myMADRE

Turning the World INSIDE OUT

The undercover photographer who goes by the name JR uses his camera to fight prejudice by transforming streets into art galleries. JR pastes large black and white photographs of people with dramatic facial expressions to challenge widely held preconceptions. His commitment to use art as a tool for change has been widely noted. The New York Times named JR the artist  “Who Gives Slums a Human Face" and he has also been the recipient of the 2011 TED Prize. The photo above captures the portraits of women in Kibera, Nairobi pasted on the roofs of local huts.

JR views everyday people as his curators, and his project “Women Are Heroes” emphasizes women as the pillars of their communities. JR captured the faces of women in Kenya, Brazil, India, and Cambodia and pasted their pictures on the walls of their streets. “Women Are Heroes” brought together a team of volunteers in various urban environments. The photo below captures the portraits of women in Rio, Brazil pasted on the walls of slums in Rio.

"The women all wanted to share their stories so that their stories would travel" said JR in his TED acceptance speech.  JR will use his recognition to encourage others to use art as a way to unmask human authenticy. His wish: “I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world…INSIDE OUT.”

Egyptian Women Assaulted on International Women's Day

In the wake of Egypt's protests and the ousting of Hosni Mubarak, MADRE congratulated the people of Egypt for their courageous demands for democracy. Women were at the center of the protests - estimates showed that between 20 and 50 percent of protestors were women and the Egyptian women's movement was a leading force in propelling the protests.

We were deeply disturbed by the last week's news of assaults on women in Egypt who continued to demonstrate for women's human rights. On March 8, women in Egypt gathered in Tahrir Square to celebrate International Women's Day. But what should have been a celebration resulted in their "being harrassed and insulted in the very square they helped liberate". In response to the attacks, the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights released a statement you can read by clicking here.

Claiming Home as a Woman’s Human Right

Yesterday, as I joined with the women of our partner organization in Guatemala City to celebrate International Women’s Day, a phrase occurred to me: “I feel at home.” I greeted partners I had not seen in a long time and met new people, and there was something very familiar about being there. In the face of violence, poverty and displacement, these are women who reconstitute “home” in the circles of support they build together—like so many other grassroots women’s groups we partner with worldwide. 

Here on the outskirts of Guatemala City, where many women and families have been displaced far from their homes by a history of violence and conflict, the question of home carries weight. Guatemala suffered through a 36-year civil war, only reaching a peace accord in 1996. During that conflict, US-trained and -funded military groups targeted rural Indigenous Peoples, killing over 200,000 and displacing as many as 1.5 million people. Acting in the interests of business elites, this sustained state terror was needed to force rural, Indigenous people to submit to land policies that favored agribusiness.

Years after the peace accord, people continue to suffer from the legacy of massacres, disappearances and displacement. Many who fled their homes first because of violence found themselves unable to go back when agribusinesses bought up their land and blocked their return. The structural adjustment policies advanced by international financial institutions like the World Bank only exacerbated poverty and landlessness. People sought refuge in shanty-towns around Guatemala City, where they now face serious health threats, lack of basic services and persistent violence. Women living in these circumstances now confront the constant threat of targeted killing, or feminicide, and the on-going failure of the government to prioritize their lives.

For women particularly vulnerable to these threats, grassroots women’s groups like MADRE’s partner, the Women Workers’ Committee, are indispensable. As I looked around yesterday, I saw women who are offering health services to women who have no other option. They are demanding rights for the women who work in maquilas (sweatshops) when powerful interests would rather brush those protections aside.

On this trip, I brought with me something I first wrote back in 1998, when I was just starting at MADRE. So much of it still holds true today:

The loss of home dislocates people from the continuity of community life, pitching them into a zone of isolated, privatized experience. People who have been driven off their land to the slums around Guatemala City are crowded together by the tens of thousands. But they often describe life in the shanty-towns as lonely and isolated. In fact, the many social mechanisms and cultural expressions that once enabled people to pool resources, to care for each other and to develop shared understanding, wither outside of the traditional environment in which they were developed. As these mechanisms deteriorate, so do people's sense of accountability and connection to each other. This distortion of culture and community is often the goal of mass displacement.

When women who are refugees, homeless, migrants or displaced gather together to organize, they defy the isolation and social breakdown that is homelessness. In MADRE-supported programs, women who have been uprooted and dispossessed are creating possibilities to come together, to share experiences and to support one another. Through their work, they reconstitute "home" for themselves and their communities and build a basis for overcoming their dispossession.

Afghanistan: What's Happened on our Watch?

