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Rosa Roisinblit to speak on “Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo: Finding the Lost Children”
By Betsy Bowman for the Center for Global Justice
Talk
“Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo: Finding the Lost Children” By Rosa Roisinblit
Mon, June 25, 2pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
The Center for Global Justice presents Rosa Roisinblit, the founder and Vice President of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. This organization seeks to restitute the children of those who were disappeared during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship to their legitimate families. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and has lectured widely around the US, Europe and Latin America.
Roisinblit is herself the mother of a young woman, Patricia, who, in her eighth month of pregnancy, was disappeared by the military junta in 1978. Her partner, José Manuel Perez and their 18 month-old daughter Mariana, were all disappeared. Patricia and José Manuel were activists in the leftist Peronista organization at the time. The military junta led a systematic campaign of disappearing and presumably killing leftist sympathizers of all stripes. According to Roisinblit they took special care to kidnap pregnant women, hold them until their babies were born, give the child to a military couple or friends of the military, and then kill the mother.
Patricia’s daughter Mariana was returned shortly after she and José Manuel were kidnapped. Patricia gave birth.to a son, Guillermo, who was kidnapped and illegally adopted. Patricia and José Manuel were killed shortly thereafter. Mariana was raised by José Manuel’s parents and by Rosa, who continued her struggle for justice.
In 2000 Rosa discovered Guillermo. She campaigns to this day for the return of the grandchildren and prosecution of those junta members responsible for the kidnappings, tortures, murders and illegal adoptions.
The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo have documented 250 cases of missing grandchildren; 60 have been found. Estimates of missing children born in captivity range from 400 to 500.
There have been many convictions and pardons, but under Argentine law one cannot be pardoned for a crime that is ongoing, as is the case in illegal adoptions, given that the child remains unaware she/he is and has thus been robbed and continues to be robbed of her/his identity. Consequently, the military members in charge of the kidnappings and illegal adoptions are not immune from prosecution. But those who are not legally immune often circulate with impunity.
The requested donation for Rosa Roisinblit’s talk is 100 pesos. Half of that will be donated to the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo; the other half will be split between the Biblioteca Pública and the Center for Global Justice.
Lecture
“Seeking Spirituality”
by Rev. Dr. Thomas D. Lynch
Tues, June 26, 4pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Spiritual wisdom literature teaches us that the first step toward greater spirituality is seeking it. I have been a full-time college teacher since 1974. If students in my classroom have no interest in learning, I can guarantee that they will succeed in not learning. Their parents are wasting their money and the students are wasting their time and university’s time.
There are two parts to the learning experience: the teacher and the students. Typically, we believe that the most important part is the teacher but we are wrong. It’s the student. If the student really wants to learn, he or she can learn almost in spite of the teacher. Clearly a great teacher can be remarkable in his or her ability to communicate the subject, but the student will learn nothing if the student is not genuinely seeking to learn.
Spiritual wisdom also teaches us that the student must discover the “correct” interpretation. The learning process takes place in the mind of the student who hears the words, but must discover the meaning and the application of the lessons for him or herself. The teacher puts forth what is considered knowledge but anyone working with knowledge knows that it is communicated with words and language that are very imprecise instruments.
Words are subject to interpretation. As a teacher in many learning situations, I was absolutely sure that I communicated my intended subject to the student. Wrong! Sometimes, absolutely no meaningful communication took place. Each student filters what is said through his or her own set of experiences and the student may or may not grasp the ideas or concepts presented - they either understand or misunderstand what I say. Those students, who grasp my interpretation of the subject, get a high grade; and those, who do not, fail. Thus, grasping the correct interpretation is critical for the student to be successful in college and eventually in life..
The same is true of spiritual lessons. This kind of wisdom tells us that God is continually teaching us lessons with what we call “life experiences.” Sometimes those lessons are brought to us in church, synagogue, temple or mosque; but sometimes those lessons occur in the streets or our homes. Our challenge is to discover not our interpretation of those life lessons but rather the interpretation that God wishes us to understand.
Given our egos, learning the correct interpretation of a lesson is sometimes impossible as our set of experiences blinds us to anything except our personal point of view. When we are beginning to transcend our ego boundaries, we begin to care for and appreciate others in our lives. Only then can we begin to find the “correct” interpretation of the lessons. For those who believe that spiritual wisdom is interesting and wish to participate in an in-depth discussion, you are invited to attend a weekly group discussion at the Biblioteca. The author of this series guides the group discussion.
Council of All Beings
Lecture and workshop
Environmental Education
Fri, June 29, 4pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
200 pesos
Rod Walker, the English director of an ecotourism organization called Group Guides of Cañe de Pucón in Chile, will present a workshop June 29. In 1995, Walker met John Seed at a “Council of All the Beings” and embraced John’s book, “How to Live as a Mountain”, which he now distributes to representatives of Ashoka (a private environmental awareness group) in Latin America. The book’s message also inspired Irma Rosado (Casita Linda) and Paty Ruiz (Sierra Gorda Biodiversity Reserve), who invited Walker to share his insights here in San Miguel.
According to Seed, the challenge our species faces is climate change, which demands action, the current industrial paradigm being untenable. The group believes it is urgent to develop a system of values which promotes the natural principles that sustain life on Earth. These principles are circular, not linear, and it is the purpose of education to lead society and develop new strategies based on them. The “Council of All the Beings” represents such a strategy. The message is optimistic and hopeful; it tries to face the facts and simultaneously establish a commitment to viewing the human world from a natural perspective. The workshop’s intention is to train facilitators for the formation of the Council here in Mexico.
On June 29, two conferences will be held by Rod Walker and Irma Rosado regarding “How to Live as a Mountain”. The lecture in Spanish will be at Recreo 4, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. Donation: 50 pesos. Free for students.
The lecture in English will be held in the Sala Quetzal of the Biblioteca Publica at Insurgentes 25, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Donation: 200 pesos.
On June 30 and July 1, a bilingual workshop will be held in La Plaza de los Cuatro Vientos in El Charco del Ingenio, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, for the formation of “Council of All Beings” facilitators. The cost of participation in the two-day workshop is 350 pesos. Free for children and students. Come in comfortable clothing; bring lunch, refreshments, and musical instruments (such as drums, panderos, derosbells, reed flutes, snails, copal, quartzes.)
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