On September 1, 2009, IDEX assumed responsibility of Seva’s, Community Self-Development (CSD) Program in Mexico and Guatemala.
IDEX has experienced sustained growth in recent years, and has built internal systems to continue on a path of expansion. Acquiring the CSD program allows IDEX to grow its Latin America support significantly in one year, while achieving greater efficiencies and engaging new funding opportunities.
Seva Foundation, based in Berkeley, California is most widely known for its eye care programs around the world. Seva also works in the US with Native American communities, and until recently, with indigenous communities in Guatemala and Mexico.
In early 2009 the Seva Foundation, based in Berkeley, California engaged in a strategic re-visioning process. The Seva Board made the difficult decision to focus its efforts on its eye care programs, and discontinue supporting the CSD Program. Seva began to look for another organization already doing similar work in Latin America.
IDEX and Seva have a long history of working with indigenous communities in southern Mexico and Guatemala. The two organizations have common goals of supporting community development initiatives. Both Seva and IDEX are committed to providing sustained support, as both organizations have found this to be fundamental to poverty alleviation.
IDEX has always encouraged best practices to be shared among our grantees. This will allow us to facilitate more opportunities for like-minded groups to share their successes and challenges and learn from one another. We are confident that this will be an enriching experience for both IDEX and Seva grantees.
Over the next 12 months IDEX will work to transition the Seva CSD program to match the format of our existing programs. We hope you will join us in extending a warm welcome to the Seva CSD program.
More details are available at www.idex.org. We also invite you to contact IDEX directly at (415)824-8384 to discuss this, or any other aspect of IDEX's work. IDEX is expanding its work. Come learn about IDEX staff's recent trip to South Africa to select new grantees.
What: A casual wine and cheese get-together and the unveiling of a 5-minute video featuring the work of our newest grantees
Who: IDEX Program Officers, Katherine Zavala and Vini Bhansali, staff, board members and you!
When: Thursday, September 10, 2009 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: IDEX, 827 Valencia Street, Ste 101, San Francisco (See map)
Why: The vibrant civil society in South Africa is full of energy and hope despite widespread poverty in rural villages and urban townships in the post-Apartheid era. Come learn about inspiring people leading change in their communities and IDEX’s role in their initiatives.
We hope to see you there!
The RAU Campaign aims to gather at least 2,000 messages by September 2, through a combination of video messages, petition signatures, twitter (re)tweets, comments, etc., to demonstrate the world's outrage at the injustices experienced by Zimbabwean women in the context of political intimidation. Since early August, they have reached out across borders to invite others who believe in justice to add their support to this campaign. The online campaign launched August 17th and has enabled a level of dissemination and organizing that amplifies the concerns of the women of Zimbabwe. Please visit http://hub.witness.org/HearUsStandWithUs to join this important effort.
The Global Fund for Women has supported women's rights groups in Zimbabwe since 1990 and we made our most recent visit in 2008. International Development Exchange (IDEX) has supported community development organizations in Zimbabwe since 1992 and has also witnessed the escalation of human rights abuses over the last five years. Priority Africa Network, an Africa mobilizing and advocacy group, calls on social justice groups in Africa and the Diaspora to stand firm in saying “No!” to violence against women. Together, we join our voices to the RAU campaign to denounce the use of violence against women for any means, and particularly to push political agendas. We denounce the use of rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, abduction, gang rapes, sexual mutilation and torture to break the dignity of any woman or girl. We call upon the Zimbabwean government to set up safe and user-friendly justice mechanisms to assure that the 20,000 or more women and girls who were victimized get access to free legal, medical, and psycho-social support. Many of these women have fled their homes, some their communities and country, in fear of being targeted once more. As the SADC Summit unfolds Sept. 2-8, let our African leaders demonstrate that they have the courage and political will to speak out against human rights violations that target women. Guatemala
Agriculture mission in Guatemala wins international acclaim - July 26, 2009, The China Post
An agricultural mission in Guatemala led by Taiwan has "won acclaim" for improving farming technology and developing small farm projects. The venture has received a lot of attention in the field of major agricultural research. Representatives from Spain and 12 Latin American countries have visited the cooperative. Taiwan's agricultural mission teaches local farmers how to plant crops and process food. In addition, "the cooperative offers courses on how to cultivate bamboo (which is used as a key material in building classrooms and low-cost housing units)."
India
India to import food amid drought - August 21, 2009, BBC News
To make up for food shortages caused by drought, India will import food into the country. According to the Finance Minister, over 700 million people have been affected by the drought and food prices have been raised by 10%. With almost 70% of the Indian population dependent on farm incomes, the drought has affected nearly half of the districts in India.
