myMADRE

May Day Events: Stand for Workers' Rights

We want to underscore the different ways you can take action tomorrow for May Day, or International Workers' Day, so here is a brief overview of events taking place.  

The National Immigrant Solidarity Network has provided a list of local actions across the US and in Canada.

Rabble.ca has put out a list of solidarity events taking place in Canada, including a brief history of the origins of May Day.

For myMADRE readers in New York City:

ALL OUT for May Day – Union Square, 14th St – Noon

Being at Union Square on May 1, many thousands strong will be an important part of overturning racist, anti-immigrant legislation just passed in Arizona. This is an intense week. We have the ability to send a powerful message of outrage and solidarity.

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See you SATURDAY – MAY DAY - NOON at Union Square, 14th St & Broadway. We need help from 7 am and on through the day with set-up, sound, security and distributions.

The Indypendent has more information about the Union Square rally, in addition to a rally at Foley Square at 11am organized by Alliance for Labor and Immigration Rights.

Global Voices' Hamid Tehrani reports that the "green" movement in Iran will use May Day as an opportunity to voice their opposition to the government.

Please feel free to share any additional events in the comments section!

MADRE Condemns Racist Law in Arizona as a Violation of Human Rights

Below is a statement we just released on the MADRE website.

MADRE joins a growing coalition of immigrant, social justice, labor, religious, human and civil rights organizations in denouncing the recently-signed Arizona Senate Bill 1070.  This racist law represents an assault on the human rights of millions of people in Arizona and sanctions widespread racial profiling by law enforcement.

Among other provisions, the law mandates that police demand proof of a person’s immigration status “where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.”  The standard of “reasonable suspicion” opens wide the door to racist police harassment, as people run the risk of potential arrest without a warrant for simply “appearing” to be undocumented.

Undocumented immigrants have long been forced to the margins of US society through criminalization and violence.  Recognizing this, even law enforcement bodies like the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative and the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police have criticized this legislation for decreasing the likelihood that immigrant communities will report crimes or cooperate with the police, for fear of deportation.

Xenophobes in the Arizona House and Senate have given respectable voice to growing numbers of anti-immigrant hate groups. Vigilantes like the Minutemen openly cheer the killings of migrants at the US border. Ironically, people join these groups mainly because they are threatened by the same policies that spur immigration in the first place: namely, trade deals like NAFTA that have destroyed the livelihoods and educational opportunities of millions of white, working-class people in the US.  Yet, instead of organizing against such policies, many people scapegoat immigrants as the source of their troubles.

In Mexico, NAFTA has bankrupted millions of corn farmers, destroyed small businesses, and driven down wages, sparking mass migration of people in search of work.

Tomorrow, May 1st, also known as May Day, represents an opportunity for those opposed to this dangerous law to speak out for immigrant workers’ rights.  The National Immigrant Solidarity Network has provided a list of local actions nationwide: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/MayDay2010/lists.html

MADRE reaffirms its longstanding call for US policy that:

• Upholds international human rights standards and worker protections for immigrants and non-immigrants in the US;
• Supports sustainable, equitable economic growth in Latin America; and
• Recognizes freedom of movement across borders as a human right.

Women's Human Rights Defender Bety Cariño & Finnish Activist Tyri Antero Jaakkola Killed in an Ambush

We received the terrible news that three days ago, in a violent paramilitary ambush in Oaxaca, Mexico, the women's human rights defender Beatríz Alberta (Bety) Cariño Trujillo and an international observer from Finland Tyri Antero Jaakkola were both killed.

A caravan of human rights activists was traveling to San Juan Copala, carrying provisions for the Indigenous communities in that area whose access to basic supplies and services has been cut off by paramilitary activity.  As they approached the town of La Sabana, they came under fire. Bety Cariño and Tyri Antero Jaakkola were killed in the attack, and others have gone missing.

For more information, click here for a statement from Front Line.

Bety Cariño worked with the Centro de Apoyo Comunitario Trabajando Unidos CACTUS (Centre for Community Support Working Together).  In February, she spoke at an event organized by Front Line, an organization dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders.  You can watch the video (in Spanish) from Front Line here:

Tell Us What Motherhood Means to You

Purify Water for Families in Gaza

This year, for Mother’s Day, we are sharing the stories from across the globe of women – mothers – who are demanding justice for women and their families.  Through their determination and effort, they have remade their communities and created real change.

Like many Palestinian women living in the Gaza Strip, 40-year-old Maryam struggles to provide safe drinking water for her children. Israel has restricted the movement of people and goods into Gaza since 2007, resulting in a severe shortage of clean water. Gaza’s water supply is contaminated by salt and toxic nitrate. Broken water pipes allow raw sewage to leak into the groundwater supply. “Since the blockade began, my house only has water once a week,” said Maryam, who has 11 children. “The rest of the time, we have to buy water at four times the cost of water from the municipality.” Maryam purchases water from desalination stations in Gaza City and stores the water in plastic containers, which cover nearly every corner of her house, including her bedroom. “I only use the water for drinking and cooking,” said Maryam. “I need more water for washing and other household chores, but it is too expensive. My husband Talal works as a cleaner collecting garbage with his horse. But after rent, water and food for the horse, we have very little money left.”

