This July, I had the opportunity to make an extended visit with our colleagues in Peru to look at their program through the lens of the Millennium Development Goals framework.

As you will recall, we began a new partnership in Peru in 2003 with the organization Chirapaq, led by Tarcila Rivera Zea, who will be with us at the October 23 Board Meeting. Our partnership is based on empowering the leadership of indigenous women’s organizations across all 37 language groups of Peru.

The framework for their action is simple but extremely high leverage. Several times each year, women leaders from across Peru come together for a 4-day training session. This national-level training is conducted in Spanish, and then these women return home to recreate this training in their indigenous languages with thousands of women leaders in their areas.

In addition, Tarcila provides international leadership. In March 2004, she hosted the Fourth Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women which produced an agenda for action shared by indigenous women in 21 countries. Since that time, she has represented the indigenous women of South America at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples and other international forums.

Some of the 60 participants at the July workshop on Human Rights, Hunger, and Poverty.

Observations from My Visit

I attended a session held in Huancayo. Sixty leaders of indigenous women's organizations, plus five male leaders of indigenous networks, participated in a 4-day workshop entitled: "Human Rights: For a World Without Hunger and Poverty."

Poverty in Peru is fundamentally an issue of human rights. It persists because of centuries of marginalization of indigenous communities and – within those communities – of women.

For many of the participants, this was their first time out of their own district, and their first time to meet other leaders of indigenous women's group leaders. Tarcila made a real effort to enlist a new generation of younger women leaders, some as young as 18, to participate with their more experienced sisters.

Workshops like these play a triple function: (1) they overcome centuries of ethnic discrimination and feelings of inferiority, rehabilitating pride in the great heritage of indigenous culture, (2) they strengthen women's own self-hood and recognition of women's rights, and (3) provide women with knowledge and skills as a leader. It was deeply moving to hear the more experienced women share how profoundly previous national workshops had changed their lives and the difference they are able to make in their communities - which include many of the poorest areas of the country.

The workshop was highly participatory, with role-playing skits, group discussions and a "Human Rights" board game. As is the case with everyone of our workshops, it also included an outreach/advocacy event – this time at a university that focuses on training indigenous peoples.

Participants and judges in the late night "Human Rights" board game.

Part of building capacity across the country – and honoring the diversity of indigenous culture – is holding these conferences in different areas, organized by different indigenous women's organization. Huancayo, for example, is a 7-hour drive from Lima that goes from sea-level, through a 15,000 foot pass before settling down to about 10,000 foot area. (I was a little relieved that the descendants of the Incas on the bus with me had as much trouble with the altitude change as I did!)

Indigenous Women of Peru and the MDGs

I had several opportunities to address the women both in plenary and in small groups on the subject of the MDGs, and I want to express my appreciation to Johanna Lenkner of the University of Chicago who was an intern this summer with Chirapaq. She translated for me and will also be with us at the October meetings. Here are notes on each of the MDGs.

    MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty

Extreme poverty and hunger in Peru is concentrated in the rural indigenous communities and most seriously affects women. The  Andean village I visited on this trip is far from the poorest in the region, as it had some proximity to a dirt road, yet it was every bit as poor as villages I’ve visited in the poorest states of India. Women who had been active with Chirapaq for a some time exhibited an irrepressible entrepreneurial spirit, and kept me up into the wee hours discussing Hunger Project experience around the world with improving markets opportunities for rural goods. They were also receiving training through Chirapaq in nutrition, and have developed a real pride in utilizing ancient traditional foods in ways that provide a nutritious diet.

Shepherd in the Andes.

    MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

The women I met are very clear that bilingual literacy is an important key to progress, as long as it respects and embraces – rather than denigrates – their ancient tradition and wisdom. Many of the women have mobilized to improve access to education, and to improve the quality of education in their villages.

Community-built school in the Andes.

    MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Chirapaq is a real validation of The Hunger Project’s decision globally to empower women as the key change agents to ending hunger and poverty. As in many developing countries, there is an increase in woman-headed households as men have migrated for cash employment, and hence a feminization of poverty.

    MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality

Health care and nutrition are a top priority for women leaders. One of the challenges of health care in remote communities – as with the educational system – is that there is a deep distrust of the official system. In Peru, rural health workers are perceived as being completely disrespectful of customs and traditional herbal healing methods, and no effort has been made to train traditional healers in more hygienic methods. Traditional midwives, for example, often cut the umbilical cord with the sharp edge of a roof tile. I met one older woman who had given birth to 13 children, of whom 4 had survived. Addressing this gap of distrust could be a high-leverage action for us in the near future.

    MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health

The health care gap for indigenous people in Peru impacts maternal mortality as well. This gap is greater in Peru than in other countries with large indigenous populations because of a legacy of denial by the government of indigenous identity. Ideologies of both left and right wing governments have referred to rural populations as “compesinos” – denying any race-based differences.

    MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

Being a gender-based movement with strong international ties, the group was very aware of AIDS and very aware of its gender dimension. Mining is a huge industry in Peru, and miners are a high-risk group for AIDS. The women leaders active with Chirapaq take seriously their responsibility to educate women and create networks of support sufficient to empower women to protect themselves and their families.

    MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

There is nobody on earth whose livelihoods are as directly connected to the environment as are the Andean and Amazonian peoples of Latin America. The women from both regions are clear that they are the caretakers of the land, and that their ancient traditions provide the values and wisdom that are needed not only by them but by the government, whose policies can undermine their ability to preserve the land. The women of Chirapaq are at the forefront of advocacy for the inclusion of this wisdom in policy formation, and for the empowerment of women as the traditional and wisest stewards of the environment.

    MDG 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

If you ever doubt we are in an era of globalization, simply visit the numerous internet cafes in the high Andes. I often needed to wait in line to get a booth behind the younger women leaders who use the internet to network with other women both in Peru and around the world. They use the internet for learning and for trading, and are exploring every option to take advantage of the internet for marketing.

Chirapaq has not taken an anti-globalist perspective. They educate women on the ways that globalization is currently hurting them economically. It is encouraging action to empower women to protect their indigenous intellectual property through patents and copyrights, and to create new pathways to use globalization to their advantage.