Mexico
Politician's slaying highlights depth of Mexico's violence - August 21, 2009, CNN
The brutal killing of Guerrero state congressman, Armando Chavarria Barrera, is yet another demonstration of the continued violence in Mexico as a response to the country's War on Drugs campaign. Calderon compared the murder rate in Mexico to that of other countries and according to the report, "President Calderon told Mexicans to quit bad mouthing their country". Nonetheless, citizens remain terrified of the violence.
Mexico City bans stores from distributing plastic bags - August 19, 2009, CNN
Mexico City has become the second large metropolitan area (San Francisco was the first) that has banned retailers from using plastic bags. Leading environmentalists are calling for a global ban on plastic bags, as they are a threat to marine life and are the "second-most-common form of litter." Some of the worst air pollution is found in Mexico City. In addition to the bag ban, officials are seeking to improve the city's environment in other ways.
Nepal
Trade treaty likely - August 20, 2009, The Kathmandu Post
Nepalese Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, has suggested that it is likely that India and Nepal will sign an amended trade treaty, which is said to be based on equality between the two countries. India’s Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, restated a commitment to "implement bilateral projects," including construction of a link road in the Tarai, extension of transmission lines, and additional support from India the Naumure hydro-project.
South Africa
Sexist leaders damage women's rights agenda - August 6, 2009, Pambazuka News
Writer, William Gumede, expresses his concern over what he calls "a deep gulf between the call for women's equality in South Africa's model constitution and society's predominantly archaic public attitudes toward women." He claims that the patriarchal society in South Africa continues to preserve inequalities between women and men and although the 2007 resolution dictates 50% female representation of the ANC, Gumede argues it has yet to be put into practice. Moreover, he maintains that women will bear a greater burden from the impacts of the current global economic crisis.
Zimbabwe
Cholera may return to Zimbabwe - August 19, 2009, BBC News
Last year's failure to deal with the causes of Cholera have put Zimbabwe at risk for another outbreak. Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) and the UN are warning of a potential new outbreak although Zimbabwean officials have declared the epidemic over. Over 4,000 people have died from the disease since last August and limited access to clean water is a major contributor to another possible outbreak.
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala recently traveled to Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.
This morning I got up early, to commute for 2 hours on public transportation. I was traveling from my family’s home, in northern Mexico City to Iztapalapa, which is at the southern point of the city to visit El Molino. Thank goodness for the subway, which at least cuts out the road traffic.
El Molino started an urban agriculture project last year to grow affordable organic produce for their neighborhoods to create self-sufficiency and better health. When I arrived the group had just finished harvesting tomatoes and string beans. It was amazing how big and beautiful this produce was in comparison to what I usually see in the supermarkets.
8 community members showed up today to harvest. They then buy the produce for their homes and to sell to their neighbors. Silvia, who is the cashier of the group, explained that all the money from selling the produce is invested back into this project.
The goal of the communal agricultural garden, where the group learns urban agriculture, is to be a training site and inspiration for the community to learn about how they can grow these vegetables in their own backyards and be inspired and motivated to actually do it.
El Molino has also just started publishing a monthly newsletter. The newsletter informs the community of the value of organic agriculture through tips and shared experiences. Community members describe what worked for them when growing vegetables in their backyards. It’s also a way to promote organic food and demonstrate how accessible and affordable it can be when you’re growing it yourself.
The trainer of the group, Gerardo Castro, is a farmer. He gives monthly workshops to the group of El Molino, teaching them how to grow vegetables using a polyculture method and how to care for the vegetables to ensure a good harvest. They're also learning the different composts they can make such as Bocashi, liquid fertilizer and worm composting.
It was an incredible learning experience for me. And in a city where the word "organic" is not commonly used, it was great to see that the group of El Molino has found organic agriculture to be the best option both for food security and improved nutrition and health in their communities.
El Molino was the last group I was to visit in Mexico. Time to return to San Francisco. After eating so many tacos, I'm ready for a different cuisine. After visiting El Molino's project, I feel inspired to take up the task of starting my own urban garden in my backyard!
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala recently traveled to Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.
Today I traveled 2 hours north of Mexico City to the state of Hidalgo. Hidalgo's capital is Pachuca. 45 minutes from Pachuca is the municipality Ismiquilpan, where staff from Ñepi Behña introduced me to the indigenous communities of the region called Valle de Mezquital.
Migration is a big problem in this community. As men migrate to cities in search of work, women are the ones that are left with the burden of caring for children, maintaining the house and finding some work to support the family until a remittance arrives.
About 20 years ago, the women in these communities organized a cooperative to sell natural beauty products to The Body Shop. Agave, known locally as maguey, is grown here. The women go through an arduous process to extract the fibers from the agave, which they then knit into bath sponges. Ñepi Behña has been assisting the cooperative by providing leadership development workshops to strengthen the cooperative and ensure its sustainability.
