In this Issue

Education for girls
and boys

2007 El Semillón Campaign

Why invest in Semillas?

News: 2007 Hermila Galindo Award

Welcome to new donors of the Network of Women Investing in Women

Ever since she was a little girl, Maribel has been aware of gender issues. When she was five years old she attended community trainings with her mother, as both were victims of psychological violence. As a young Rarámuri woman, Maribel was motivated to enter Kari Igomari Niwara, an indigenous women’s organization located 20 minutes from Creel in the state of Chihuahua. Over the last 15 years this organization has carried out projects to develop and educate its members and their families in the practice of social solidarity and the defense of their political, cultural and economic independence.

When she was 15 years old, Maribel began to teach in the school Biniwa’ame Rarámuri Niwara, the first school under indigenous control in Mexico. This primary school operates with an inclusive educational program that promotes the active participation of women in their own education and economic self-sufficiency.

Educational Equity

Raramuri girls and boys attend the school Biniwa’ame Rarámuri
Niwara, the first Mexican schooll controlled by the Indigenous.

A tireless fighter for academic autonomy, Maribel has worked for many years towards the inclusion of gender equality in the Ministry of Education’s books for indigenous people. Semillas’ funding was used to develop new programs for the school, covering topics such as gender equity and prevention of addictions. The principle results of the project include:

• A 90% increase in the participation of girls in school activities traditionally considered masculine, such as basketball.
• A 90% increase in the participation of boys in tasks considered exclusively feminine, such as cleaning the common areas and the cafeteria.
• Ninety-six mothers and fathers attended 12 workshops and 50 of them actively participated in meetings with teachers.
• Thirty visits were made to families with school-age girls and 12 new girls enrolled in the school.
• There were no drop-outs among girls registered in the school.

“Semillas is an organization that believes in me, believes in indigenous women. It trusts that we can make changes for our daughters’ futures, and it listens to women who have initiative. With Semillas I have learned to assert my rights and exercise them. “Today, no old toothless man can teach me to chew gum,” asserts Maribel, using a unique Mexican expression.

“With Semillas’ support many women can feel safe in their homes and girls can attend school with their brothers. Parents have begun to understand the importance of education for both boys and girls, without distinction. Our motto is: if there isn’t a gender perspective, there isn’t quality education.”

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For the third consecutive year the El Semillon fundraising campaign was launched during Semillas’ annual Recognition of Women Investing in Women event where Denise Dresser was the keynote speaker and Carmen Aristegui presented Semillas’ results. The El Semillon campaign seeks to raise USD $100,000 between November 15, 2007 and March 8, 2008 in order to fund 10 additional women’s organizations in 10 states.

The campaign started with a USD $20,000 donation from the Chilean Embassy in Mexico, Casa Natura, Federal Express and Helena Rubinstein. The day of the launch of the El Semillón in the National Museum of Anthropology, we received 64 donations for a total of over USD $4,955, pushing our total to USD $24,955 in the first 13 days of the campaign!

If you are a progressive woman, a supportive man, if you form part of a socially responsible business or a national or international foundation and are interested in investing in the full exercise of Mexican women’s rights, we invite you to join this campaign. Call Marcela Salazar or Elvira Nenclares at 5553-0109 exts. 222 and 221, or send an email to elvira.nenclares@semillas.org.mx. All donations are tax deductible.

Plant your seed for the USD $100,000 goal!

“I am an English teacher at a Montessori School. It was easy to make the decision to become a Semillas donor, what was difficult was convincing myself that I didn’t need to wait for my husband to decide if we were going to donate or not, nor how much or how we would donate. At one of Semillas’ Women’s Conversations I heard an active, single, working mother of three talking about her experience as a donor for over a year. It was then that I decided not to wait for anyone and I understood that the decision to donate on a monthly basis was mine. It has been one of those decisions that besides offering me great satisfaction, benefits other people. Ten dollars a month is almost nothing and I am sure that many women like me could give that amount. I invite them to join this marvelous cause.

Marcela Rincón
Donor to the Network of Women Investing in Women