OCTOBER 2005 - REPORT TO THE GLOBAL BOARD

Progress on our work in Mexico

Introduction

Following our first Latin America strategy meeting in August 2004, the Hunger Project Mexico redesigned its programs that empower Mexico’s poorest people, the indigenous rural communities.  The new strategy includes greater gender focus, mobilizing people for the highest-leverage actions and strengthening the partnership between people and local governments.  In the last six months, The Hunger Project Mexico has taken our programs to a new level of effectiveness in empowering people in truly self-reliant, effective action to end their own hunger.  A major focus has been strengthening the local teams in each of the six states through a deeper understanding of the conditions that give rise to the persistence of hunger and poverty in the villages of Mexico, and through identifying the actions that are needed in each of the states. The next key action is to launch the State Strategic Conferences in each of the states where we work.

 

THP state and national staff wear sashes from Ghana in a show of global solidarity.

 

Analysis And Reorganization

 

Our first step in decentralizing our programs was a phase of analysis.  We analysed the current situation and identified the extent to which our programs in each of the states was grounded.  Next, we moved into a phase of reorganization,  both for the team and for our programs.  We started with the recognition that, in the past, our focus of intervention was at a village level without focus at the state level. It became clear that in order to end hunger in Mexico, a deeper understanding of statewide conditions was needed.

 

 

State Surveys

 

To better understand the conditions in each of our states, state teams performed a survey at the state level.  Included in these surveys was each of the villages where we are currently working. In the case of Oaxaca we worked in partnership with a local institute, San Miguel El Grande Technological Institute. This was the first such survey for the Mixteca region of the state.  With the information obtained from the surveys we were able to identify the areas where the conditions of hunger and poverty are most severe.  We reviewed the areas where we were currently working and the programs already in place.  We next developed the strategies for self-sufficient development in each of the states.

 

In a series of meetings and general assemblies, government officials and village people come together to create a shared understanding of the conditions prevailing in their states and villages. In these meetings a powerful vision is created for each village. Participants come to understand that they are responsible for their development and commit to working together, aligned towards the same vision and establishing strategic goals to achieve a life free from hunger and poverty.

 

 

State Strategic Meetings

 

In the coming months we will hold state strategic meetings, bringing together leadership from all sectors to identify the strategic objectives for each state. From there, we will work with people to create short-term projects and action plans through which they will experience success and accomplishment.  The first State Strategic Meeting will be held in November in the state of Zacatecas, with the full partnership and participation of the state Governor – this state’s first woman governor.  This meeting will serve as a model for the other states’ strategy meetings, which will take place in the following months.

 

Five of THP-Mexico's state chairs.

 

Epicenter Update

 

The village of Guadalupe Victoria continues to mobilize for the construction of Mexico’s first epicenter building, overcoming obstacles that traditionally keep the conditions for hunger and poverty in place.  Women are participating in equal numbers to men in the village leadership council, and the people successfully negotiated with the municipal government to include construction costs in this year’s municipio budget. This mobilization brought together the whole municipio. Hunger Project state coordinator, Reyna Ortiz, called for a meeting with the authorities of nine agencies to create a powerful unified vision of their municipio. Together they formed the Municipal Rural Development Committee. THP was appointed to act as advisor to this committee as they create a shared strategic framework.

 

 

Investor Trip To Mexico

 

In August, a group of 19 investors, joined by THP-Mexico national and state staff members, visited the Mixteca Region in Oaxaca State.  The trip deepened the investors’ understanding of the principles and methodology of The Hunger Project translated into action, and also provided them the opportunity to meet our entire staff leadership at the state level, to hear about the progress, breakthroughs and breakdowns that they face everyday.

 

We visited the village of Guadalupe Victoria where we were welcomed by the villagers and local authorities.  We participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the sewing workshop spearheaded by a group of women with the goal of preserving the customs of their traditional dress. These women were inspired by their vision to restore their indigenous dignity and pride.  Next, the earthen bricks project team demonstrated how they are producing bricks.  The earthen bricks project provides an example of positive transformation in gender relations.  Women are now fully integrated in an activity previously considered only for men. 

We met with the local authorities, the villagers and the group of significant leaders of the village to talk about the status of the epicenter strategy and the mobilization in the village. The leaders reported the overall achievements and successful projects. Investors were able to express their partnership and solidarity.