I met with the Cooperative Board who told me there are 250 women members from 5 communities participating in the cooperative. They have organized the cooperative into different committees to improve communication and coordination among themselves. Now they have committees of product quality, packing supervision, informing members of meetings, trainers, sales and problem solving. They have a Board with a President, Secretary and Treasurer that leads the committees.
I than had the great opportunity of being shown through the process of making a sponge, from chopping off a huge agave leave from the plant, to removing the moisture to reveal the fibers, to spinning the fibers into a thread. Seeing the whole process made me realize how time-consuming and labor-intensive it is. 8 big agave leaves are needed to make enough fiber for one bath sponge. And it takes at least 6 hours to have enough fiber ready for making the sponge. Unsurprisingly during my time there everyone was either knitting or manually spinning the fiber into string while talking to me.
Many of these women also save the money they earn with cooperative group savings plans. Women from the cooperative are trained to collect and track money from their peers. The administrator of this program called Las Abejitas (Little Bees) then deposits the money in a bank account. At the end of the year, they hand out savings interests to the women based on how consistently they saved and not by how much they put in. "It's a way to put more value on the habit of saving even though it can be a minimal amount," says Luciana, the administrator of Las Abejitas.
It was a great experience to see how these women are empowering and supporting themselves to initiate local economic opportunities. Plus it was fascinating to learn how everyday Body Shop products are made and supporting each other.
The show focused on Making Global Local and the impact Bay Area residents are having around the world. The show offers resources for how Bay Area residents can get involved with international non-profits.
Watch the episode here - Vini appears in the first few minutes of the program.
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala, recently traveled to Mexico to spend time in the field with our grantees there.
Today I visited International Institute of Renewable Resources (IRRI-Mexico) at their new office in the Colonia Condesa. To reduce costs, IRRI-Mexico shares their office with a green technology business and the organization Global Youth Action Network. I met with 6 staff members and the founder/board chair of IRRI-Mexico Ilan Adler.
IRRI-Mexico was founded in 2003 and has been providing workshops, and developing renewable energy programs in Mexico City and 6 other states in Mexico. Their programs focuses mainly on 3 areas:
• Rainwater capturing and water treatment
• Biogas energy (through biodigestors)
• Wood-saving stoves, and solar energy
In November 2008, IRRI worked together with community members in rural Yucatan, to install a biodigestor to provide energy for students who travel long distances to their local school so need to stay at the school during the week. The community was already raising several animals, including pigs. It made sense to convert the pig manure into biogas and supply energy for the kitchen that feeds all the students.
One of their new community projects in Mexico City is called "La isla urbana" (the urban island) in Ajusco in the district Tlalpan in the south of the city. Enrique Adler took me to this community and introduced me to Clara Gaytan.
Clara is a 58-year old woman who, thanks to IRRI-Mexico, now has access to water whenever she needs it. IRRI-Mexico installed a rainwater-capturing tank that can hold 70,000 liters of water in Clara's house. Clara lives with her grandchildren and sister’s children. She also rents rooms to 4 people. 9 people in total now have access to water whenever they need it.
"It has changed my life," announced Clara, "The municipal water system used to pump water to us from Monday to Thursday, but they shut down the system Friday to Sunday. But recently they’re not even sending water to us from Monday to Thursday. So having a rainwater capture tank helps me to collect water when I can’t depend on the municipal water system."
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala, recently traveled to Mexico to spend time in the field with our grantees there.
I met up with Javier and Jose, staff of EduPaz, in Comitan, Chiapas to visit community groups who are participating in EduPaz's Economic Solidarity (Microcredit) Program. I got into EduPaz’s car, a traditional Mexican red bug, (VW Beetle) and rode 90 minutes through stunning green mountains to a community called Amparo Agua Tinta.
Amparo Agua Tinta is home to 700 families, approximately 3500 people. The area offers few job opportunities and EduPaz estimates 25% of the men have migrated to other cities in Mexico, such as Cancun, and also across the border to the United States. Those who stay grow maize and beans and raise cattle. EduPaz is the only non-profit organization working in this community.
Amparo Agua Tinta has a painful history. It was a community that was part of the autonomous municipality of Tierra y Libertad (Land and Freedom), which was dismantled by the paramilitaries in 1998. Many people were injured, threatened and some were tortured.
Families are still traumatized by this experience and find it hard to trust people, including their fellow neighbors. To build trust, a key part of EduPaz's work has been to mediate between community members to bring reconciliation back in Amparo Agua Tinta.
One way that EduPaz does this is to encourage people who want to apply for a microcredit loan from EduPaz to do so as part of a community group, rather than as an individual. Currently, EduPaz works with 3 community groups. One of them is a 8 women-member cooperative of a grocery store within the community called “One Hope Ahead” that initiated this year.
