The free trade protesters descending on Miami are all young, pierced and tattooed, right?

Tell that to Camilla Schneider, 60. The elementary school teacher and 34-year educator held her banner high at a protest against the Gap in Miami Beach this week, unfazed by companions less than half her age.

And -- except for the gray hair, long flowered skirt and sensible shoes -- there wasn't a whole lot of difference between the teacher and the other demonstrators.

Like the others, she wore a ''gapatista'' sash over a white T-shirt bearing the word ''Crap'' in letters like those used by the Gap logo.

During the demonstration, organized to highlight what protesters said was the Gap's poor labor and environmental record, she sang along, spoke to the crowd and did what activists try to do -- educate people.

''When I was in the classroom, I realized what was impacting the students in my classroom was corporate globalization,'' she told the street-corner throng that gathered. ``And I realized this was where I needed to be as an educator.''

Schneider, who traveled cross-country from San Francisco to be in Miami, represents a kind of protester who hasn't gotten much attention so far. She isn't an anarchist or a trade unionist or part of an established environmental organization. She hasn't been a lifelong activist and she wasn't a protester in Seattle four years ago during the World Trade Organization meeting.

CONSCIENCE

Protestors take part in a 'We'd Rather Wear Nothing than Wear Gap' protest against the clothing store chain, in Miami Beach November 17, 2003 as talks for the Free Trade Area of the Americas begin in Miami. Thousands of protestors are expected by city officials for the meetings which end November 20. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

There's only one reason she's willing to join the exhausting, costly, potentially dangerous demonstrations against the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas: her conscience.

''I started reading about the trade agreements a few years ago, trying to learn more about them. I was still teaching and I realized that these agreements had the potential to really affect the lives of my students,'' she said. ``I felt I had to do something.''

After Sept. 11, she made a decision. She retired early to spend more time on the issues raised by trade agreements like the FTAA.

''I decided it was so important it overrode my need to work for money,'' she said.

Schneider is not an anomaly. Farmers and government workers and truck drivers -- people with jobs and houses and families -- are among the ranks of protesters flooding Miami. Some are associated with organized groups, others have come on their own. Many don't even consider themselves activists.

''An activist? Me? I don't know about that,'' said Mike Moon, 37, an organic vegetable farmer from Madison, Wis. ``These free-trade agreements are about things that hurt farmers in the U.S., not just in other countries. Prices are driven down and that influences my sustainability as a farmer. That's why I'm here.''

COMPETITION

Even in Wisconsin, he said, he has to compete with farmers from Mexico who ship their product all the way there and still charge cheaper prices.

''Prices that farmers get paid are below what they were 20 years ago, for things like milk,'' he explained. ``But consumers keep getting charged more.''

Sue Hilderbrand, 35, a worker in Arizona state government with a management position, calls herself ''a real normal person who pays her taxes.'' But she was worried enough about the FTAA that she sacrificed a week of her vacation for the Miami protests.

Standing at the protesters' welcome center a few blocks north of downtown, she talked about the convictions that drove her to Miami.

''The international trade agreements beginning with NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] are putting so many people around the world into poverty. It's destroying the environment,'' she said. ``And it's all happening so quickly.

``I'm only one person, but I'm one of thousands and thousands and thousands who care enough to come here, leave our jobs and lives for a little while, and speak out.''

ACTIVISM

For Peter Stedman, 47, a Florida International University adjunct professor who teaches Latin American history, the idea to protest the FTAA came partly from his work and partly from his growing activism.

About two years ago, he began working with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a South Florida farmworkers' rights group. That led to more involvement with trade issues and then to the FTAA.

''People need to learn about this -- that's what I tell my students. They're witnessing an extremely historical moment. Trade agreements are going to affect over 800 million lives in the hemisphere,'' he said.

Even within the barricades, where trade ministers from 34 countries will negotiate the FTAA agreement and demonstrators are strictly banned, protesting of a sort is going on.

A group of civil society organizations -- everything from Doctors Without Borders to the Dairy Farmers of Canada -- have worked for two days to put together position papers they will present to the FTAA ministers today.

The papers will recommend more access to the negotiation process for citizens and more transparency in decision-making -- some of the same concerns voiced by the protesters on the other side of the police perimeter.

''We don't claim to represent all of civil society,'' said Eric Dannenmaier, director of the Tulane Institute for Environmental Law and Policy and a participant.

``This is just another way to try to engage.''

Copyright 2003 Miami Herald

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