Posts Tagged ‘DESMI’
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala, is currently in Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.
I awoke early this morning swaying in a hammock in the open air. We’d stayed overnight in the municipality of Roberto Barrios. All the visitors, including the students, slept in hammocks. This had initially posed a problem for the 2 DESMI staff members I was with- Estela and Pedro- as there were so many people here last night we couldn’t figure out where to hang our own hammocks. Someone had suggested that we sleep under the “palapa” (hut – pictured) where DESMI held its workshop.
I was a bit dubious about this, as were Estela and Pedro. Estela looked concerned, saying, “I’m not sure that hut will hold the three of us with hammocks.” But there was nowhere else and, fortunately, the hut was stronger than it looked!
This morning, DESMI continued their chicken raising workshop series. The students learned how to vaccinate the chickens. Before heading over to the chicken coup, DESMI gave an overview of how vaccinations are done, demonstrating the different syringes and the right direction to poke the needle. The students then went to the chicken coup to practice.
As part of the training, DESMI reviewed how to store the vaccines, and to identify potential side effects that chicken may get after getting vaccinated. The students learned that in order for the vaccine to be effective it had to be kept cold at 4 degrees Celsius at all times. This means that once it’s bought, it has to be kept in a cooler with ice.
This training was a good learning process for the students to be aware of the various complexities in using vaccines. They went on to review the differences between a parasite, virus and bacteria and what preventative care can be given for each.
After the workshop, the DESMI staff got together with community members and teachers to review the work plan they had put together for DESMI to support their initiative to build their own sustainable development center in the municipality. The students also expressed their interest in providing meals for other community members who will come here for training on sustainable livestock-rearing and agricultural practices.
Another long and educational day for the students and for myself, too. Soon after, we were ready to go back to San Cristóbal de las Casas, a 6-hour drive passing through the beautiful valleys of green mountains.
IDEX Program Officer, Katherine Zavala, is currently in Mexico on field visits to our grantees there.
I was told it was going to be a rather long ride from San Cristóbal de las Casas to the autonomous municipality of Roberto Barrios. They were right: it was 6 hours.
I was accompanying 2 members of DESMI’s staff, Pedro and Estela. Both are responsible for DESMI’s programs in the Northern Zone. Today were to go to Roberto Barrios to conduct chicken-raising workshops with young people there between the ages of 12 and 16.
It’s interesting to note that the autonomous government in Chiapas operates its own education system. It is bilingual (Spanish and a local Mayan language) and reflects the local context of the communities’ reality. The youth we were to meet today are in their secondary education, a 3-year program that includes developing practical skills to enable them to be productive in their communities.
There are around 95 secondary students in this municipality and they’ve all chosen different professional tracks. The 20 students that are participating in DESMI’s workshop today have chosen the veterinary track, and today they were going to be learning how to raise chickens among other livestock-rearing activities.
In this group of veterinary students, I learned there were 2 teachers who accompany them to DESMI’s workshops. DESMI’s staff come to this municipality every 2 months for 2 to 3 days at a time to follow-up with the workshops and bring new training materials for the teachers. Between DESMI’s visits, the teachers continue teaching the students based mostly on indigenous knowledge and in the local Mayan language.
In the middle of the afternoon, we finally arrived. The sun was blazing with a vengeance. The workshops weren’t going to start until later, as the students had spent the first part of the day in the fields learning how to cultivate maize.
I asked Estela from DESMI what we were going to do in the meantime and she said, “We’ll meet with community members and then prepare for the workshop. Time moves slowly here.” I had time on my hands – something that would be quite unimaginable in the United States. It was peaceful to be in a place where was no rush or time pressure.
A whistle blew. “It’s bath time,” Pedro explained. “All the students go to the river to refresh themselves from the hot weather.” I followed them and found myself at a beautiful, crystal-clear river that was just calling at me to jump in. I had forgotten my swimwear. But then I saw girls swimming in their jeans and t-shirts. I dived in fully dressed and enjoyed a wonderfully refreshing swim.
Later, DESMI’s workshop reviewed what the students had learned so far. They had already learned about the common diseases found in chickens and their names in their Mayan languages: Tzeltal and Ch’ol. But they didn’t know the terms in Spanish nor what medicine to use to treat them. That’s where DESMI came in and assisted them in finding the correct terms in Spanish and the corresponding treatments.
DESMI asked the students what they’d like DESMI to train them in regarding chicken raising. The students’ responses included learning more about diseases, how to build and maintain chicken coups, and more on general chicken care. In this way, DESMI can structure their new workshops in response to what the youth are wanting to learn.
It is now the end of a long and interesting day and, as Roberto Barrios is far from San Cristóbal de las Casas, we are going to spend the night here and DESMI will continue the workshop tomorrow.
IDEX Program Office, Katherine Zavala, is currently in Mexico on field visits with our grantees there.
Today I visited a community called San Francisco from the municipality of Teopisca, 1 hour south of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. This Tzeltal community of 300 people has been supported by DESMI for 20 years. The focus of the work is to assist 52 families to work collectively in various income-generating activities.
