Having colleagues from many continents pass through the Catholic Relief Services offices in Baltimore, Maryland is a pretty typical experience.  The Economic Justice team almost gets a little blase about who we rub shoulders with over Fair Trade coffee.  But last week our time with Romina Sanchez of Peru (see photo below) reminded us of the real lives touched by our peers. She explained to us the efforts of our CRS-South America staff to address modern day slavery in Brazil, internal displacement in Colombia and–her area of expertise–protect human rights in communities impacted by natural resource extraction.   Here is a story taken from the Catholics Confront Global Poverty website that illustrates the importance of CRS’s work in Peru.

Jim Stipe/CRS

“Yolanda Zurita is a resident of La Oroya, a mining town of 35,000 in the Andes mountains of Peru. Her community has experienced a high rate of cancers, lead poisoning, and problems of the nervous system—illnesses which many believe are related to the Doe Run mining and smelting operation nearby. Yolanda’s own father, who worked in the smelting plant for most of his life, died of complications of the nervous system.

In the late 1990s, Yolanda began to lead an effort to call for testing of the air, water, and soil in the community and to scientifically measure the impact of the mining on residents and the environment.

The Public Health Department of the Jesuit-run St. Louis University conducted an independent study two years ago that found that 97% of children had elevated levels of lead in their blood. High concentrations of other heavy metals were also found in the blood of La Oroya residents.

Now the local Archdiocese, with support from CRS, educates local people about the contaminants and advocates with the local and national government for changes in environmental policies and mining practices to reduce pollution.”

The Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative–a joint effort of CRS and the US Catholic Conference of Bishops– encourages us all to be thoughtful consumers, not blinded by the glitters of jewelry and technology, in the following ways:

• reducing, reusing, and recycling, to lessen the need for extraction of natural resources
• explore ways to reduce your use of gasoline, and donate or recycle old phones, computers, and computer games
• purchasing diamonds that are certified “conflict free” and jewelry made of “clean” gold, silver, and precious stones that were mined with respect for the environment and human rights
• asking companies involved in extractive industries to publish what they pay
• writing to companies to ensure the metals used in their products were produced in ways that did not contribute to conflict or environmental contamination.

Learn more by visiting the Catholics Confront Global Poverty website and join our efforts!