Myrna Greenfield, director of UUSC's Outreach and Mobilization Department, filed this report after traveling recently to Ecuador to learn how grassroots movements are organizing youth and helping to ensure the human right to water for all.

Twenty years ago, the people of Guasmo Sur — a low-income neighborhood of about 40,000 households in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city — started working together to address the poverty, inadequate education, substandard housing, and lack of water and sanitation services in their community; today, the neighborhood is still poor, but living standards have improved and people brim with a sense of pride and possibility.

I traveled to Guasmo Sur last month with a delegation of UUSC members and supporters to observe and learn from the extraordinary progress that this community has made. At a time when the political stalemate in the United States is forestalling efforts to create change, it was inspiring to see the impact that people organizing together can achieve.

They call themselves El Movimiento Mi Cometa (the "My Kite" movement). Over the years, Mi Cometa has developed a variety of dynamic social services, such as a Head Start–type program for preschoolers, an after-school enrichment program, a women-led housing construction co-op, a microenterprise loan program, and music and computer programs for all. Mi Cometa's programs are developed to meet community needs and are largely headed up by women and youth.

Youth activists

Over a simple, healthy lunch, our delegation was regaled by a pint-sized band performing a spirited rendition of "Oye Como Va," the Tito Puente song popularized by Santana. In addition to developing children's creativity along with their ABCs, Mi Cometa strives to educate people about human rights. For example, if they have a parade, each child carries a sign about a specific right, such as the right to education and the right to vote.

Ecuadorans are eligible to vote at age 16 and are required to vote at age 18 through 65 or they may be subject to possible government sanctions. The leader of Mi Cometa's School of Leaders for the New Millennium, an energetic 24-year-old named José Luis Echeverría, told us that youth have an important voice in shaping Ecuador's future. "Age doesn't make you mature," José Luis told us. "It's the supposedly 'mature' people who are responsible for the state our country is in!"

During their campaign to develop and eventually help pass a new Ecuadoran constitution in October 2008, youth from Mi Cometa traveled around Ecuador by bus, soliciting ideas for the constitution from other young people; 9 of the 40 articles they submitted were adopted into the constitution. Mi Cometa, which is not affiliated with any political party, is now working on a program to train youth to run for public office.

Constitutional right to water

In addition to the youth provisions, Mi Cometa informed our group that the Ecuadoran constitution states, "The right to water is a fundamental and inalienable human right." Hearing that the human right to water (access to safe, sufficient, affordable water for daily human needs) is actually written into the constitution was really moving. I thought of my colleagues in Boston, who are campaigning to ensure that low-income people won't get their water shut off if they can't pay their bills, and wished they were with me to hear about this remarkable accomplishment.

Although Mi Cometa successfully campaigned to get the human right to water included in the constitution, the struggle to make sure it is implemented is still under way. As with low-income communities around the world, one of Guasmo Sur's most pressing problems is the lack of access to safe, sufficient, affordable water. As of August 2009, only 90 percent of the residents had potable water piped into their homes, and only 75 percent had sanitation services. People without running water must purchase water from water trucks called tanqueros. Industrial and home waste is dumped into the Guayas River without effective treatment.

Our delegation met with Jose Luis Santos, the general director of ECAPAG, the Ecuadoran regulatory agency that has oversight responsibility for Interagua, the former Bechtel Inc. subsidiary that was granted the concession contract in 2001 to provide privatized water and sanitation services to Guayaquil. Santos reported to our delegation that ECAPAG had fined Interagua $5.6 million dollars for failure to install the requisite number of water and sanitation hookups required by the contract.

Citizen watchdogs

Mi Cometa realized that people from other neighborhoods were experiencing similar problems with poor-quality services and lack of responsiveness to customers, so they formed a coalition of 40 organizations, called Observatorio Ciudadano de Servicios Publicos (OCSP, or the Citizens Observatory on Public Services), to serve as a watchdog organization for water, sanitation, and other public services in Guayaquil. OCSP has tested water quality, gathered testimony documenting how citizens' needs have been ignored, attracted the media to examine the problems, and brought its case to local, national, and international courts.

