Letter to Jeanie

Hello Jeanie I got news fo you girl. Here I am in St. Lucia attending a workshop on Gender Justice, Trade and Women’s Livelihoods. Yo want to know, when I go Sin Lucia – if not just Tuesday yo see yo in Sin Vincent. Yo want to hear bout dis workshop?

What is this Gender Justice thing?

If it is a man? Girl, get serious! We learn how sex and gender different – that we born male and female – biological yo know? An dem socialize we to become man and woman. Yo eva hear anything so? We learn how to be man and woman – dis is we gender role!

What yo say? Gender is male an female?

No, girl, no, yo need to read “Gender Matters” den yo go understand better. O, all yo hear what she saying – dat she always know I crazy, because since she five, she know gender is male an female Jeanie, listen to me, a going to mek yo a present of that little book Gender Matters. Okay, yo want to hear what else we did? Well, we learn about globalization an how de human agenda get lost in the agenda to profit. Poverty increasing, women and men can’t get decent work, more women dan men losing jobs and we boy children turning to crime.

You want to know if it have a human gender an a profit gender?

Girl, yo getting deaf or what – I say agenda – AGENDA – dey so concern about making profit dat they forget people have to live too, like when they take away agricultural lan to build cricket field fo the World Cup?

What yo say? De World Cup going bring in money fo so, an you planning to go live by yo mother an rent out your house since all the hotel can’t hold people? Well, let me tell you, if you do dat, yo might have to spen back all the rent money fixing yo house? Professor Cecilia, one lecturer tell we dat places that host Olympics and World Cup before still paying detts!

So you want to know if the government dem crazy? Why dey doing that?

Well, it have dis ting called World Trade Organisation, dat de government dem join, an dat have some children who like money – two a dem is twin call de IMF and the World Bank, and dem have trade rules controlling essential things like agriculture and services – right now, we consuming more imported thing than we own local ting. We get so dependent on foreign ting!! Now after all dat – we governments trying to form de Caribbean own WTO – dem calling it the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) an we go learn bout dat today!

You telling me dat is a recipe fo death, an what we doing bout dat?

I got better news fo you girl – we women going to form we own CSME “Caribbean Sisters Monitoring Eye” and we going question an lobby the government – we even going to form frien’ wid de business sector, an encourage dem – men and women – to invest in dey country, and we going join wid dem to lobby government to give dem incentives.

Yo coming to Glen Castle because yo like resolution , and yo want to hear more?

Hello, hello! De girl hang up on me, before a could ask all yo if she could come!!!