Many of you have no doubt seen the very disturbing image on the cover of this week's Time Magazine. As a supporter of MADRE you may remember Bebe, the woman on the cover (where she's called Aisha). We wrote about her in May when we activated MADRE's Afghan Women's Survival Fund to raise support for her to receive emergency shelter. At the time, we made a decision not to post photos of Bebe because we were concerned that these brutal images could be used to sensationalize her ordeal and turn her into an Internet spectacle. 

For those of us who have been working to support Bebe and the many other Afghan women who are standing up for their rights, there is something even more disturbing than the photo on the cover of Time. And that is the fact that this type of violence against women is commonplace in Afghanistan.

Time Magazine makes the assumption that US troops in Afghanistan can and will improve prospects for women there. Our friend Lucinda Marshall of the Feminist Peace Network rejects that claim quite forcefully. Here at MADRE, we took a position opposing Obama's December 2009 decision to increase the number of US forces in Afghanistan precisely because we've seen so few indications that the human rights crisis of Afghan women is abating. Bebe after all, was attacked in 2009--eight years after Afghanistan was "liberated" by the US/NATO war. 

It's clear that this war needs to end. The question is how to end the war in a way that safeguards human rights for all Afghans--in particular for women, who are most at risk. As the Afghan women's movement hammers out its demands and proposed solutions for a settlement, MADRE will continue to support women like Bebe whose lives are hanging in the balance. 

“This War Is Not Ours and We Are Losing It”

The following piece was excerpted from a report Natalia Caruso (MADRE Program Coordinator) and I wrote for 2009 edition of the publication Youth Media Reporter.

The armed conflict in Colombia between government, rebel guerrilla and paramilitary groups has ground on for well over 40 years, undoing countless communities and traumatizing generations of Colombians. It is difficult to overstate the impact that a generation of warfare has inflicted on the population. Massacres, kidnappings, “disappearances” and displacement have become a tragic but common feature for many communities in Colombia. An estimated 3 to 4 million people have been displaced by the violence, often moving to city centers and camps that offer a modicum of safety.

Meanwhile, in a neighborhood outlying Bogotá, Colombia, a deceptively nondescript building houses a group of young people mobilizing media as a tool to counter the pervasive violence sustained by the decades-long armed conflict.

Founded in 1992, Taller de Vida (Workshop of Life) stands as a bulwark against the pervasive atmosphere of violence in Colombia, mobilizing art and media to create spaces apart from the armed conflict. Through their prevention and rehabilitation programs, Taller de Vida works with former child soldiers and with youth at risk of being recruited, many of whom come from marginalized Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. Their efforts are based on art-therapy and a psycho-social approach, which counters the social exclusion and isolation that violence generates.

The organization’s programs are youth-led, in many cases by the same people who originally entered the organization as participants.

The story of Adela (not her real name) provides one such example. When she was 11-years-old, she fled an abusive family and was recruited by an armed group. For the next four years, she served as a child soldier, transporting goods and guarding hostages. Finally leaving the armed group, she was placed into the state welfare system. Although she had left the “battlefield,” she struggled to re-adjust to civilian life and to share the story of her life with the people around her.

In a recent conversation with MADRE staff, Adela explained:

The social welfare system only preoccupies itself with whether we helped clean or that we studied, but never worried about what we, who had been part of the armed conflict, felt. I believe that it is very important. It is so important for the children who have been involved in armed conflict to have someone who will listen to them, who will allow us to freely express ourselves, and to have someone who understands us. The social welfare system doesn’t do that. They don’t give us psychological assistance. I believe most of my fellow child soldiers feel the same way.

Taller de Vida’s media and art programs are mobilized in the service of addressing the serious psycho-social needs Adela identified here and helping people with trauma. This is exemplified by the video production entitled “Esta Guerra no es nuestra y la estamos perdiendo (“This War is Not Ours and We are Losing it”). In this project, youth participants documented their experiences of war and displacement. In so doing, they put forward a powerful message of opposition to the conflict, to its impact on their communities, and to the human rights violations it triggers.

The risks of violent attack are significantly higher for those whose work raises their profile as an agent for social change, and particularly for Indigenous activists, women’s human rights campaigners, and trade unionists. As a result, the youth project leaders and participants at Taller de Vida engage in their work at significant risk to themselves. Yet, to walk into the offices where their activities take place, one is keenly aware that the desire to promote an atmosphere of free expression, of shared values and of joy overrides the conflict still raging outside. The dynamic among the young people in artistic workshops—dance, capoeira, video, and photography—at Taller de Vida is enthusiastic and energetic.