In fall 2009, the World Bank's ombudsman responded to OCSP's claim on behalf of 3,500 Interagua customers who had unresolved complaints about their bills. Through mediation, the ombudsman got Interagua to form a negotiation table with OCSP and the customers. During our visit, OCSP and the customers were engaged in daily negotiations to resolve these 3,500 cases.

"This is the first time we've been able to get Interagua to talk," attorney Augusto Parada, one of OCSP's leaders, told our delegation through our translator, UUSC Environmental Justice Program Manager Patricia Jones. "It wasn't easy. It has happened little by little, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. It was so difficult that at one point we thought the negotiations would break down!"

By relying on a clause in the Ecuadoran constitution during negotiations, OCSP was able to get Interagua to agree to cancel the unpaid water debt for people in extreme poverty, and to reduce 50 percent of the debt and forgive penalty fees and interest for those who didn't qualify as extremely low-income.

"When we started the negotiations, conversations broke into arguments," Parada told us. "After 15 days of negotiations, the combativeness has diminished. There's a different dynamic for the customers. You can see in their eyes that they now have hope that they'll be able to resolve these issues."

While many in Guasmo Sur criticize OCSP and don't believe that Interagua is truly concerned about responding to low-income people's needs, Parada and others are optimistic. "The power relationships have changed," Parada continued. "People feel we can speak together to dialogue, investigate, and come to a resolution. This is a completely new experience here in Guayaquil! We'll see what the results will be."

For more information about UUSC's Environmental Justice program, visit www.uusc.org/environmentaljustice.

The words, "Thank you, Hurricane Volunteers — You alone have made a difference," painstakingly formed out of blue duct tape, are frequently emblazoned on the back of the KatrinaRitaVille Express, a FEMA trailer, which was parked in front of the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center during GA.

Like other GA attendees, I took the opportunity to step inside the FEMA trailer to see what life is like for families who have had to live in the trailers since hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast almost three years ago. The trailer is so small that you have to step outside to change your mind. "How on earth could a family of six live in one of these things?" I wondered.

The FEMA trailer, and a sister trailer, were purchased by several Gulf Coast organizations for a FEMA trailer road show around the United States to raise awareness of the continuing crisis in the region and the lack of coherent government action to rebuild to meet the needs of poor and minority residents, who are still without housing or adequate government assistance.

Despite the obstacles, Gulf Coast survivors have mounted an extraordinary effort to rebuild their homes and their lives. It is both profoundly moving and depressing that the only real support and solidarity that they are getting is coming from volunteers, not from our government. Volunteer work is important, but not sufficient: it should be complemented by the type of large-scale problem-solving and resources that only government can provide.

UUs, of course, represent a considerable number of Gulf Coast volunteers who have come to the region since the 2005 hurricanes. Over 2,000 people have participated in the UUA-UUSC Gulf Coast Volunteer Program to date. At GA, the UUA and UUSC officially transferred the stewardship of the joint UUA-UUSC volunteer program to a coalition of New Orleans UU churches known as the Greater New Orleans Unitarian Universalists (GNOUU). It will now be stewarded by the coalition's New Orleans Rebirth Volunteer Program.

I was both happy and sad when UUA and UUSC staff handed GNOUU a check for $125,000 to help launch the new volunteer program. Happy, because the coalition has done an extraordinary job of getting ready to take on the responsibility of managing the volunteer program and because it belongs in their hands. Sad, because I've been proud of UUSC's direct connection to this life-changing experience for so many UUs.

However, the UUA and UUSC's commitment to the Gulf Coast, and to the volunteer program itself, has definitely not ended. GNOUU and the Rebirth Program will continue to need time, money, and support from UUs and others. In addition to volunteering our hands and hearts, we must continue to contribute our advocacy efforts to ensure a just recovery for the people of the Gulf Coast.