Leonol Vazquez Mirano is part of the "One Hope Ahead" group. She is 53 years old and has 3 daughters. Together they discussed the idea of starting their own family grocery store. Leonol already had been part of a community group and had worked with Edupaz. The group had sold second-hand clothes. This experience taught Leonol about responsibility, coordination and consensus building, and inspired her to take on a new group project of a grocery store. In its first 6 months, the store is going strong and the cooperative is generating 500 to 600 pesos ($38 to $46) a day. The cooperative members are also taking the opportunity to start saving their own money by each contributing 30 pesos ($2.30) each month.
The other 2 groups are formed by members who are doing individual income-generating projects but meet once a month to share experiences on how their projects are advancing. Most of them are raising livestock (pigs, sheep or chickens).
Raul Sanchez Lopez invested his microcredit in a roadside store. His store is well situated and attracts both drivers passing through the town and neighbors. He’s done so well he decided to invest a small part of his microcredit in raising egg-laying hens as an experiment. He soon hopes to sell fresh eggs at his roadside store.
It was wonderful to meet these community members and learn more about their different projects.
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala (pictured 2nd on the right), is currently in Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.
Today I went to Comitán de Dominguez, where our partner EduPaz is based. Comitán is 90 minutes south of San Cristóbal de las Casas on the way to the Guatemalan border. EduPaz had planned to take me on a community visit to Tziscao –but first, a much-needed stop at their office for pastries and coffee.
To enter their office, I had to pass through their fair trade store called EcoPaz (Economy for Peace), which was opened to sell products made by the community groups and collectives that received microcredit from EduPaz.
This season, it was interesting to see a beekeeping collective is producing lots of honey and there was plenty of honey on sale.
During breakfast, the 3 full-time EduPaz staff introduced themselves and got me up to speed on the community we were going to visit. And so headed off to Tziscao, a community of around 6,000 people, located an hour from Comitán.
In Tziscao, EduPaz has built a health center which now has a doctor to serve the surrounding communities. Soon there will be 5 alternative medicine interns from the School of Alternative Medicine in Tuxtla Gutierrez on site to provide holistic health services, which is great since this area is really underserved in regards to medical care.
About 15 to 20 community members go to the Tziscao health center each week. There’s only 1 other hospital in the area, but it is limited in it services and just has 1 doctor and 1 nurse. Plus the only supplies they have are of anti-parasite medicine and contraceptives. The EduPaz health center is a much-needed resource and also serves as a meeting space for farmers or cooperative members in Tziscao.
An indigenous couple is currently living on site to take care of the health center: Baldemar and his wife Eloisa. They moved into the center 3 months ago and Baldemar is also currently being trained on how to run the agroecology program at the center.
EduPaz is also in the process of constructing an Agroecology Training Site. They already have started growing organic vegetables – including squash, radishes, peanuts, chayote, chipilin (herbs for broths) and green tomatoes. While I was there, Baldemar showed me where they’re planning to build a chicken coup, and a space for farm animals including rabbits and sheep, as well as fruit trees (avocado, lemon, apple, pear and banana plants) AND a greenhouse to grow tomatoes. It was quite impressive.
They've already built a pigsty and a space for a biodigestor. The biodigestor will use the pig manure to create natural gas to produce energy for the center. They will install the biodigestor in August, at the same time IRRI-Mexico, an IDEX catalyst grantee in Mexico City, will train Baldemar and other community members from Tziscao on how to install and maintain this technology. The goal is to encourage them to also use this in their own homes.
I also visited 2 community groups in Tziscao: an organic coffee cooperative and a family grocery store collective. Both have received microcredit loans from EduPaz. They shared how helpful it was to access microcredit through EduPaz and how much better it was than going through a bank which requires a lot of complicated paperwork and restrictive lending terms. Plus the banks only loan large sums of money, which is not necessary for these groups’ projects.
All in all, it was incredibly rewarding to learn more about EduPaz's work and meet some of the people that are benefiting from their programs and working so hard to continue that they are successful.
IDEX has experienced sustained growth in recent years, and has built internal systems to continue on a path of expansion. Acquiring the CSD program allows IDEX to grow its Latin America support significantly in one year, while achieving greater efficiencies and engaging new funding opportunities.
Seva Foundation, based in Berkeley, California is most widely known for its eye care programs around the world. Seva also works in the US with Native American communities, and until recently, with indigenous communities in Guatemala and Mexico.
In early 2009 the Seva Foundation, based in Berkeley, California engaged in a strategic re-visioning process. The Seva Board made the difficult decision to focus its efforts on its eye care programs, and discontinue supporting the CSD Program. Seva began to look for another organization already doing similar work in Latin America.
