Day Three in D.C.!

Day three in D.C.! Today the Micah Corps learned entirely new lessons on justice at the federal level. First thing in the morning, our Nebraska group (including pastors from Nebraska and individuals who work for and with the Nebraska Annual Conference) visited with day laborers at a Home Depot here in D.C. We got the privilege of passing out breakfast pastries and juice, and chit-chatting (mostly in Spanish) with men who were glad to have the company and the food. The majority of the day laborers were Latinos who were looking for work from contractors, businesses, and individuals needing help fixing or building something. These day laborers would come every day and sit for hours upon hours waiting for their opportunity. A man named Arturo Griffiths, from DC Jobs with Justice, briefed us on some of the issues the day laborers face. Often, workers will be picked up, work all day, and not get paid. Other times, they will get picked up, work all day in an area fairly far away from home, and not be given a ride back home. There are other cases of general maltreatment of workers. However, these people feel like this is generally a good way to make enough money to support their families. Arturo hopes to organize all these workers who are currently just sitting out in the Home Depot parking lot into a small building next to Home Depot and track the workers as well as the employers, to prevent wage theft and protect other rights of both the employer and the worker.

The Micah Corps at the National Mall!
(Washington Monument behind us.)

Next on the agenda was heading back to the General Conference Office to hear a little from Mayuris Pimentel, an immigration attourney. She told us quite a bit of critical information on the immigration system and the legal aspects of immigrating to the United States.

John Hill, Director of Economic and Environmental Justice of the General Board of Church and Society was up next, teaching us some ins and outs of the federal budget. We split into three groups and created our "ideal" government budget; in other words, what we would spend if we were in charge. We then discussed what the actual figures are for the federal government spending, and how we might make an impact on changing or maintaining certain aspects of the budget that we feel should take priority.

After a delicious lunch at Union Station, the Micah Corps was ready for an afternoon full of more fascinating people to hear stories from and ask questions of. First up for the afternoon was a couple of young women, Marion and Marya, who spoke about the organization Bread for the World. Bread for the World works mostly in education and advocacy for helping the poor and the hungry. Bread works closely with the justice aspect of hunger rather than the charity side. Such programs as SNAP (Food stamps) and WIC (for women with babies) are focused on by Bread for the World.

To read more on Bread for the World, browse the following link: http://www.bread.org/

We love D.C.!

The final speaker on our day's agenda was from the organization "Men Can Stop Rape". This organization focuses on preventative action against the abuse of women in any way. They go to the root of the cause of rape and sexual assault, which is stereotypes of masculinity, and challenge those stereotypes as well as make young men feel included in an atmosphere where the pressuring and maltreatment of women is unacceptable. Our group participated in an activity in which we lined up from "Most Harmful to Women" to "Least Harmful to Women" certain stereotypes, scenarios, and types of "maltreatments" of women and men.

There was never a dull moment all day! We learned about so many important issues and how they all effect one another. Tomorrow (Thursday) we will meet with Senator Johanns to speak to him about the issues we've been discussing, so catch tomorrow's blog!