A Decade of

Survivorship, Sisterhood, and

Community Power!

EST. 2002

Program

Welcoming Remarks

DINNER Kids Cultural Parade

SIstas in Song

MATAHARI LEADERSHIP Carol GOMEZ

Monique Nguyen

MEIVER de la cruz raqs al assaya (Egyptian cane dance) & Tabla solo

DOMESTIC WORKERS RIGHTS & EMPOWERMENT

awards

COURAGE IN FACING ADVERSITY Lourdes Patel

Asia Graves OLGA PIOX - LEADER OF THE YEAR

LeGAL EMPOWERMENT

RICK MANN, ESQ. GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVCES, IMMIGRATION UNIT

LYDIA EDWARDS, BRAZILIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER ATTORNEY OF THE YEAR

Grupo Latino de MataHari

El Baile Folklorico de Guatemala

CLOSING REMARKS Dance Party!

MATAHARI LEADERSHIP CELEBRATING MATAHARI FOUNDER & FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

 

“CAROL GOMEZ  Carol is a relentless community organizer with a knack for jumping into the driver’s seat and getting things done. She migrated from her home country of Malaysia and quickly immersed herself in social justice work in Massachusetts, strategically choosing to work in the fields of public health, criminal justice, mental healthcare, community based research and higher education in order to gain concrete skills and insider knowledge of the inner

workings of each system. Carol founded the Spirit of Activism   award- winning TVOS Network in 2002 (subsequently renamed MataHari: Eye of the Day in 2005). She has received numerous accolades, including the Peace and Justice Award, National Women’s Conference Leadership award among others for her innovative work in the community. Carol is a skilled educator, counselor, domestic violence advocate, popular education training, facilitator and mediator. She provides training and consultation on a variety of issues including human rights and social justice practice, cross-cultural communication, family violence, modern day slavery and trafficking, organizational development, community organizing and leadership development. She divides her time between sunny California, where she currently resides, and the seasonable Massachusetts, her home for the past two decades. Wherever she is though, good friends and good food follow.  

MATAHARI LEADERSHIP WELCOMING INCOMING MATAHARI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

 

“MONIQUE NGUYEN The core of her organizing work is gaining dignity, respect, and state/federal labor protections for domestic workers in the US, one of the last sectors excluded from basic labor protections. As a daughter of Vietnam War refugees, her passion is rooted in her struggles as an immigrant and former undocumented student. Monique is committed to expanding her reach in the community, growing as a leader, and working cross culturally to build a truly global

social justice movement holding on to the belief that real social change begins with the transformation of individuals in their homes and communities. Her passion is rooted in her struggles as an immigrant/refugee and former undocumented student. Last year, she was recognized for her anti-racism work by being awarded Community Change's "Horace Seldon Emerging Leader Award". She serves on the board of United for a Fair Economy and the Student Immigrant Movement.  

 

 

COURAGE IN FACING ADVERSITY Recognizing and Celebrating courageous survivorship and leadership in facing and ending gender violence and exploitation

 

“LOURDES PATEL Lourdes Patel is a mother, grandmother of two, Filipino community activist, and domestic violence survivor. Born and raised in the Philippines, Lourdes immigrated to the United States with her now ex- husband. Having the desire to take up a job to support her daughter and ailing father, Lourdes was abused and neglected by her husband for wanting to work outside of the home.

In April 2002, Lourdes was connected to Carol and MataHari through the Cambridge Health Alliance. She remembers her first meeting with Carol as “the first time I had found someone I could talk to and trust.” Carol and MataHari organized lawyers for Lourdes to help her with her immigration status and to help her leave her husband. Additionally, MataHari supported Lourdes to go back to school to become a nurse and empowered her to become an activist within the Filipino community. Lourdes now works to provide shelter for Filipino women and domestic

workers who are survivors of workplace and domestic abuse. She also is a foster parent to children with abusive homes and finds young mothers who are running from abuse safe homes. About her experience, Lourdes says, “ In my Filipino culture, “Gratitude” is very important and everyday, I have so much gratitude for MataHari. I can’t express in any words how grateful I am. It is because of MataHari I now have the knowledge and strength to serve my community. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.”  

 

COURAGE IN FACING ADVERSITY Recognizing and Celebrating courageous survivorship and leadership in facing and ending gender violence and exploitation

 

“ASIA GRAVES

Asia is a 24 year old community activist and advocate for survivors of sex trafficking in the Washington D.C. area. A survivor of sex trafficking herself, Asia was referred to MataHari late one winter night after fearing that she would return to her traffickers due to the lack of support and resources available in

her community. Through compassionate case management, MataHari and Carol Gomez helped Asia not only break free of her traffickers, but also help her find the financial resources to pay for her college education. MataHari supported Asia when she was the key witness in the largest trafficking case in Boston's history. MataHari later connected Asia to counseling services and volunteer opportunities, including volunteering at MataHari for two years, to empower her to use her past experiences to become an advocate for others. Currently, Asia lives in D.C where she is a Survivor Advocate and Case Manager at Fair Girls. She speaks out against the atrocities of trafficking, mentors survivors, and works with the White House's Counsel on Women and Girls. She has been featured on the front page of the New York Times, Boston Globe, U.S.A. Today appeared on several MSNBC shows and Nightline. She is currently finishing her last semester of undergrad and hopes to attend Georgetown Law School next year.