IDEX and Seva have a long history of working with indigenous communities in southern Mexico and Guatemala. The two organizations have common goals of supporting community development initiatives. Both Seva and IDEX are committed to providing sustained support, as both organizations have found this to be fundamental to poverty alleviation.
IDEX has always encouraged best practices to be shared among our grantees. This will allow us to facilitate more opportunities for like-minded groups to share their successes and challenges and learn from one another. We are confident that this will be an enriching experience for both IDEX and Seva grantees.
Over the next 12 months IDEX will work to transition the Seva CSD program to match the format of our existing programs. We hope you will join us in extending a warm welcome to the Seva CSD program.
More details are available at www.idex.org. We also invite you to contact IDEX directly at (415)824-8384 to discuss this, or any other aspect of IDEX's work. IDEX is expanding its work. Come learn about IDEX staff's recent trip to South Africa to select new grantees.
What: A casual wine and cheese get-together and the unveiling of a 5-minute video featuring the work of our newest granteesWho: IDEX Program Officers, Katherine Zavala and Vini Bhansali, staff, board members and you!
When: Thursday, September 10, 2009 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: IDEX, 827 Valencia Street, Ste 101, San Francisco (See map)
Why: The vibrant civil society in South Africa is full of energy and hope despite widespread poverty in rural villages and urban townships in the post-Apartheid era. Come learn about inspiring people leading change in their communities and IDEX’s role in their initiatives.
We hope to see you there!
Labels: Events, IDEX, South Africa
We must stand with the women of Zimbabwe! In the midst of unmitigated gender violence and spiraling inflation whose impact is most felt by women and girls, Zimbabwean women have organized to ensure that the African presidents slated to attend the annual Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) hear their concerns and demands for justice. Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) has joined with WITNESS to create an online campaign calling for accountability for the Zimbabwean women who were raped, tortured, abducted, and beaten after the highly-contested 2008 elections. According to women's rights groups in Zimbabwe, about 20,000 women were victims of this violence during a campaign of intimidation and retribution sanctioned by the government and carried out by militias. The SADC Summit begins September 2 in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that also holds records when it comes to rampant gender violence that operates in a context of impunity. Is it any irony that despite a peer review mechanism at the regional level, issues of gender violence remain absent from the agendas of our African leaders? Not this time! Advocates seek to break the silence and send a strong message that cannot be ignored.The RAU Campaign aims to gather at least 2,000 messages by September 2, through a combination of video messages, petition signatures, twitter (re)tweets, comments, etc., to demonstrate the world's outrage at the injustices experienced by Zimbabwean women in the context of political intimidation. Since early August, they have reached out across borders to invite others who believe in justice to add their support to this campaign. The online campaign launched August 17th and has enabled a level of dissemination and organizing that amplifies the concerns of the women of Zimbabwe. Please visit http://hub.witness.org/HearUsStandWithUs to join this important effort.
The Global Fund for Women has supported women's rights groups in Zimbabwe since 1990 and we made our most recent visit in 2008. International Development Exchange (IDEX) has supported community development organizations in Zimbabwe since 1992 and has also witnessed the escalation of human rights abuses over the last five years. Priority Africa Network, an Africa mobilizing and advocacy group, calls on social justice groups in Africa and the Diaspora to stand firm in saying “No!” to violence against women. Together, we join our voices to the RAU campaign to denounce the use of violence against women for any means, and particularly to push political agendas. We denounce the use of rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, abduction, gang rapes, sexual mutilation and torture to break the dignity of any woman or girl. We call upon the Zimbabwean government to set up safe and user-friendly justice mechanisms to assure that the 20,000 or more women and girls who were victimized get access to free legal, medical, and psycho-social support. Many of these women have fled their homes, some their communities and country, in fear of being targeted once more. As the SADC Summit unfolds Sept. 2-8, let our African leaders demonstrate that they have the courage and political will to speak out against human rights violations that target women. Guatemala
Agriculture mission in Guatemala wins international acclaim - July 26, 2009, The China Post
An agricultural mission in Guatemala led by Taiwan has "won acclaim" for improving farming technology and developing small farm projects. The venture has received a lot of attention in the field of major agricultural research. Representatives from Spain and 12 Latin American countries have visited the cooperative. Taiwan's agricultural mission teaches local farmers how to plant crops and process food. In addition, "the cooperative offers courses on how to cultivate bamboo (which is used as a key material in building classrooms and low-cost housing units)."
India
India to import food amid drought - August 21, 2009, BBC News
To make up for food shortages caused by drought, India will import food into the country. According to the Finance Minister, over 700 million people have been affected by the drought and food prices have been raised by 10%. With almost 70% of the Indian population dependent on farm incomes, the drought has affected nearly half of the districts in India.
