Labor Section E1

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Union chief on a missionCory Stanley and his family spent2008 aiding the people of Belize

About Belize

Belize was the site ofseveral Mayan citystates until their declineat the end of the firstmillennium A.D.

The British and Span-ish disputed the regionin the 17th and 18thcenturies; it formallybecame the colony ofBritish Honduras in

1854.Territorial disputesbetween the UK andGuatemala delayed theindependence of Belizeuntil 1981. Guatemalarefused to recognize thenew nation until 1992and the two countriesare involved in an ongo-ing border dispute.

Guatemala and Belizeare gearing up for a si-multaneousreferendumto deter-mine if thisd i s p u t ewill go be-fore the In-ternationalCourt ofJustice atT h eHague.

Tourismhas be-come them a i n s t a yof theeconomy.

The flag of Belize isthe only national bannerthat depicts human be-ings; the flags ofMontserrat and theBritish Virgin Islands,both British overseasterritories, also depicthumans.

Source: CIA The

World Factbook

It takes a differentkind of person togive up the com-forts of home andserve in the mission

field. Cory Stanley didntthink he was that kind ofperson, but he found outdifferently. The United

Auto Workers (UAW)Local 292 president spent11 months in 2008 as amissionary in the CentralAmerican nation of Be-lize. It was an experiencethat he and his familynever will forget.

Actually, I had no de-sire to do it, said Stanleyof mission work. Oneday, I felt impressed or ledby God to do it. I knowsome people have a hardtime swallowing that, butits how I felt. I asked mywife, Angie, if it wassomething she wanted todo, hoping she would sayno. She said, Yeah, lets

do it.You know, when youre

growing up, you havethese crazy things that youwant to do. She told mewhen she was a kid shewanted to be a mission-ary.

Stanley quickly realizedthat God had cleared theway for this opportunity.The family connected witha church organization thatwas organizing a missiontrip to Punta Gorda, Be-lize, and they headed south

to share the Word of Godand His love with peoplein need.

It was a great experi-ence, said Stanley. It waslife-changing. It all justcame together. Theyneeded someone. We vol-unteered to go.

He studied Belize beforethe he, his wife and hisdaughter, Baylie, left ontheir trip, but Stanley was-nt prepared for what heencountered. The level of

poverty was unlike any-thing he had imagined.The average worker in Be-lize makes less than $100a week, and the cost ofgoods and services is sig-nificantly higher than inthe United States.

In the book Stanleywrote about the trip ALight in the Dark heexplained that a gallon ofgasoline sold for morethan $5 at a time when itcost $3 back home. Simi-

lar mark-ups could befound on food and utilities,making life a struggle formost.

Its like going back 200years, said Stanley. Themain form of transporta-tion is bicycle or walking.They still have pit latrines.Some places dont haverunning water. They havegroup days where they goand take baths in the river.Its interesting. When yougo get groceries, its theequivalent of going to Vil-lage Pantry.

I dont want to paintthe picture that everyonelives like that. Youve gotyour haves and your have-nots. When you tell peopleyou went to Belize, it haslike the nicest coral reef inthe world. A lot of peopledive there. But once youre

10 feet off the beach, man,its bad. Its poor.

For the first six months,the Stanleys worked to re-model a house for the res-ident pastor and the Bible

institute on a 52-acre cam-pus that once served as anorphanage. The accommo-dations were modest, butwere better than whatmany in Belize had to callhome.

Some of them live inshacks, said Stanley.

Many of the houses havethatched roofs and dirtfloors. Many sleep in ham-mocks. And there aretarantulas, scorpions. Thefirst night we were there, I

took duct tape to the win-dows because I didnt wantsomething coming in.

The duct tape protectionworked for many of the in-sects and crepy crawliesthat inhabit Belize, but that

I asked mywife, Angie, if itwas somethingshe wanted todo, hoping shewould say no.She said,Yeah, lets doit.

NOTHINGS EASY Cory Stanley, left, after helpingput up a sign and getting attacked by fire ants in theprocess. Coping with native insects in Belize was a chal-lenge for Stanley, who had to duct tape the windows ofthe house his family stayed in to keep out tarantulas andother creepy crawlies.

Perspectivephoto /Provided

BELIZEE2

by Patrick Munseystaff [email protected]


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kokomoperspective.com/Salute to Labor

Kokomo Perspective Oct. 20, 2010

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SAVING SOULS Stanley preached to more than 400high school students, leading 150 of them to Christ inthe process.


MISSION ACCOMPLISHED The Stanleys had a lot ofhelp from fellow missionaries and townspeople in re-modeling the Bible institute.


MASSIVE MINISTRY Despite 90-degree heat, hun-dreds gathered to hear Gods word through the Bible in-stitutes efforts.


