human right to water — in our own communities; in California as they continue the work to pass A.B. 685, the human-right-to-water bill, in this next legislative year; and for all those who lack access to drinking water and sanitation throughout the world.

Moving messages of gratitude from UUSC members and supporters

At such a cynical and crucial time, your work in saving lives is inspirational. —Alabama

Here in Alaska, where we seem to have plenty of fresh water, the glaciers that provide most of our water are melting.  In the near future, we may find ourselves in a quite different situation. —Alaska

I enthusiastically support your human justice work. —Arizona.

As a California resident, every day I witness the need for water rights to be extended to everyone. —California

You are an inspiration to those of us who are early in our investigation into the issues surrounding water in our communities. Thank you. —Colorado

As we expand our values into the new challenges facing us as humans on earth, your work with water rights leads us into important new understanding and advocacy. I am personally very grateful for your example. —Connecticut

Thank you for your vigilance and courage in this struggle for a more just and compassionate world. —Washington, D.C.

You can be proud of how you are putting our Unitarian Universalist values to action. You are truly living our great tradition — an inspiration to all UUs and hopefully to all people of faith. —Florida

Right on to my sisters and brothers in spirit and social justice! —Georgia

Along with Unitarian Universalists across the country, I am grateful for how hard you have worked to advance the human right to water in California and around the world. —Illinois

Please continue your hard work to ensure that all Californians have safe and affordable drinking water! As a UU in Indiana, I am 100 percent in support of your efforts and wish you the best! —Indiana

Access to water is a basic human need and right that most of us in the United States take for granted. —Louisiana

Your service is an answer to our prayers. —Maine

Your model for your work will aid other such efforts. —Maryland

We will cheer you on, follow your inspiration, and in concert with fellow supporters, pursue achieving this essential right for all people. We will be following your efforts and joining forces wherever possible. Thanks for your courage and perseverance. —Massachusetts

Thanks and ever thanks again for your inspiring, informed, compassionate activism. —Michigan

Your action makes me proud to be a UU. —Minnesota

Water is essential to life. What a remarkable difference you have made in so many lives. I applaud you. —Missouri

Here in Nebraska, we are also protecting our water supply by blocking the Keystone XL pipeline. Thank you for your important work. —Nebraska

I think we should also demand clean, safe water for everyone. —Nevada

The world is a better place for us all because you have stood and worked for that which is right, honorable, life-giving, and necessary. A huge accomplishment in a world where "NO" is spoken with a shrillness that deafens those with values and concern. Thank you and may blessings abound. —New Hampshire

I join Unitarian Universalists across the country to thank you for all of your hard work. —New Jersey

I would like to share that my heart is with you as you work on this project. My spirit soars anytime I hear of others working on such important work. Thank you, thank you, thank you. —New Mexico

Accessibility to clean water is such a basic, yet elusive, right in many parts of the world. Thank you for your efforts. —New York

The right to water is one of our most pressing social issues and one that is often overlooked. Thank you for being at the vanguard of the movement to preserve this human right. I very much appreciate all the work you have done and are doing to bring safe and affordable water to all Californians. —North Carolina

Those of us who never have to think about access to water, and safe water at that, cannot fully appreciate the difficulty of life without this precious resource. But, we can try to understand and fight for the rights of those who maybe do not have a voice. —Ohio

Thank you, thank you, thank you! —Oklahoma

Thank you for your inspired and inspiring efforts. —Oregon

California has long been recognized as a leader in promoting and implementing many social and environmental causes and this is another example. The passing of these bills should be a springboard for other states, at the federal level and the entire world community. Thanks for living your principles as UUs. —Pennsylvania

I hope this is just the start of many other efforts elsewhere. Water is a basic need!Thank you.—Rhode Island

Everyone needs the right to safe and clean water. —South Carolina

Keep up the good work. It makes me proud to be UU. —Texas

All of us working together, UUs as well as non-UUs, for the good of all, with full hearts, ARE making a difference that is not noted in mass media, but is being felt in the core of humanity. —Vermont

It has been said, "Water is life," and I truly believe this is so. It should be the birthright of all people, and all living things. —Virginia

I'm proud of us all — your congregations, our congregation, and UUSC. —Washington

Human rights are precious and a victory anywhere is a victory for all of us. —Wisconsin

Clean water is critical to most of the regions of the world. Please set an example that can be replicated globally. —Paris, France

"Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."

—Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948

As evidenced in massive protests around the country, many of us are questioning whether the world we live in today is based on this principle.

Some demonstrators are speaking out against corporate greed, some are demanding an end to wars that funnel precious resources, some are fed up with the jobless recovery, some are mourning the death of the American Dream, and some are protesting a government and its officials who are controlled by corporations.

But all are united in declaring that "we are the 99 percent" and are fed up with being exploited by wealthy and powerful interests.

In a call to action, one of the organizers of Occupy Wall Street wrote:

 

"We are unions, students, teachers, veterans, first responders, families, the unemployed and underemployed. We are all races, sexes and creeds. We are the majority. We are the 99 percent. And we will no longer be silent."

All of us who believe in the principles of the UDHR and of Unitarian Universalism are called to stand for fairness, justice and equality. 

UUSC envisions a movement in which people from across the economic spectrum, including the marginalized and the wealthy, join together to build a compassionate and economically just society. We understand that we have both rights and responsibilities. We have the responsibility to support those in our world who are most vulnerable, whose voices are suppressed, who do not have a seat at the table. 

At UUSC, we applaud those who are speaking up to protect human rights for the entire human family. UUSC's approach to social justice is to work in eye-to-eye partnership, supporting grassroots organizations, building coalitions, and lifting up the voices of affected communities. This is how we have been doing our work for more than seventy years, because we know that when we build a movement together, we all succeed.