LA ISLA IN THE NEWS

IPS - JAN 2012 - El Salvador: Pesticides Fill Graveyards in Rural Villages

Sitting in the shade under a tree at a careful distance, Francisco Sosa watches his son prepare the land for planting by spraying the weeds with an herbicide from a tank carried on his back.

The 60-year-old Salvadoran farmer would like to help his son Saúl, 25, but on doctor’s orders, he can’t. Like many other peasant farmers in this rural community in the southeast of El Salvador, he suffers from chronic renal insufficiency.

“The doctors told me not to spray poison anymore, that it could complicate my illness further,” Sosa told IPS on his farm in Nueva Esperanza, a rural community of around 500 people that was settled in the 1990s in the Bajo Lempa region in the province of Usulután on El Salvador’s Pacific coast. [Read More]

ProPublica + SLATE - DEC 2011 - Dubious Medicine, Dirty Underwear, and Gas Drillers

Thousands of Sugar Cane Workers Die as Wealthy Nations Stall on Solutions

Center for Public Integrity
Kidney failure has become a near epidemic among sugarcane workers in Central America. Since 2005, at least 2,800 men have died each year. Researchers suspect a toxin may be a trigger. But nobody knows for sure, in part because governments and international aid agencies have failed to investigate. 

Contributed by @ericuman

NTN Television - DEC 2011 - Enfermedad renal crónica está acabando con la vida de los hombres en Centro América

Investigadores tratan de establecer las causas de una enfermedad renal crónica que está afectando a gran cantidad de hombres en Centro América, ha llamado la atención de epidemiólogos alrededor del mundo, por que no se conoce su origen. [Video]

Confidencial - DEC 2011 - Miles de cañeros mueren por Enfermedad Renal

LA ISLA, Nicaragua —Maudiel Martínez tiene 19 años de edad y una tímida sonrisa, una maraña de pelo negro y rizado y un cuerpo delgado y muscular debido a sus años de trabajo en los cultivos de caña de azúcar. Durante la mayor parte de su adolescencia fue un joven saludable y fuerte que pasaba sus días talando las altas cañas con su machete. [Read More]

A Cycle of Death: Inside Nicaragua’s Sugar Cane Fields

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Written by Jason Glaser

The video here focuses on the community of La Isla de Viudas (The Isle of Widows) outside of Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, but it is a powerful introduction to a much larger global issue. Sadly, the stories shared are in no way isolated or limited to this area. Throughout the sugarcane industry in Central America child labor is rampant, widows from this disease far too common and young workers will likely not escape their fate, many will perish as their fathers have.

None of the usual causes of CKD have been linked to this new form of the disease and no adequate treatment exists for those affected making it a death sentence. Worldwide cases of CKD often correspond with hypertension and diabetes; however, research concludes that no correlation between these traditional causes has been made in this context.

Getting sick often means losing your job as companies attempt to distance themselves from responsibility by testing and then firing sick workers. With the need for labor still present workers enlist with subcontractors.  When they are finally too sick to work their sons illegally work in their place. Despite the legal age being 18 for this type of work, in Nicaragua boys as young as sixteen are now coming down with the disease, their hope for a better life dashed.
This cycle of death ends futures and stymies any hope for meaningful development in the region.  Read more…

Recommended links

• http://upsidedownworld.org/main/international-archives-60/3355-thousands-of-sugar-cane-workers-die-as-wealthy-nations-stall-on-solutions
• http://www.theworld.org/2011/12/kidney-disease-epidemic/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16007129
• http://youtu.be/x9UZ1hbfPPw

Jason Glaser is the president of La Isla Foundation and can be contacted at laislafoundation(at)gmail.com. Tom Laffay is the director of Tierra Unida Films based in Leon, Nicaragua and can be contacted attierraunidafilms(at)gmail.com.

La Isla Foundation 2011 Holiday Newsletter

Hello Everyone!