Mexico
Politician's slaying highlights depth of Mexico's violence - August 21, 2009, CNN
The brutal killing of Guerrero state congressman, Armando Chavarria Barrera, is yet another demonstration of the continued violence in Mexico as a response to the country's War on Drugs campaign. Calderon compared the murder rate in Mexico to that of other countries and according to the report, "President Calderon told Mexicans to quit bad mouthing their country". Nonetheless, citizens remain terrified of the violence.
Mexico City bans stores from distributing plastic bags - August 19, 2009, CNN
Mexico City has become the second large metropolitan area (San Francisco was the first) that has banned retailers from using plastic bags. Leading environmentalists are calling for a global ban on plastic bags, as they are a threat to marine life and are the "second-most-common form of litter." Some of the worst air pollution is found in Mexico City. In addition to the bag ban, officials are seeking to improve the city's environment in other ways.
Nepal
Trade treaty likely - August 20, 2009, The Kathmandu Post
Nepalese Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, has suggested that it is likely that India and Nepal will sign an amended trade treaty, which is said to be based on equality between the two countries. India’s Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, restated a commitment to "implement bilateral projects," including construction of a link road in the Tarai, extension of transmission lines, and additional support from India the Naumure hydro-project.
South Africa
Sexist leaders damage women's rights agenda - August 6, 2009, Pambazuka News
Writer, William Gumede, expresses his concern over what he calls "a deep gulf between the call for women's equality in South Africa's model constitution and society's predominantly archaic public attitudes toward women." He claims that the patriarchal society in South Africa continues to preserve inequalities between women and men and although the 2007 resolution dictates 50% female representation of the ANC, Gumede argues it has yet to be put into practice. Moreover, he maintains that women will bear a greater burden from the impacts of the current global economic crisis.
Zimbabwe
Cholera may return to Zimbabwe - August 19, 2009, BBC News
Last year's failure to deal with the causes of Cholera have put Zimbabwe at risk for another outbreak. Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) and the UN are warning of a potential new outbreak although Zimbabwean officials have declared the epidemic over. Over 4,000 people have died from the disease since last August and limited access to clean water is a major contributor to another possible outbreak.
Labels: Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nepal, Newsflash, South Africa, Zimbabwe
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala recently traveled to Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.This morning I got up early, to commute for 2 hours on public transportation. I was traveling from my family’s home, in northern Mexico City to Iztapalapa, which is at the southern point of the city to visit El Molino. Thank goodness for the subway, which at least cuts out the road traffic.
El Molino started an urban agriculture project last year to grow affordable organic produce for their neighborhoods to create self-sufficiency and better health. When I arrived the group had just finished harvesting tomatoes and string beans. It was amazing how big and beautiful this produce was in comparison to what I usually see in the supermarkets.
8 community members showed up today to harvest. They then buy the produce for their homes and to sell to their neighbors. Silvia, who is the cashier of the group, explained that all the money from selling the produce is invested back into this project.
The goal of the communal agricultural garden, where the group learns urban agriculture, is to be a training site and inspiration for the community to learn about how they can grow these vegetables in their own backyards and be inspired and motivated to actually do it.El Molino has also just started publishing a monthly newsletter. The newsletter informs the community of the value of organic agriculture through tips and shared experiences. Community members describe what worked for them when growing vegetables in their backyards. It’s also a way to promote organic food and demonstrate how accessible and affordable it can be when you’re growing it yourself.
The trainer of the group, Gerardo Castro, is a farmer. He gives monthly workshops to the group of El Molino, teaching them how to grow vegetables using a polyculture method and how to care for the vegetables to ensure a good harvest. They're also learning the different composts they can make such as Bocashi, liquid fertilizer and worm composting.
It was an incredible learning experience for me. And in a city where the word "organic" is not commonly used, it was great to see that the group of El Molino has found organic agriculture to be the best option both for food security and improved nutrition and health in their communities.
El Molino was the last group I was to visit in Mexico. Time to return to San Francisco. After eating so many tacos, I'm ready for a different cuisine. After visiting El Molino's project, I feel inspired to take up the task of starting my own urban garden in my backyard!
Labels: El Molino, Mexico, organic farming
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala recently traveled to Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.Today I traveled 2 hours north of Mexico City to the state of Hidalgo. Hidalgo's capital is Pachuca. 45 minutes from Pachuca is the municipality Ismiquilpan, where staff from Ñepi Behña introduced me to the indigenous communities of the region called Valle de Mezquital.
Migration is a big problem in this community. As men migrate to cities in search of work, women are the ones that are left with the burden of caring for children, maintaining the house and finding some work to support the family until a remittance arrives.