MADRE is working with the Zakher Association to ensure that Maryam and her family will have reliable, affordable and clean water. The Zakher Association, founded and run by women in Gaza, works in Gaza’s most impoverished communities to alleviate suffering and strengthen the role of women in addressing the medical, economic and social crises that Palestinians face. With MADRE support, the Zakher Association is installing 25 water filters in Gaza City to provide clean drinking water to nearly 52,500 people. Smaller water filters will also be installed in several primary schools, and provide 1,500 children with clean water.

How You Can Help This Mother’s Day:

A Mother’s Day gift of $25 to our partner in Gaza will sponsor clean drinking water for 15 young children. With every gift you make for this Mother’s Day, we will send a beautiful card to the person of your choice, telling them about the important work that you are supporting in their name.

To read other stories from the Mothers Make the World series, click here. To ensure delivery of your card by Mother's Day, please submit your donation by 5pm EST on May 4.

Sponsor a Trauma Counseling Session for a Group of Child Soldiers

This year, for Mother’s Day, we are sharing the stories from across the globe of women – mothers – who are demanding justice for women and their families.  Through their determination and effort, they have remade their communities and created real change.

In Colombia, children are forced to become soldiers. “We never experienced a childhood,” said Marta, who was kidnapped and trained to fight for a paramilitary group when she was 11. “We exchanged our dolls for rifles, our games for combat.” Marta was eventually released onto the streets of Bogotá but she could barely read and was haunted by the killings she had been forced to commit.  Now a young mother, she was left with few options to create a life for herself and for her child.

Marta found MADRE’s partner organization, Taller de Vida. Today she helps other young people heal from the wounds of war and build real alternatives to lives of violence. “Taller de Vida gave me una nueva vida (a new life),” said Marta, knowing that she and her young child have found a new family. The organization provides trauma counseling and art and play therapy to former child soldiers and children who are at high-risk of being recruited by armed groups. MADRE member and youth media producer Miguel Macias recently conducted a series of multimedia workshops at Taller de Vida. Miguel gave former child soldiers like Marta the tools and skills to tell their stories. Click here to see video highlights of their work.

How You Can Help This Mother’s Day:

A Mother’s Day gift of $25 will sponsor one trauma counseling session for a group of ten former child soldiers. With every gift you make for this Mother’s Day, we will send a beautiful card to the person of your choice, telling them about the important work that you are supporting in their name.

To read other stories from the Mothers Make the World series, click here.

Indigenous Women: Active Agents for Development

We are now more than halfway through this year's gathering of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.  Over the past days, representatives of Indigenous Peoples from around the world have gathered at the UN headquarters in New York City to address the theme of development with culture and identity. 

Last Friday, the MADRE sister organization FIMI--the International Indigenous Women's Fund--held an event to highlight the role of Indigenous women as active agents for development.  This event featured Indigenous women who have worked for years to advance the well-being and cultural integrity of their communities.

The video below shares highlights from this event:

Discussions on Indigenous Women and Climate Change at the UN

Below is a guest blog entry from Ignacio de Carabassa, a MADRE intern.  He is reporting back from some of the events taking place this week at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

During a special event at the Ninth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Permanent Mission of Finland and the Permanent Mission of Ecuador talked about the impact of climate change on Indigenous women. “These changes are affecting agriculture, and in many Indigenous communities, women are in charge of this activity” said Eva Biaudet, ex-Health Minister of Finland.

Many Indigenous women have traditional knowledge that applies to how climate changes could affect agriculture. “We need to ensure Indigenous women's participation in the decision-making process,” said Biaudet. “Indigenous women make a new economy possible, with crops, arts and knowledge of Pachamama, our mother earth”, explained Miriam Masaquiza of Ecuador.

“Indigenous women are the most affected with climate change. They can see the changes everyday; governments have to include them in their programs, because they know how these changes could be exploited,” concluded Masaquiza.

Take Action on Earth Day: Help Indigenous Women Farmers

 

In light of Earth day, MADRE is sending a shipment of organic vegetable seeds to our partner organization,Wangki Tangni on the North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, where three-quarters of the population suffers from malnutrition.

Climate change and rising ocean temperatures are causing intensified storms in Nicaragua, devastating farmers’ harvests and depleting local food sources.  This past November severe flooding from Hurricane Ida ruined crops at the time of harvest and washed away many of the seeds that could be used for next season.  As a result, local farmers need new seeds to plant this growing season.  That’s where you can help.    

MADRE would love to partner with you to provide Indigenous women farmers in Nicaragua with seeds for this growing season and to help raise awareness of the effects of climate change.  You can help by hosting a fundraising event to raise money for farmers to purchase seeds locally in Nicaragua.  We are also collecting donations of unexpired organic vegetable seeds appropriate for the ecosystem in the North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Please contact us for a list of species at (212) 627-0444.

Where to send donations:

MADRE
Attn: Helping Hands
121 West 27th Street Suite 301
New York, NY 10001

Helping Hands can pick up your donation in Manhattan if it is too large for you to mail, just call (212) 627-0444. You may also drop off your donation at the address above during our business hours: 9:30 am – 6:00 pm Monday through Friday.

 
 
 

 

Quick Post: Climate Rally in DC

Earth Day is wrapping up today, but the work will not end tonight when the sun sets on this side of our blue marble. The Earth Day network plans to stage a huge climate rally in the National Mall, Washington DC on April 25, to pressure the US Congress to pass substantial climate legislation. The group is demanding laws that will confine carbon emissions, according to Earth Day Network Action Center. The Earth Day Network will also provide free buses to the climate rally from New York City, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Columbus, Charleston WV, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Baltimore.