Don Pablo is the community representative of San Francisco Teopisca and has been the liaison with DESMI and communicates the progress of each collective income-generating project. He accompanied me during my visit, showed me around the community and introduced me to various members.
We went to a couple of parcels of land where organic vegetables are grown. The first patch of land is used mostly as a demonstration site. Here they showcase organic agricultural practices with new crops to communities. Thanks to workshops provided by DESMI, participants learn how to train other community members on these practices, which spreads the knowledge throughout the community.
Last year they cultivated red onions using vermicompost, which yielded successful results. They grew so many red onions that Don Pablo still has many of them hanging in his house. “We don’t have to buy them at the market anymore,” he told me, “when you hang the onions, they can last up to 8 months.”
8 indigenous women are managing the second parcel of organic vegetables that Don Pablo showed me. They grow lettuce, beets, carrots and onions. DESMI is in the process of teaching these women seed-saving techniques. Already the women are waiting for the flowers of the onions to blossom, and then they will harvest the seeds to sow.
Don Pablo also introduced me to women, who are growing medicinal plants such as dandelions, aloe and Madonna lilies. They create creams and medicinal herbal infusions from extracts of these plants to sell in the community.
Finally, I met with 3 members of a bakery collective, which has 30 members, all women. This collective has been baking bread for 15 years now, and sustainably generates income for its members. Marta, a 51-year old woman who has 7 children, recently became president of the bakery collective’s board. She explained how the collective has helped bring the community together, as before none of the neighbors used to know each other and now they are work together.
DESMI provides these different groups through technical assistance and supports them in strengthening their unity as well as raising awareness in gender equality. DESMI will wait for the community groups to bring forward their future plans of how they want to improve their livelihoods. The members of San Francisco Teopisca are hoping to restore their land with more trees and are requesting support from DESMI for this project.
IDEX Program Office, Katherine Zavala, is currently in Mexico on field visits with our grantees there.
I’m in Chiapas, Mexico visiting our grantees here. It’s nice to be in warm weather, after the summer fog of San Francisco. Even better, I get to spend time in the beautiful colonial town of San Cristóbal de Las Casas. I’m going to be in Chiapas for 2 weeks visiting IDEX partners DESMI and EduPaz.
IDEX has been supporting DESMI for over 10 years and we’ve worked with a number of communities. On this trip I’ll visit 2 communities in the Southern and Northern zone of Chiapas. DESMI works to strengthen indigenous communities in Chiapas who are organizing using Solidarity Economics and the values of justice, gender equality, dialogue and respect to the environment. Their goal is to support social change that promotes autonomy and self-sufficiency within the communities.
DESMI was founded in 1969, and this year is their 40th anniversary. DESMI is celebrating with communities in the 3 different regions they work in: Northern, Central (Los Altos) and Southern zone, as well as in San Cristóbal de las Casas, where their office is.
As well as DESMI, I will visit IDEX’s newest partner EduPaz. EduPaz is based in Comitán, and works with communities in the Southern zone of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala.
EduPaz was founded in 1998, initially to serve Guatemalan refugees who were escaping Guatemala’s internal conflict across the border into Mexico. As Guatemalan refugees started to go back to their home country, EduPaz began to work with the local population in the Comitán region. But their experience with Guatemalan refugees was also needed in their own communities in Chiapas after the Acteal massacre in December 1997.
Today EduPaz’s focus is to promote peace and social transformation through the programs of Solidarity Economics, Holistic Health, Agroecology and Popular-based Organization.
I’m looking forward to catching up with DESMI and growing my knowledge and relationship with EduPaz.
IDEX and DESMI may not have been successful with our Green Mountain Coffee proposal but thanks to GlobalGiving, and their “Give A Little Green” campaign all donations to DESMI will be matched at 50% while funds last.
Hurry, the matching funds are running out!
The coffee cooperative “Ssit lequil lum,” (Fruit Of The Good Earth) in the northern part of Chiapas continues to report back many successes.
In the past year the cooperative has succeeded in acquiring much sought-after export permits. They immediately took orders for Europe. They successfully signed contracts and exported whole bean organic coffee to 4 countries: Tatawelo in Italy; Solidarity Café in France, Free World in Italy, Osporos in Greece and Café Liberty in Germany.
Currently, the members are building the capacity of the cooperative. This involves some technical support and DESMI is assisting the group in developing accounting protocols and maintaining fiscal responsibilities with the local tax authority to solidify their legal status as a commercial entity. This means they need to stay on top of the many necessary registrations and certifications.
The cooperative does not just grow coffee. The farmers also grow citrus fruits and bananas, and other small-scale crops. This diversifies their crops and their incomes. DESMI has been helping with the search for new markets for these crops.
More About Fruit Of The Good Earth
The cooperative is comprised of 594 members (coffee producers) from 5 autonomous municipalities, from both the Mayan Chol and Tzeltal ethnic groups. It includes 555 men and 39 women from 45 different communities. Over 2,900 people indirectly benefit from the cooperative.