In a recent similar initiative, Taller de Vida and MADRE partnered to coordinate a multimedia workshop. Miguel Macias, a MADRE volunteer and radio producer, shared his reflections on his recent visit to Usme, in the outskirts of Bogota:

The first day of workshops is conducted at the top floor of the building Taller de Vida has in Usme. (…) Some of the students are barely 22-years-old and they have already been a part of an armed group in Colombia. Or two. My instinct pushes me to push them to give those stories away. So I can publish them. So I can surprise the readers of the world. With their stories.

Taller de Vida has created a safe space for young people affected by the armed conflict to come together and express themselves freely. Their art-therapy activities, such as the video series and trainings on video documentation, are based in a human rights perspective. The young people of Taller de Vida have their own voice and their own vision of a future without violence, conflict and internal displacement.

Nations Gather at the United Nations for Review of Nuclear Non-Proliferation

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

More than one hundred nations gathered today at the United Nations headquarters for a review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  Five years after the last review failed to establish a clear agreement for disarmament, MADRE calls for a renewed push towards a nuclear-free world.

Last month, US President Obama held a nuclear summit in Washington, DC, making some progress in securing concrete commitments from participating countries.  These included the elimination of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, as well as new funding for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

However, US nuclear policy remains a major obstacle.  The 2011 federal budget for nuclear weapons research is expected to top $7 billion.  Moreover, nuclear testing and dumping practices have irrevocably polluted communities, especially on Indigenous territories, and the push to expand nuclear power has created pressure to build new uranium mines on Indigenous territories in New Mexico.

Last weekend, thousands of anti-nuclear protestors gathered in New York City, to denounce the continuing threat that nuclear technology represents and to push for concerted action from the countries now gathered at the UN.  MADRE supports this call and joins in their vision of a nuclear-free world.

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:

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.

“We have the right to live, and we will fight for it." - Indigenous Peoples in Colombia

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.

The armed conflict in Colombia has proven to be a terrible enemy to the Indigenous Peoples. Of the roughly 102 different communities in the country, most of them are in danger of extinction. In this very delicate situation, the government shows no support.  “Every day we see a human rights violation”, said Marlen Ortiz Higuita, a lawyer with the Regional Indigenous Council of Risaralda, in the context of a special event at the Ninth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The National Indigenous Organization in Colombia (Spanish acronym: ONIC) and Amnesty International explained the main challenges people face. “We are fighting to survive. We are at a real risk of extinction”, explained Dora Tavera, member of ONIC. She also said “The government published a report that says that they are helping Indigenous people, and that’s not true”.

FARC, paramilitaries and the military have been at war for more than 50 years and the conflict zones are just where Indigenous Peoples live. “The first task of ONIC is to let all people know our situation.  We have the responsibility to protect our people in Colombia," Tavera explained. ONIC has published a report (Palabra Dulce, Aire de Vida) to provide more information. This report is available at ONIC’s website. As Tavera said, “We have the right to live, and we will fight for it."

Displaced Women of Colombia: What One MADRE Sister Organization is Doing About It

The  “Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad” (LIMPAL) is an NGO in Colombia working for peace and security for women, in a country that has endured forty years of armed conflict. Over the weekend, volunteers from MADRE met with displaced women working with LIMPAL in a small village outside the town of Villavicencio, about three hours outside of Bogotá.

The women shared their stories of displacement and violence they experienced because of the armed conflict in the state of Meta (where Villavicencio is located). One woman recalled how three years ago, her son was taken by members of an armed group. That was the last day she saw her son and to this day, does not know whether he is still alive. Other women recounted stories of armed actors giving them short notice to leave, in some cases, only 24hrs to vacate their homes. One woman, a farmer, was displaced by toxic fumigation, an aspect of the US-sponsored war on drugs.

After walking through the Barrio La Playa, the dilapidated housing of displaced families, women shared their concern that when the near-by river floods (as it does every rainy season) most of the shanty-town neighborhood will be flooded as well. The Government of Colombia has ignored their pleas for help.

Colombia has the second largest population of internally displaced persons in the world, after Sudan, with nearly 3 million persons of which over 1 million are children and a disproportionately high number are Afro-Colombians and Indigenous Peoples. Most displaced families end up in overcrowded and precarious accommodation, in slums or shanty towns. In 2007 the CEDAW Committee found that these women and their families “continue to be disadvantaged and vulnerable in regard to access to health, education [and] social services … as well as at risk of all forms of violence”.

Despite this adversity, women are banding together to make a difference in their country. LIMPAL is one of many organizations that work with women, particularly women affected by violence. Run by volunteers, with a woman-leadership model, LIMPAL has been working for the last decade with over 3,000 women and their families towards the empowerment of women. Because of LIMPAL, basic needs of women are met through community organizing, non-formal education, and civic participation. Their work offers inspiration---not only to Colombian women, or for women living in conflict---but for all women throughout the world.

For more information about LIMPAL, click here and here.