During this past week most of us took the trip to the Fellsmere farmworker community to help them with preparation for their second community garden. I had the most amazing time working with this community of people and the other volunteers. We helped them clear a plot of land of tree roots and rake the area so they could get ready to plant, one of the farmworkers said that with the amount of help we contributed in one day saved them almost a week of work. Overall this trip was a success for our class and the community. Next week I'm hoping we are able to get moving on the other fundraising events as well as, how we are going to contribute to the women to women conference on April 14th and figuring out what we are doing with our Global partner, which we now have! I think a major pitfall of our work is that aside from our fundraising, we have not actually given anything to the community we are working with, we ourselves have not constructed an event, etc., that fulfills a need that the farmworkers have expressed they have and we now have to figure out how can are going to help our global partner.
Reflection:
Going to the community garden this week illustrates what Betty Wells says in the text Women’s Activism and Globalization, “Food knits closer community ties by bringing people into a closer relationship with each other and the place where food is grown” (150). Working side by side with the farmworker community of Fellsmere is a perfect demonstration of how we as a class have worked to accomplish an understanding and closeness with this community, which is what YAYA is constantly working to create. Bells also points out how, “globalization alters power relations and gives rise to new forms of resistance” (143). When I look at what our community partner and the farmworker community are doing with the construction of multiple organic gardens, I see a new type of resistance in place, one that removes them from the oppression they may face in their work lives. This face to face contact with our community partner and the farmworkers makes me feel like global and transnational feminism and activism may actually be possible, especially when connecting local communities with global issues.
Reciprocity:
I think that this week we have given our community partner a lot of physical work, which has ultimately helped make progress with their plans for a second community garden, as well as, materials for future volunteers to help with the gardens. I personally, have gained a little insight into an amazing community of people I did not know about before this week, a community I hope to work with in the future. I would hope that the class as a whole has gained something similar to this and that everyone has been humbled by this experience, but also motivated to do more.
Word Count: 492
Works cited
Wells, Betty L. "Context, Strategy, Ground: Rural Women Organizing to Confront Local/Global Economic Issues." Women's Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics. By Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai. New York: Routledge, 2002. 142-50. Print.
Excellent job.
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