3 UPCOMING EVENTS:
1. Niagara Migrant Worker Health Fair - Sunday, June 24 at the
Centennial Arena in Virgil, Niagara-on-the-Lake, 2-6pm. Volunteers,
particularly (but not exclusively) Spanish speaking, are needed to come
and assist at the fair. This is your chance to interact with and learn
more about migrant farm workers and get to know the people at the
Migrant Workers Interest Group-Niagara. Please be in touch with Janet if
you're interested in coming. We need a volunteer count in advance.
Carpooling can potentially be arranged. Come out and support this
exciting initiative!
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2.
This Monday, June 11 and Tuesday, June 12, CBC Ontario Today is planning
to feature discussions about temporary foreign workers on the show.
Please tune in and call in if you have experiences you'd like to share,
or encourage any workers you may know to do so. http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/2012/06/08/june-11-12-temporary-foreign-workers-in-ontario/
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3. Finally, below please find an invitation from Chris Ramsaroop, of
Justicia for Migrant Workers. Chris has been actively involved in
supporting the survivors and families of the Hampstead crash which
killed ten agricultural workers in our area. They would like to organize
a memorial this July to commemorate the six month anniversary of the
tragedy in our region. Please read his message below and be in touch
with him if you're willing to take part at
<ramsaroopchris@gmail.com>. As you may recall one of the original
intentions of the WRMWIG was to organize an action around this tragedy,
given that these workers lived in our region. We hope that some WRMWIG
members will step up to help make this a reality.
Message from Chris Ramsaroop:
Some of us in Justicia have had conversations with the survivors of the
Hampstead accident about organizing an event to commemorate the
accident and to remember the victims. The weekend of July 6/7th will be
the sixth month anniversary of the accident and some of us in J4MW want
to organize around this date (either that weekend or the following
weekend) so that the accident is not forgotten nor our calls for an
inquest into the accident.
We have proposed the idea to several
groups of workers as well as the survivors of the accident and it seems
that there is keen interest to organize something. The survivors have
requested going to the site of the accident and doing a vigil there.
Around the time of the accident I know that we had discussed about
organizing an event in Kitchener and possibly driving as a caravan to
the site. I think that it would be great to revisit the idea. If we can
get a space in Kitchener to hold and event with some music, speakers
(and some food) we could have people meet in Kitchener as a central
location and from there drive up as a caravan. I wanted to put this out
to see if there is local community interest in this event and if there
would be a few people willing to help with this action
Contact: <ramsaroopchris@gmail.com>
ALL WELCOME!
In(visible) Body-Mapped Stories of Latin American Undocumented Workers in the GTA, Toronto
Where: Toronto City Hall, Rotunda on the Ground Floor (100 Queen Street West, Corner of Queen Street W. & Bay Street)
When: June 26-28, 2012
Opening Presentation & Research Findings Launch:
Tuesday June 26, 2012 @ 5PM
Exhibition Open to the Public:
Tuesday June 26 – Thursday June 28, 2012 10AM-8PM
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
This exhibition is based on a research project led by Dr. Denise
Gastaldo (Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto) and Dr.
Lilian Magalhaes (Department of Occupational Therapy, Western
University), which utilized drawing and painting techniques with Latin
American undocumented workers in the GTA to help them tell their
migration and settlement journeys to Canada. Through their body maps,
workers convey their reasons for leaving their countries of origin, for
coming and staying in Canada, the work they perform here, and the health
consequences (social, mental and physical) of living without the
protection of citizenship. On display, are 20 body maps, which are
impressive, 2-meter high, translucent prints that visually represent
workers’ migration stories.
The title of the exhibition, “In(Visible)”, captures the in-between presence of this population:
-Visible because it is estimated that there are half a million
undocumented workers living and working in Canada; mostly in the Greater
Toronto Area. Invisible because most Canadians believe they don’t know
an undocumented worker.
-Visible because they produce wealth
and essential services that Canadians utilize for everyday living.
Invisible because they use strategies to remain unnoticed within the
multicultural mosaic of the GTA.
The key findings of the
research study will be presented on the opening night of the exhibition.
These findings draw from a comprehensive e-book written for the general
public entitled, “Entangled in a Web of Exploitation and Solidarity”.
The e-book will be available for downloading in late June 2012 from: www.migrationhealth.ca
