Women Recovering from Human Trafficking, Tribal members in USA and Nicaragua, and Veterans in Oklahoma: Southwest Leather being recycled and Tool for Development!
Arise Veteran Foundation (FWOP affiliate) has been linked to Retreaded (www.rethreaded.com/pages/the-mission) in Florida and the 4000 women across the globe for some years now. Arise and FWOP with it link to SWA has used leather sent to them to make products –thus lowering their costs of production. They sell items on their website and now on the Arise Veteran Foundation website. In 2020, with COVID-19, Retreaded moved to produce masks for the hospitals of northern Florida.
Arise VF has established two additional Women Recovery programs, both under the Unshattered banner. We are looking forward to expanding our leather recycling program with Unshattered.
Just this month our network has been linked to Refuge for Women (www.rfwntx.org ) that has residential program in various locations. We are linked to sites in Lexington, Kentucky and Denton, Texas. SWA leather will go to them in January to help them create items to sale. Women in one location who attempt to escape trafficking do not reside at Refuge in their hometown, instead they are sent to another location. Pimps may make $12,000 per month from trafficking one women, girl or boy.
In 2021 we anticipate that truckloads of leather will be going from El Salvador to RETUS (Rural Tourism Women Business – www.retustours.com – ) , various artists and some larger enterprises in Costa Rica. We have leather going out to numerous American Indian Nations and Tribes across the US currently.
Working with the Harvest Initiative (http://www.harvestnic.com/ ) that works with MIskita Tribe in eastern Nicaragua, Arise has been sending SWA leather to Nicaragua. Cobbler in the Tribe have designed lovely shoes and boots from SWA leather now. Potentially this project will improve monthly income more than 100% for locals. Visit Arise Veteran website: http://ariseveteranfoundation.org
Arise has begun to send a bag made from recycled SWA leather, and protective masks and cleaning fluid. Each bags has beadwork from various tribal members in Oklahoma. The first bags are from the Quapaw and Crow Nations.
Solar Lamps Distribution
In 2017, we had some 8000 lamps sent to Arise/FWOP in Nashville. The lamps can charge up cell phone as well as light up a room well. Recently, NRS Relief has secured various locations to send lamps around the world. To make sure the lamps work well, residents at the Knowles Home in Nashville have volunteered to check all lamps before shipping. These assisted living volunteers are excited to participate in this global effort and thus improve their own mental and physical well-being. World Health Organization has secured 1000 lamps from our stockpile and they will be shipped to Afghanistan in December. Other lamps have been sent to Ghana, Guyana and Yemen.
Their days and lives are enriched by being part of repairing the world one lamp at a time. Seniors checking all 1000 lamps to make sure they are ready to operate!
Air monitoring: STEM Education For Youth Across the Planet
Some new sites will open up in 2021. We are working with three private schools, two in Guadalajara and one in Lyon, Mexico. All three schools are K- 12 bi-lingual business schools. We will start air monitoring device training at Colegio Union Mexico in northwest Guadalajara in January. , has air monitoring devices in Guadalajara and training will occur in January. The three schools focus upon sustainable-oriented business development. https://subire.mx/ and http://colegiounionmexico.com/
Working with a renewable and environmental organization (CERCA) in La Paz, Mexico, a learning center for air quality education and air monitoring training program is being established. CERCA has some air monitoring devices operational now in La Paz. https://www.cerca.org.mx/ . Rural and urban schools and a university is part of their network.
Together with Rebecca Jim, Executive Director of Lead Agency, (http://www.leadagency.org/), and a local teacher in northeast Oklahoma, we will support a training program on air monitoring and air quality issues in early 2021 for some youth in the region. This is the site of one of the largest Superfund sites in US called Tar Creek. (https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/tarcreek/index.htm). Soil, water and air pollution are major concern in the area.