About 20 years ago, the women in these communities organized a cooperative to sell natural beauty products to The Body Shop. Agave, known locally as maguey, is grown here. The women go through an arduous process to extract the fibers from the agave, which they then knit into bath sponges. Ñepi Behña has been assisting the cooperative by providing leadership development workshops to strengthen the cooperative and ensure its sustainability.
I met with the Cooperative Board who told me there are 250 women members from 5 communities participating in the cooperative. They have organized the cooperative into different committees to improve communication and coordination among themselves. Now they have committees of product quality, packing supervision, informing members of meetings, trainers, sales and problem solving. They have a Board with a President, Secretary and Treasurer that leads the committees. I than had the great opportunity of being shown through the process of making a sponge, from chopping off a huge agave leave from the plant, to removing the moisture to reveal the fibers, to spinning the fibers into a thread. Seeing the whole process made me realize how time-consuming and labor-intensive it is. 8 big agave leaves are needed to make enough fiber for one bath sponge. And it takes at least 6 hours to have enough fiber ready for making the sponge. Unsurprisingly during my time there everyone was either knitting or manually spinning the fiber into string while talking to me.
Many of these women also save the money they earn with cooperative group savings plans. Women from the cooperative are trained to collect and track money from their peers. The administrator of this program called Las Abejitas (Little Bees) then deposits the money in a bank account. At the end of the year, they hand out savings interests to the women based on how consistently they saved and not by how much they put in. "It's a way to put more value on the habit of saving even though it can be a minimal amount," says Luciana, the administrator of Las Abejitas.It was a great experience to see how these women are empowering and supporting themselves to initiate local economic opportunities. Plus it was fascinating to learn how everyday Body Shop products are made and supporting each other.
Labels: cooperatives, indigenous women, Mexico, Nepi Behna
This past Sunday, August 16, IDEX's Program Officer, Vini Bhansali was a guest on ABC7's Beyond The Headlines with Cheryl Jennings.The show focused on Making Global Local and the impact Bay Area residents are having around the world. The show offers resources for how Bay Area residents can get involved with international non-profits.
Watch the episode here - Vini appears in the first few minutes of the program.
Labels: ABC7, Vini Bhansali
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala, recently traveled to Mexico to spend time in the field with our grantees there.Today I visited International Institute of Renewable Resources (IRRI-Mexico) at their new office in the Colonia Condesa. To reduce costs, IRRI-Mexico shares their office with a green technology business and the organization Global Youth Action Network. I met with 6 staff members and the founder/board chair of IRRI-Mexico Ilan Adler.
IRRI-Mexico was founded in 2003 and has been providing workshops, and developing renewable energy programs in Mexico City and 6 other states in Mexico. Their programs focuses mainly on 3 areas:
• Rainwater capturing and water treatment
• Biogas energy (through biodigestors)
• Wood-saving stoves, and solar energy
In November 2008, IRRI worked together with community members in rural Yucatan, to install a biodigestor to provide energy for students who travel long distances to their local school so need to stay at the school during the week. The community was already raising several animals, including pigs. It made sense to convert the pig manure into biogas and supply energy for the kitchen that feeds all the students.
One of their new community projects in Mexico City is called "La isla urbana" (the urban island) in Ajusco in the district Tlalpan in the south of the city. Enrique Adler took me to this community and introduced me to Clara Gaytan.
Clara is a 58-year old woman who, thanks to IRRI-Mexico, now has access to water whenever she needs it. IRRI-Mexico installed a rainwater-capturing tank that can hold 70,000 liters of water in Clara's house. Clara lives with her grandchildren and sister’s children. She also rents rooms to 4 people. 9 people in total now have access to water whenever they need it.
"It has changed my life," announced Clara, "The municipal water system used to pump water to us from Monday to Thursday, but they shut down the system Friday to Sunday. But recently they’re not even sending water to us from Monday to Thursday. So having a rainwater capture tank helps me to collect water when I can’t depend on the municipal water system."
Labels: biogas, IRRI, Mexico, water
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala, recently traveled to Mexico to spend time in the field with our grantees there.I met up with Javier and Jose, staff of EduPaz, in Comitan, Chiapas to visit community groups who are participating in EduPaz's Economic Solidarity (Microcredit) Program. I got into EduPaz’s car, a traditional Mexican red bug, (VW Beetle) and rode 90 minutes through stunning green mountains to a community called Amparo Agua Tinta.
Amparo Agua Tinta is home to 700 families, approximately 3500 people. The area offers few job opportunities and EduPaz estimates 25% of the men have migrated to other cities in Mexico, such as Cancun, and also across the border to the United States. Those who stay grow maize and beans and raise cattle. EduPaz is the only non-profit organization working in this community.
