A letter from Alexandra Buck in Peru
March 25, 2009
Friends,
The FBI is reviewing my file.
If they determine I am not a threat, Interpol (the International Criminal Police Organization) will pass my approval on to Immigration for residency.
There’s no question that I’ll be approved.
I entered Peru as a “tourist” with 90 days to do as I please. I didn’t have to apply for a visa or pay any money to enter. Now, I and the three other new mission co-workers are being transferred to resident status by paying a hundred dollars and getting fingerprinted.
In contrast, it is a grueling process for anyone from another country even to visit the United States for a few weeks. And imagine what it takes to get residency.
I spent an inordinate amount of time this month helping two Bridge of Hope artisan women prepare for a tour in the United States where they will be featured speakers.
Aydee is a member of the group “El Mercurio,” known for its stuffed animals, especially llamas. She lives in Huancavelica, about 14 hours from Lima, where she fled to escape the terrorism of the 1980s. Photo courtesy of Leslie McKnelly.
It started when Evangelina, a jewelry maker from the outskirts of Lima, and Aydee, a knitter from Huancavelica, came to central Lima to apply for passports. This process is fairly easy, as long as you go to the office right when it opens. We waited in approximately six different lines, and the artisans received their passports about five hours later.
With passport numbers, we then went to a local bank where we had to pay nearly $30 for each to receive PIN codes. We used that number to call the U.S. embassy and set appointments for visa interviews the next week.
We set to work filling out the two-page visa application, getting official photos taken and compiling support letters from the U.S. hosts and our network. Each woman also had to supply her marriage certificate and birth certificates for any children. They spent hours memorizing the pronunciations of each city they would visit, the organizing institutions and the dates of travel. We knew that they could be asked anything and could be rejected at the interviewer’s discretion.
The day before the interview, we returned to the bank to pay the nonrefundable $135 charge to apply for a visa. Without institutional support, these women would never be able to fund their own applications, much less the travel expenses to the United States. Entering the States is strictly for the elite.
Eva and her daughters live in the area of Lima called San Juan de Lurigancho, the most populated district in all of Latin America. Eva is a member of the jewelry cooperative group Munay Rumi.
With little sleep and lots of nerves, Eva, Aydee, Maribel and I met at the office at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday and took a taxi 45 minutes across town to the U.S. embassy. By 7:35 they were in the door. Maribel and I stood outside (there are no benches) until Eva finally emerged just after 9.
“I didn’t get it,” she said, disappointed. The interviewer had asked her if she had kids (yes, two girls), the host of the tour (Partners for Just Trade) and her marriage status (separated) and then the interviewer told her she did not fulfill the requirements for the visa.
At that moment I realized that all the time and money — over $200, about the average monthly salary for our artisans — invested in this process was wasted on arbitrary decisions. The artisan tour was counting on Eva being a featured speaker, had made posters promoting her and now they would have to change all their plans. We weren’t trying to do anything illegal; she had no intention or desire to stay in the United States longer than the two weeks of the tour. Meanwhile, there I stood, a “tourist” with a year-long apartment contract and three-year term to do my job, having done zero paperwork to start a new life in Peru.
Eva reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She noticed six missed calls, and her phone rang again.
“They’re calling me back in!” She grabbed her folder and rushed back to the security gates.
An hour later, Eva and Aydee exited triumphantly. Through hugs, Eva explained that the same woman who did her interview was doing Aydee’s, saw the same material for the artisan tour and realized it was, indeed, a legitimate program.
“Disculpa,” the woman said to Eva, “Forgive me.”
And forgive all of us who take our citizenship for granted and use it to exclude others. Eva and Aydee are bringing a tremendous gift to the United States: their testimonies. They will be educating others about the impact fair trade has had on their lives. These are women who devote themselves to improving their families, their communities and the world.
The ease which with I entered Peru as a U.S. citizen and the difficulty they have entering the United States as Peruvian citizens demonstrates that even now there is not “fair trade” between these countries. May we continue to work toward justice and to celebrate the victories along the way. And may the FBI approve my application for residency.
Will you be in Denver, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago or the Twin Cities in May? If so, see Eva and Aydee share their stories as part of the Green America Fair Trade Tour! Schedule and details can be found at the Fair Trade Tour’s Web site.
If you’d like to support our U.S. partner, which is sponsoring this tour, visit the Web site of Partners for Just Trade or give through the Extra Commitment Opportunity account online.
Alexandra