NEW FRIENDS Stanleys wife, Angie (far left), anddaughter Baylie (center), forged friendships with manyof the local residents during their year-long stay.


didnt mean that Stanleyavoided the local fauna. Helearned first-hand how acolony of fire ants canmake for a miserable day.And the entire family ex-

perienced what it musthave been like for the an-cient Egyptians when Godcalled down plagues offlies and frogs to free theIsraelites from slavery. Thecountrys rainy season, ashe wrote in his book,brought challenges hethought didnt exist in themodern world.

All of this worked to-gether to make the Stan-leys more appreciative ofwhat they have at home.

I understand howblessed we are, said Stan-ley. Tremendously. Justbefore we went downthere, I had taken a pay cutat Delphi. I was bitter, and

there are days when I stillam bitter. Its hard to swal-low that kind of hit, andthey want more. But whenI went to Belize where wewere living on less than$100 a week, it was life-changing.

There were days whenwe literally didnt have

money to go get food.Sometimes, to be frugal, Iwould share a candy barthree ways with my wifeand daughter. It is so poor.Those people eat beansand rice, rice and beans,every day.

The Stanleys returnedhome for two weeks in thesummer of 2008 before re-turning to the missionfield. And when the Bibleinstitute opened in Sep-tember of that year, there

were opportunities topreach and teach. Stanleyparticularly enjoyed this,as it is his ambition to be aminister. He saw it as anopportunity to make a dif-

ference where other mis-sions might fall short.

A lot of church organi-zations have a bad practiceof going into a foreigncountry just to say they didmissions, said Stanley.Theyll drop Bibles andfood and leave. If you wantto establish a culturechange, you have to train

the people. Instead ofgoing in and droppingBibles, we taught themhow to use their Bibles.

Stanley was more effec-tive than he had imagined

he would be. In his book,he relates times when afew of the townspeoplewere led to Christ during aservice. But in one trip to aPunta Gorda high school inwhich he preached to morethan 400 students, at least150 of them were led to theLord. It was his top-of-the-mountain moment, he

wrote.After 11 months, it wastime for the Stanleys to re-turn home. But a piece oftheir hearts remain in Be-lize to this day.

BELIZEcontinued from page E1

Cory Stanleywrote a bookabout his experi-ence. For those in-terested in readingmore about hisfamilys missiontrip to Belize, thebook is availablethrough Stanleyswebsite www.williamcoreystanley.

Book

available

Just before we went down there, Ihad taken a pay cut at Delphi. I wasbitter, and there are days when I stillam bitter. But when I went to Belizewhere we were living on less than$100 a week, it was life-changing.

I literally kissed theground when I got back,but there is part of me thatwants to go back, saidStanley. You establish alot of relationships with alot of good people. I stillworry about the people.Its hard to stay in contactbecause a lot of them dont

have Internet access, butonce in awhile we shoot e-mails back and forth. And I

still send care packagesdown there.

For those interested inreading more about themission trip to Belize, thebook is available throughStanleys website www.williamcoreystanley.com. He also has writtentwo other inspirational

books that can be pur-chased in printed of elec-tronic form.


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Oct. 20, 2010 Kokomo Perspective

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It made for agood sound bite.Gov. MitchDaniels priva-tized the statessocial servicesin 2008, claiming

that taxpayers would besaved millions of dollarsa year. The problem was,any savings realizedfrom the move came

from the denial anddelay of benefits to thou-sands of Hoosiers inneed.

The Ameri-can Federationof State,County andMunicipal Em-ployees (AF-SCME) wasthere to callthe governorsbluff.

W h e nMitch Danielsprivatized so-cial services,the union wasthe first oneout there say-ing this is bull,said AFSCMECouncil 62 ex-ecutive direc-tor DavidWarrick. Itisnt going towork. They didit in Texas, andit cost the tax-payers millionsof dollars. We

were able toget employeesto come for-ward and tell how thingswere being mishandled. Wewere out there for morethan a year, fighting it. Youwouldnt get that without aunion. The public neverwould have seen it.

That is the core of War-ricks message as he travelsthe state, assisting AFSCMEmembers in their efforts toensure that governmentworkers have a voice andprotections in the work-

place. Without unionizedpublic service workers, gov-ernment would have oneless set of eyes keeping ithonest.

When you have repre-sentation, that ensures thatthe public is protected frommismanagement, said War-rick. They have the back-ing of the union when theyneed to blow the whistle,when they see misappropri-ations or abuse. Who willblow the whistle if there areno protections?

A lot of people dont un-derstand how public serviceaffects their lives every day.Turning on the water faucetFlushing the toilet. Drivingon roads. They complainabout the taxes they pay,but if you didnt have publicservice, where would yourlife be? Were trying to edu-cate people about the im-portance of public service.

That can be a tough sellin a climate where taxpay-ers are clamoring for reliefand voting to permanentlycap governments ability to

tax them. Warrick returnedto the states social servicedebacle to provide an ex-ample of the need for union-ized public service workers.