 

The next day we visited the village of San Mateo Peñasco where we met with a group of young professionals committed to the success of their village.  These professionals have created a project that will be a model to their village, proving that they can create a successful, self-reliant project that will produce income and employment opportunities for other villagers.  The project is to produce high quality silk clothes for sale in other regions.  This project ranges from planting mulberry bushes to feeding the worms to preparing the silk thread and finally producing clothes. This project is very well planned and structured.  There is no doubt that it will be a success.

 

 

Update From The States

 

    State Of Mexico

    In the State of Mexico, we work mainly in the El Oro and Toluca Municipios. 

 

            Nutrition

In the village of Pueblo Nuevo de los Angeles people continue to learn how to cultivate their family vegetable gardens. They are transforming their nutritional habits to incorporate more vegetables in their diet, particularly for children.  

 

            Employment and Income Generation.

In the villages of Pueblo Nuevo and San Andres Cuexcontitlan the women participating in embroidery workshops have mastered various embroidery techniques and have become teachers for new women joining the workshop. They are committed to making this workshop self-reliant – training more people, sharing their experience and enabling more families to increase their income through the sale of their products.

 

            Water / Mobilization / People participation

The people of the villages of Pueblo Nuevo de los Angeles and Citeje identified access to water as their top priority.  Their current wells are insufficient and running dry.  They have organized themselves to obtain studies of underground water supplies and alternative possibilities such as the storage of rain water, since the rainfall in this region is intense and the rainy season is several months long.  Another possibility that is being explored is purifying the water in natural ponds formed by the rain.

 

     Durango State

     In the state of Durango, we work mainly in the Simon Bolivar Municipio. The activities have been:

 

            Health /Sanitation

The people of Ignacio Zaragoza village undertook a cleaning project. The villagers worked together with the authorities and local corporations to develop a recycling program that takes advantage of all the garbage that is produced in the village.  An area was designated with containers for all materials that will be recycled and another one for all organic garbage that will be treated so it can be recycled as well.

 

In the village of Enrique Flores Magon, people established an ongoing program to keep their village clean. The initial campaign included cleaning the village and all the roads that go to the village. Garbage containers were cleaned and placed in an established zone.  They restored their main roads, especially one that had been completely abandoned for the last five years.  The majority of the villagers participated in the cleaning campaign, resulting in the road being reopened for regular use.

 

            Education

The villages of Ignacio Zaragoza and Enrique Flores Magon recognized the importance of working with the children as the future leaders of Mexico.  They created a pilot program where the children are educated in topics such as hygiene, civic participation and in making the most of the resources available in the villages.  The pilot program was such a success that it will be a permanent program in these villages and will be shared with other villages and municipios.

 

            Water / Mobilization / Civic participation

Another priority of the villages of Ignacio Zaragoza and Sombreretillo el Alto is to have potable water. In Ignacio Zaragoza people noticed the correlation between small worms swimming in their drinking water and the deteriorating health in the village.  They first cleaned their water storage system, and they have created a water committee accountable for keeping the water potable and the water storage systems clean.

 

In the Sombreretillo del Alto village the people had become dependent on water pumped and provided by a corporation—they had forgotten about their own water pumping system.  The people in the village realized that they could be self-reliant for their water. They organized themselves and now they are repairing their own system.

 

        Oaxaca State

        In the villages of Guadalupe Victoria and San Mateo Peñasco, the focus is:

 

            Income Generation / Employment

In Guadalupe Victoria, the sewing workshop group continues to be very successful.  The number of participants has increased and even includes one man – the first man in the village to ever participate in an activity that is traditionally considered “women’s work.” He is committed to provide the leadership and actions needed to teach the men of his village that women and men can participate as equals in all activities and that he is not “less of a man” for being involved in this kind of activity.

 

   

The mushroom committee in Oaxaca State. Mushrooms are an income-      Country director Lorena Vazquez and Oaxaca Chair

generating project.                                                                                   Tamara Azuela cut the ribbon at the inauguration of

                                                                                                                    Guadalupe Victoria's sewing workshop created by

                                                                                                                    women in the village.