I already knew that 2008 is an important election year before I came to this year's UU General Assembly, but now I know it's also an incredibly exciting election year! Unlike most years, when incumbents get re-elected even if they continue to ignore what their constituents want, there are enough open and contested seats in 2008 that candidates might actually be forced to listen to us. Doing voter engagement is the most important social-justice work you can do in 2008!

"The stakes in 2008 could not possibly be higher," Tom Andrews told a rapt crowd at the UUSC/UUA Activist Training to End the War in Iraq on Wednesday, June 25. "This is certainly the most consequential election in my lifetime."

Andrews, who represented Maine in Congress for 12 years and now heads up the Win Without War Coalition — and serves on the UUSC Board of Trustees — stated that "the Bush doctrine eliminated U.S. commitment to international institutions and international law...That's what at stake. In additional to changing [who's in] Congress and the presidency and ending this monstrous war, we need to end the Bush doctrine and reassert the values that we, as UUs, live by!"

Fortunately, many of the 2008 races are wide open. There is no incumbent running for the White House, of course, but, in addition to the 33 Senate seats up for election, 4 open seats and 6 races are deemed as toss-ups. All 435 Representative districts are up for election, and of that number, there are 35 open seats and 48 races that are considered toss-ups.

Although some congregations are fearful of doing voter engagement work because they're concerned about protecting their tax-exempt status as 501c3 organizations, Rob Keithan, director of the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy, made it clear that as long as they stay within the guidelines, congregations can (and should) take on this work.

Keithan offered three crucial points:

1) Talk about what we believe and what we want, not what the candidate wants. This qualifies as allowable 501c3 issue advocacy.

2) Avoid references to candidates and parties.

3) Make it clear that you are doing ongoing work, not just something that is timed for the election.

In fact, if we only do electoral work, our elected officials will not be accountable. They need to know that we are out there, where we stand, and that we will be on their case. (For more detailed advice on legally permissible voter engagement work, see the UUA's The Real Rules: Congregations and the IRS Guidelines on Advocacy, Lobbying, and Elections.)

UUSC Campaign Organizer Michele Rudy challenged the attendees to make their voter engagement work as effective as it can possibly be. "Set a goal for how many people you want to register and the number of volunteers you will need in order to sign them up."

"Hit the streets!" Rudy continued. "You can't just sit behind a table. You need to talk to people who are disengaged and personally ask them. And be sure to follow up with the people you register to keep them engaged. Create a database so you can stay in touch."

I flew from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday, and during my flight, I used my "UU-radar" to try to look for anyone who might be headed to General Assembly. You can't just rely on demographics or physical characteristics to spot UUs, although certain articles of clothing are potential clues. When I see someone with a warm smile, a weighty tome in hand, and a general openness in manner, I often suspect I've spotted a UU. I definitely identified some likely candidates on that plane.

When I landed in Ft. Lauderdale, the first things I noticed were the palm trees — the sight of which, since I live in Boston, always makes me smile — and the billboard for GA, which I saw on the way out of the airport. "Yes!" I said to myself. "I've just landed on Planet UU."

As I do whenever I travel around the United States, I tuned the clock radio to the low end of the FM dial before I went to bed, hoping to wake up to the familiar strains of National Public Radio. Not only did I hear my favorite announcer, I also heard a long sponsorship message from the UUA, proudly proclaiming that Unitarian Universalists had occupied Ft. Lauderdale and would be coming to your town soon. "Yes!" I said to myself. "UUs have taken over the airwaves."

As a first-time participant at GA, I am delighted to be immersed in a UU-centric environment. Planet UU is a place where chalices rise like suns from every horizon, people are willing to take the time to talk and listen to one another, and social justice is an honored profession.

Strolling through the aisles of the exhibit hall, I am, as always, amazed by the spectrum of beliefs represented by the UUs. From the UU Ministry for Earth — which, for some reason, makes me think they are ministering to earthworms — to the UUs for Polyamory Awareness to the UUs for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, it is clear that all creatures, great and small, are welcome on Planet UU.

It's wonderful to inhabit a planet in which UUs are the majority, yet seek to make sure that all are welcome. It's a great model to take back to Planet Earth.