The state is in troublebecause it has one of thehighest error rates and ratesof claims not beingprocessed in the U.S., saidWarrick. We told them itwould not work. Danielscame out and admitted itdidnt work and fired IBM.But thats a sham. IBM sub-contracted to ACS.

Daniels was getting heat

from the federal govern-ment and his own Republi-

Protecting public service for peopleAFSCME fighting Gov. Daniels on social service, state hospital cuts on behalf of taxpayers

cans in Indiana, so he pulled a shell game andfired IBM. But the sameproblems exist. People stillarent getting their benefits.The whole idea there is toget rid of public service.What will happen if youdont have social service?Your whole life will be dif-ferent.

Currently, AFSCME isfighting the state on its planto shut down services at thestate mental hospitals, mov-ing the residents into priva-

tized group homes withincommunities. The movemeans jobs losses amongthe unions membership,

but it alsomeans some-thing just asimportant forthe people re-lying on thosehospitals andthe communi-ties in whichthey will be placed, War-rick said.

The plan isto cut 355 po-sitions at Lo-gansport, anda lot of themare our mem-bers, saidW a r r i c k .When youtalk to the people upthere, theyarent asking,What is goingto happen toour jobs?They want to

know, Whatis going tohappen to our

patients?People in public service

normally arent there for themoney. Why would some-one go where they can behit, kicked and yelled at for$12 an hour? They careabout the residents. Whatdismays me about the mes-sage Gov. Daniels is sendingis he believes these peopleneed to be out in the com-munity.

Warrick is upset that the

governor is making the clo-sure about money, claimingthe privatization will savetaxpayers $15 million ayear. He has challengedGov. Daniels to show wherethe savings will be realized.In his mind, the move isntabout saving taxpayer dol-lars at all.

This isnt about money;its about politics, said War-rick. Its about paying backfriends who will build grouphomes and get the contractsto handle the residents. Andif it was an issue of needing

to place the residents in thecommunity, the law alreadydictates that they will be placed in the communitywhen they are ready for thattransition. So, this movedoesnt change anything.

When the doctor says aperson is ready, thats howit operates. How can younow push these people intothe community? If theywere ready, theyd be outthere. The whole thing is asham, just like privatizingsocial services. Were going

to do everything we can tostop it.To be successful, Warrick

believes the public must getinvolved in the fight. That iswhy he is urging AFSCMEmembers to talk to theirfriends and neighbors. He isencouraging people to con-tact their local representa-tives and the governorsoffice to let them know pri-vatizing treatment for men-tally and developmentallydisabled citizens is not awise way to save money.

How many people

would like one of thesegroup homes in their neigh-

AFSCME

by Patrick Munseystaff writer

[email protected]

borhoods? asked Warrick.

The typical group home for

the mentally and develop-

mentally disabled houses

one to six residents; six is

considered large. But the

state is talking about letting

large corporations house

these folks in homes of 30-

40 people in the community.

How many people want

to live next to a group home

of 30-40 mentally disabled

people who were forced out

of the hospital system, not

because they were ready toenter the community, not

because they were released

by a doctor, but because the

governor wanted to help his

friends?

Its not about money.

What is cheaper, using an al-ready-built facility with staffin place or building multiple private facilities to do it?The only way there can becost savings is in what you pay the employees salaries and benefits. Theseresidents will be your next-door neighbors, and thecompanies will pay peoplevirtually minimum wage towatch over the residents.Thats a scary thought.

When you haverepresentation,

that ensures thatthe public isprotected from

m i s m a n a g e -

ment. They havethe backing ofthe union when

they need toblow the whistle,when they see

misappropr ia-tions or abuse.

DavidWarrick

TREE TRIMMERS RonBrown, AFSCME Local2185 member, uses alightning loader to removedebris.

Perspectivephoto /File


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Kokomo Perspective Oct. 20, 2010

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Once upon a time, tens of thousands of workers filled the Delco Electronic facilities along the U.S. 31 bypass and throughout the city. Nearly a dozen production plants

once operated around the clock, churning out millions of electronic gadgets, radios, and devices.

All of that is gone. In its place are the bleached skeletons of industrial behemoths. White buildings with darkened windows. Parking lots clawed apart by Mother Na-

ture, her green grass fingers poking through the cracks. This is what happens when manufacturing in America dies, and Kokomo is one of a hundred graveyards.

United Auto Workers Local 292 president Cory Stanley may be the last leader of his union. An election next summer likely will decide who wears that title. He wants

to people to see the buildings for what they are an industrial ghost town.

Even with all the stuff that gets into the papers and the media, people still dont know whats going on. Or they dont care, said Stanley. I wish someone would take

some shots of the plants. I dont think people know that from the old office building all the way north to Boulevard and then east, all of that is empty or full of junk. Itsdepressing. They have consolidated everything down to the middle of Plant 7. Even Plant 8 is on the books as being gone once Delphi pulls out the validation operation.

I wish people knew. There is nothing. There is absolutely nothing.

Now-empty buildings create industrial ghost town

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