       

In the San Mateo Peñasco village women built a greenhouse to cultivate tomatoes. Their greenhouse was perfect but unfortunately, soon after completion, a severe storm destroyed it. This loss could have been a reason for the women to abandon the project, but they decided to start all over again and for the second time they set the structure for the greenhouse and will soon start cultivating tomatoes again.  They are also starting another project cultivating Seta mushrooms, recently introduced to the local diet as an important new source of protein.  Seta mushrooms can also be sold very profitably in the city markets.

 

            Education

The people of Guadalupe Victoria identified that a key factor in taking charge of their own future is to be proud and rooted in their traditional culture.  Young people are not interested in learning their local language, Mixteco, and are cut off from the richness of their own culture.  Even among the older people who speak Mixteco, many are unable to read or write it. To address this, they created a Mixteco literacy class which is delivered one day a week. More and more people are getting interested in learning about their native language and culture.

 

        Queretaro State

        In the State of Queretaro we are working in the villages of Santa Rosa de Lima, San José del Jagüey, and Deconi.

 

            Nutrition / Income generation / Employment

In Deconi, the people created a chicken farm and a fish pond project to increase their income, create employment and have better nutrition. 

 

Health

In Deconi, they have created a project to complete their health clinic. They are working to acquire the necessary equipment and materials for the clinic so people can be treated immediately in emergencies.

 

In San José del Jagüey the people organized to complete a drainage project that was begun so long ago that people in the village resigned themselves to the project’s failure. With the Vision, Commitment and Action (VCA) Workshop the people created a new vision and committed to complete this project. They are working now to identify the strategic steps to successfully complete this project, proving to themselves that they can work as a team and be successful.

 

Mobilization / Civic participation

In Santa Rosa de Lima, the focus is on mobilizing the people who are profoundly resigned. While the government plans to build a technical training center for the people, the people were not connected to this project or to many other projects in existence. They weren’t involved in creating these projects—they felt the projects belonged to somebody else. A series of meetings were held where people created a unified vision for the village. Now, after participating in VCA Workshops, they are committed to the success of the projects and are actively planning activities that the new government training center will make possible.

 

        Sinaloa State

        In the Sinaloa State THP is working in Culiacán, Mocorito and Choix Municipios.  The main strategic focus is:

           

            Health

Sinaloa State is a major producer of marihuana in Mexico. The consumption of drugs among the young population is very high.  The addiction rates are high as well. To create consciousness about the risk of consuming drugs and to prevent further abuse they created a campaign-oriented prevention project.

           

            Water

In the municipio of Mocorito there is very limited access to water.  This is a significant concern because the weather is hot year-round. After one VCA Workshop they envisioned that every person in the village had water everyday. They named a committee for this project and started an analysis of existing conditions that have prevented them from having water.  The local authority is now involved in the project as well.

 

        Zacatecas State

        In the Zacatecas State, THP is working in Miguel Auza, Juan Aldama and Nieves Municipios.  The main strategic focus is:

 

            Mobilization /Civic participation

In the Miguel Auza municipio, the level of participation of the people was very low at our first community meetings. After a series of meetings and VCA Workshops the number of people participating has increased and they were able to create a project that will benefit the whole village. They organized themselves to repair the street lighting system and they even raised the money to pay for the materials needed.

 

            Water

In Miguel Auza the people’s first priority was to provide potable water to the village kindergarten school. The villagers organized themselves to install pipelines to the school and today the children have access to potable water.

 

In the Nieves municipio, the storage system for water was completely forgotten and unmaintained which caused health problems.  Through a series of meetings, people identified this as a root cause of their illness. They created a project where they cleaned the water storage system and implemented a program for continuously checking on the water quality.

 

            Health

Due to the state’s high rates of migration, there is a high level of drug abuse since many of the immigrants become drug addicts while away from the villages.  When they return to the village they keep consuming drugs.  The rates of people abusing drugs have increased in the present year. The people created a project and will launch a campaign to inform people about the consequences of consuming drugs and about the rehabilitation programs that exist in their state.

 

In the municipio of Nieves, there was previously an unfinished project to get equipment needed for their health clinic. After a VCA Workshop, they created a new project to finally finish their clinic. They got the equipment for the clinic and are now working to develop a program to make it self-reliant.