   

 

COURAGE IN FACING ADVERSITY Recognizing and Celebrating courageous survivorship and leadership in facing and ending gender violence and exploitation

Olga PIOX “

Leader of the Year Olga Piox was born in Guatemala of Mayan descent. She studied at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala and worked as a teacher in different public schools in the City of Guatemala. She emigrated to Boston in 1990 and studied at UMASS-Boston. Her

role here in the United States has been to lend her services to the state as a Foster Care mother, providing home and care to children with disabilities. At the same time, she has been a domestic worker for many years, and today forms an important part of MataHari, organizing and coordinating the Latina community of domestic workers with the goal of creating community power to pass a bill of rights that would extend benefits and labor rights to workers, bringing the dignity and respect that any other worker deserves, to the workplace.  

     

LEGAL EMPOWERMENT Honoring the legal representation that makes our work of amplifying community voices Possible.

 

Greater Boston Legal Services, Immigration Unit

“Committed Service to the Immigrant Community”

Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), is the oldest and largest legal services organization in New England. It is the primary provider of free, civil legal assistance to low-income individuals and families in 32 cities and towns in Suffolk, Middlesex, Norfolk and Plymouth counties. Through specialized units, GBLS provides assistance in housing, family,

consumer, benefits, employment, elder, health and disability and immigration issues. Since it’s founding in 1900, GBLS has served the immigrant communities of Massachusetts. The Immigration Unit and the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic work with organizations and individuals throughout the state, providing outreach, training and individual representation. The Their work focuses is on representing individuals seeking refuge in the U.S. after fleeing human rights abuses in their home countries; survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes; and unaccompanied children. In addition, they work to protect the rights of immigrants by responding to emerging issues impacting their communities such as the 1987 ICE raid in New Bedford, the implementation of the Secured Communities Program, the grant of Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, and the recent grant of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to DREAMERS by President Obama.  

LEGAL EMPOWERMENT Honoring the legal representation that makes our work of amplifying community voices Possible.

 

RICK MANN, ESQ.

“Exemplary Service to the Community

Rick Mann, Esq., served as pro-bono attorney and board member for MataHari's for several years. Rick represented numerous MataHari community members successfully advocating for and winning civil settlements for their cases, including the case of the highly publicized case

of a Brookline domestic worker who was enslaved by a pediatrician several years ago. Rick's service and contribution to the Massachusetts community and his commitment to human rights and the end of slavery is exemplary. His warmth, compassion, humor and intelligence is unmatched. MataHari is indebted to Rick for his dedication and support of our community.  

                           

LEGAL EMPOWERMENT Honoring the legal representation that makes our work of amplifying community voices Possible.

 

LYDIA EDWARDS, BRAZILIAN IMMIGRANT CENTER

“Attorney of the Year”

Lydia Edwards is the Director of Legal Services and head of the Domestic Worker Law and Policy Clinic at the Brazilian Immigrant Center. As head of the Domestic Worker Law and Policy Clinic, Lydia represents domestic workers, oversees the Domestic Worker Mediation project and is the co-author and editor of The Manual: A Guide for Domestic Workers and Their Employers. Lydia oversees the Center's Legal Department and helps to form coalitions with other non-profits and the private bar. Lydia speaks Portuguese and is working on her Spanish.

 

                             

SISTAS IN SONG

A collective of three musical women, fruits of three continents and a deep well of music within them, Sistas in Song is comprised of GaBrilla Ballard (vocals, guitar, cajon), Sarvenaz Asiedu (cello) and Nisha Purushotham (vocals and world percussion). Sistas in Song came together through practices that are central to their lives: music, movement building and motherhood. Introduced by Monique Nguyen Belazario, Acting Director of MataHari in December 2010, GaBrilla Ballard and Nisha Purushotham discovered a deeply healing and inspiring musical synchronicity. Nisha Purushotham is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and artist educator based in Cambridge, MA. She is a classically trained pianist who learned and performed works from the Baroque, Romantic and Classical periods. GaBrilla and Sarvenaz Asiedu’s paths intersected at the Cambridge Friends School where their children attend and found that something magical happened when they played together. A rich sound rooted in soul, jazz, classical and world percussion, Sistas in Song have found a space for sharing stories drawn from their own life experiences and those they encounter in their work as mothers, healers, educators, activists and musicians. In sharing their music with the world, they seek to nurture joy, strength, courage, political consciousness and love.

MEIVER DE LA CRUZ  Meiver De la Cruz is a Performance Studies doctoral student at Northwestern University. She holds a Masters Degree in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College, and a Bachelors Degree in International Business and Economics from the University of Massachusetts – Boston. Her current research contrasts belly dance practices within and outside Middle Eastern diasporas in the US, illuminating how belly

dance simultaneously works to represent, negotiate, and alter prevailing sentiments towards the Middle East, in the context of the American war on terror. She has been involved in feminist activism and social justice work and recently contributed a chapter along with fellow activist Carol Gómez to “The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities” (South End Press, Cambridge, MA. 2011). Meiver has also been a student, researcher, and practitioner of dances from the Middle East since 1996. She has been performing primarily within Boston’s Middle Eastern communities since 2000, and teaching dance since 2002.

SPONSORS

 

Mario E. Quiroz-Servellón is a freelance documentary photographer specializing on immigrations issues in the United States and Central

America, and hand-colored portraits. He was born in San Salvador in 1974.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS: “Caretakers of New England’s Future” - Citibank Porter Sq., 1815 Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA | Nov. 27 - Dec. 10, 2012

www.marioquiroz.com | info@marioquiroz.com | 305.336.2213

Damayan Migrant Workers Association sends heartfelt congratulations to Carol Gomez, Monique Nguyen and all the awardees of MataHari's 10th Anniversary. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to justice! To all our sisters and allies at MataHari - Damayan stands with you on the journey for our personal and collective liberation.

We extend our congratulations to Matahari for 10 years of

outstanding work to foster a more just and safe society for all

people!

Your friends and neighbors at United for a Fair Economy