As 2011 draws to a close, we want to express our gratitude to everyone who helped us make this year another successful one for La Isla Foundation.  As we continue to expand our efforts, we hope you know none of what we have accomplished would be possible without you.  Your donations of time and money make this type of work possible, and are necessary to affect the type of change we all hope to see in our world.

While we continue to develop as an organization and broaden our funding sources, we would like to thank you for your monthly donations.  This money funds many of our project expenses and staff costs which allows us to continue the work we carry out in the community.

For those who are able to donate and haven’t already, please visit our website, laislafoundation.org, where you can find donation options on the left.  With your continued support, we can beat this epidemic!

Remember, there are many other ways to support La Isla Foundation from our Spanish School, Travel Program and Volunteering opportunities.  Go to our website to learn more.

The Community

In the community of La Isla this past year, we have successfully implemented a number or projects that improve infrastructure, broaden employment options, and secure healthier livelihoods.

English classes continue to thrive at the primary school, and are now being offered for adults at the renovated community center.  Thanks to donations, we now have a library of over 200 English and Spanish books,  allowing kids and adults to continue their education.  We’ve also begun teaching computer classes in the community center on six computers (donated by our wonderful supporters) which will help increase the available tools of the entire community.  With funding from Project Gettysburg-León we were able to bring 4 toilets to the primary school to provide more sanitary conditions.

After school art and soccer clubs are a giant hit with the kids, and most recently soccer giant Puma has kindly donated soccer equipment to be awarded to top academic performers and the community as a whole.  Gooooooaaaaaaalllll!

With the help of community coordinator Roberto Hernandez, the community now has a Women’s Cooperative that has become the epicenter of many new endeavors. One of the most promising projects has been the Women’s Cooperative sewing classes. With 4 sewing machines in place and more on the way, members are being taught new skills and will soon be able to make school uniforms, clothing for the community, and La Isla Foundation merchandise which we can help them sell to to supplement their household incomes.

All said, some very positive developments for the community, with more to come.

Alliances

This past summer saw an increased number of institutions pledging long-term commitment to the cause and the community.

Nate Raines, a first-year med student at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, helped facilitate a relationship between the school and the community that will support medical care as well as research into the epidemic.

French hydration research leader Danone Research is funding a lab study with our partners at Colorado University to look into the links between dehydration and the chronic kidney disease epidemic.  Stay tuned for developments.

Outreach

As La Isla Foundation’s success on-the-ground has grown, we have been able to increase awareness about the kidney disease epidemic and the well-being of the community. Founder Jason Glaser recently returned from a month long trip across Europe and the United States that reached thousands of concerned and previously unaware individuals.

In Europe, La Isla Foundation was able to speak in ten different countries to help raise awareness across the continent.  Each country brought something new to the cause, including: a possible collaboration on labor rights in Sweden; funding for a welding cooperative from generous individuals in Venice, Italy; funding for community projects from Cafe Averechts in Utrecht, Holland; a fundraiser at The White Horse in Suffolk, England that brought in $1,800; and very interesting academic collaborations from individuals at University of Edinburgh and University of London.

Across the pond, speaking events at Wilkes University, Temple, and University of Scranton in Pennsylvania generated a lot of volunteer interest for summer trips to the community, and talks at Ohio University, Harvard, and Boston University connected us to researchers exploring similar health issues.  We were also able to spend an evening with some fantastic people from the Northeast Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation, who shared many insights on the continued battle for labor rights all over the world.  We ended the month with a great fundraiser at The Counting Room in Brooklyn, NY that brought in over $1000.

What’s Next

Through all of the wonderful people we’ve met there is a lot on the agenda for 2012.  We’ll be sending an update on the coming year shortly

We’d like to close by reiterating our appreciation for all the donated time and money that helps us perform our jobs in the community.  As we seek to expand our operations and funding opportunities, we rely on the continued support of everyone to sustain our efforts. 

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

La Isla Foundation

@LaIslaFdn  | www.facebook.com/laislafoundation