Go to:

Main page

El Semillón Fundraising Campaign

Diana Damián & Her Struggle Againts Maternal Mortality

Diana Damián is a social worker, originally from the frailesca region of Chiapas. Her experience in Mexico City as a member of the organization, Salud Integral para la Mujer (SIPAM, a women’s health care program), provided her with important lessons and convinced her to continue to work in health care with a gender perspective. She founded FOCA in Chiapas in 1996; its mission is to help women improve their reproductive health and enjoy their sexuality (www.europrofem.org).

Semillas gave a grant to the organization to combat maternal and infant mortality. The funds helped FOCA to:

• Form a network for sexual and reproductive rights made up of 25 midwives.
• Train 202 health promoters and eight team coordinators.
• Raise the awareness of 53 community authorities so that they now collaborate with the network.
• Advocate for medical services for 1,970 indigenous women in one year.
• Educate 900 women and men about their sexual and reproductive rights.

Breaking Taboos

“It has not been easy,” says Diana. “We have confronted very rooted habits and customs. In addition, we have had to fight against conservative religious ideas that prevent women from being the agents for their own well-being and health, and from making decisions about their bodies. This is not exclusive to indigenous peoples, but in our communities it is more evident.”

Despite the taboos, 120 indigenous Tzeltales and Tzotziles have taken their sexual and reproductive rights into their own hands as a result of this project. The organization has promoted leadership among these women and several of them now occupy coordinating and management posts in the community.

“Up to now, we have had important achievements based on the way we work to integrate women into the authority structures of the community. However, the constant challenge for FOCA is to create new strategies that allow us to have a greater impact on the indigenous and rural communities in which we work,” concluded Diana, who has also been selected as one of five social leaders for the Visionaris Award that UBS Swiss Bank gave to Social Entrepreneurs in 2007.