Friday, September 11, 7 p.m.
Community room
Unitarian Universalist Church
Middle Street
Brunswick

Featuring the Listening Project: interviews with displaced factory workers and immigrants to advocate for worker and immigrant rights and fair trade.

Sponsored by PeaceWorks
FMI: 725-7675

Why do so many Latin American people make the arduous and dangerous trip to the United States in search of jobs? Why has Maine lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the years since the adoption of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement? How are these two issues connected?

These are some of the questions that will be addressed at an event entitled Bridging Divides: PICA’s kNOw US AND THEM on Friday, September 11 at 7 p.m. in the community room of the Unitarian Universalist Church, Middle Street in Brunswick.

PICA, Peace Through Interamerican Community Action, is a 20-year-old Bangor community organization that works for human rights and a fair economy for Maine and for El Salvdor, where it has a sister city. According to its website, PICA “seeks a world where corporate rights do not trump human rights.”

The premise of the kNOw US AND THEM project is that there is no “us” and “them,” that we all want basically the same things for ourselves and our families. The program uses a Listening Project — interviews with displaced factory workers and immigrants — to advocate for worker and immigrant rights and fair trade. Listening projects have been used around the world in situations of potential conflict.

The presenters are Jon Falk, PICA director, and Americorps volunteers Jessie Newcomb and Hannah Pennington. The event is sponsored by PeaceWorks. For more information call 725-7675.