Amparo Agua Tinta has a painful history. It was a community that was part of the autonomous municipality of Tierra y Libertad (Land and Freedom), which was dismantled by the paramilitaries in 1998. Many people were injured, threatened and some were tortured.
Families are still traumatized by this experience and find it hard to trust people, including their fellow neighbors. To build trust, a key part of EduPaz's work has been to mediate between community members to bring reconciliation back in Amparo Agua Tinta.
One way that EduPaz does this is to encourage people who want to apply for a microcredit loan from EduPaz to do so as part of a community group, rather than as an individual. Currently, EduPaz works with 3 community groups. One of them is a 8 women-member cooperative of a grocery store within the community called “One Hope Ahead” that initiated this year.
Leonol Vazquez Mirano is part of the "One Hope Ahead" group. She is 53 years old and has 3 daughters. Together they discussed the idea of starting their own family grocery store. Leonol already had been part of a community group and had worked with Edupaz. The group had sold second-hand clothes. This experience taught Leonol about responsibility, coordination and consensus building, and inspired her to take on a new group project of a grocery store. In its first 6 months, the store is going strong and the cooperative is generating 500 to 600 pesos ($38 to $46) a day. The cooperative members are also taking the opportunity to start saving their own money by each contributing 30 pesos ($2.30) each month.
The other 2 groups are formed by members who are doing individual income-generating projects but meet once a month to share experiences on how their projects are advancing. Most of them are raising livestock (pigs, sheep or chickens).
Raul Sanchez Lopez invested his microcredit in a roadside store. His store is well situated and attracts both drivers passing through the town and neighbors. He’s done so well he decided to invest a small part of his microcredit in raising egg-laying hens as an experiment. He soon hopes to sell fresh eggs at his roadside store.
It was wonderful to meet these community members and learn more about their different projects.
Labels: EduPaz, Mexico, microcredit
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala (pictured 2nd on the right), is currently in Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.Today I went to Comitán de Dominguez, where our partner EduPaz is based. Comitán is 90 minutes south of San Cristóbal de las Casas on the way to the Guatemalan border. EduPaz had planned to take me on a community visit to Tziscao –but first, a much-needed stop at their office for pastries and coffee.
To enter their office, I had to pass through their fair trade store called EcoPaz (Economy for Peace), which was opened to sell products made by the community groups and collectives that received microcredit from EduPaz.
This season, it was interesting to see a beekeeping collective is producing lots of honey and there was plenty of honey on sale. During breakfast, the 3 full-time EduPaz staff introduced themselves and got me up to speed on the community we were going to visit. And so headed off to Tziscao, a community of around 6,000 people, located an hour from Comitán.
In Tziscao, EduPaz has built a health center which now has a doctor to serve the surrounding communities. Soon there will be 5 alternative medicine interns from the School of Alternative Medicine in Tuxtla Gutierrez on site to provide holistic health services, which is great since this area is really underserved in regards to medical care.
About 15 to 20 community members go to the Tziscao health center each week. There’s only 1 other hospital in the area, but it is limited in it services and just has 1 doctor and 1 nurse. Plus the only supplies they have are of anti-parasite medicine and contraceptives. The EduPaz health center is a much-needed resource and also serves as a meeting space for farmers or cooperative members in Tziscao.
An indigenous couple is currently living on site to take care of the health center: Baldemar and his wife Eloisa. They moved into the center 3 months ago and Baldemar is also currently being trained on how to run the agroecology program at the center.
EduPaz is also in the process of constructing an Agroecology Training Site. They already have started growing organic vegetables – including squash, radishes, peanuts, chayote, chipilin (herbs for broths) and green tomatoes. While I was there, Baldemar showed me where they’re planning to build a chicken coup, and a space for farm animals including rabbits and sheep, as well as fruit trees (avocado, lemon, apple, pear and banana plants) AND a greenhouse to grow tomatoes. It was quite impressive.
They've already built a pigsty and a space for a biodigestor. The biodigestor will use the pig manure to create natural gas to produce energy for the center. They will install the biodigestor in August, at the same time IRRI-Mexico, an IDEX catalyst grantee in Mexico City, will train Baldemar and other community members from Tziscao on how to install and maintain this technology. The goal is to encourage them to also use this in their own homes.
I also visited 2 community groups in Tziscao: an organic coffee cooperative and a family grocery store collective. Both have received microcredit loans from EduPaz. They shared how helpful it was to access microcredit through EduPaz and how much better it was than going through a bank which requires a lot of complicated paperwork and restrictive lending terms. Plus the banks only loan large sums of money, which is not necessary for these groups’ projects.
All in all, it was incredibly rewarding to learn more about EduPaz's work and meet some of the people that are benefiting from their programs and working so hard to continue that they are successful.
Labels: Chiapas, cooperatives, EduPaz, Mexico, microcredit