The members take extraordinary pride in preserving indigenous culture and unity despite being from different ethnicities and language groups.
By organizing collectively, the farmers gain the scale they need to sell their products directly to exporters. This eliminates the need for middlemen and increases their profits.
Training programs help the cooperatives achieve export quality and obtain organic certification for their coffee crops. Just as importantly they develop knowledge to grow a wide variety of organic food crops for consumption and local sale.
The diversification of crops improves family nutrition (a critical need in this part of Mexico with the highest malnutrition rates in the country) and economic security while nourishing the soil for future generations.
Donate to DESMI now, through April 28 and in honor of Earth Day (April 22) GlobalGiving will match your donation at 50%. Please share your support of these coffee farmers with your family and friends.
Photo: Coffee plant in Chiapas, Mexico.
IDEX is applying for a $200,000 multi-year grant for our partners in Chiapas, Mexico who grow organic coffee.
Vote for IDEX and ask friends, colleagues and family members to vote as well.
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We have until March 21 to get as many votes as possible. Please take 1 minute to help us raise $200,000.
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Today I thought I would have the privilege to sleep in. I stayed the night at the Morelia caracol and I slept in a hammock in a cabin shared with the DESMI staff. The DESMI staff had to wake up early as their workshops were going to start at 6am. I watched them all leave from my hammock.
Then Rosaluz came in and said, “I tried to come last night to talk to you but the lights were out.”
“Yes, that’s right. The DESMI staff wanted to sleep because they had to wake up early today,” I responded as I snuggled in my hammock.
“Well, I wanted to tell you that the Junta would like you to talk to the women artisans.”
“Oh, that’s great. When would they like to get together?”
“The women decided they want to talk to you before the DESMI workshop.”
“Oh, that workshop starts at 6am.” Then it suddenly sunk in. “That means they want to talk to me now?”
“Um… yes.”
So much for sleeping in!
When I entered the training hall, the women artisans were already waiting for me. They started the meeting by welcoming me and asked me to talk about my visit.
All these women are representatives, chosen by their communities to be responsible for coming to the trainings and then inform the rest on how the cooperative is coming about. In fact, the women have just started this process and after talking to me, they will continue their training on what constitutes a cooperative.
This group is unique as they are the first group of artisans who have decided to become an autonomous cooperative. This means that they don’t have to go through the long legal process that is required when registering with the governmental system. Instead, they need to be recognized by the Junta (Good Governance Council). Nevertheless, they want to create a cooperative that is legitimate, so they are taking the positive parts of what is usually required to have a cooperative.
I asked them what was their dream of having this cooperative, why did they want to form it. After some silence, one artisan spoke out:
“Our dream to have a cooperative is to be united. We are all trying to sell our products in the market to earn some money but we don’t want to compete with each other. We don’t want one municipality to sell more than the other. (The cooperative has members from 7 municipalities and 4 regions.) Instead, we want to unite so that the money can be distributed to everyone.”
I could tell that not all the women were jumping to talk openly, except the coordinator who was doing a great job leading and encouraging the group while she tried to comfort her baby at the same time. But the fact that they are all participating in this workshop speaks a thousand words.
The women are here because they want to be here. This is a workshop that they have asked to have and not because it is being offered by an organization. You can tell the difference as I can see that even the quiet ones are paying close attention.
This cooperative is ambitious, trying to include indigenous women who speak different Mayan languages and Spanish. But it is their decision as a group to create this cooperative and apparently that communication among them has been very clear!
Kat
I am sitting among the beautiful green trees and mountains. The sky is very clear today. You wouldn’t have guessed that the night before Hurricane Dean had gone over the Yucatan peninsula.
I am waiting to meet the Good Governance Council (Junta de Buen Gobierno) in the caracol (regional center) of Morelia. I came in the morning with a group of 4 staff members of DESMI. They have been invited to give workshops to community members in agroecology, organic fertilizers, cooperative management and cattle rearing. I am here with Rosaluz from Enlace Civil to meet the Council members that are in charge of the plan of production (focusing on food security and arts and crafts). IDEX is supporting specifically the group of women artisans who are starting an autonomous cooperative to build the capacity to market their textile products.
Each caracol has its own security commission, which receives every guest who enters the premises. They then make an appointment with the Council. I am already participating in this alternative governance system.
Right now it seems that there is a conflict that has occurred in a nearby municipality and it is taking the Council a long time to resolve. I might not get to meet the Council before lunch.
After some beans and tortillas…
The Council has received me and has asked me to explain the reason of my visit. They welcome me and tell me that this is my home too. They ask whether I have a space to spend the night and if I had eaten. It is nice to know that even though this is all a procedure that the communities have created, it feels like a genuine service to all people who enter this place.
I then went to meet a Commission of the plan of production, which includes IDEX’s support to the artisans cooperative. The Commission has just formed as the plan is too big and required a separate commitment by the Council. It was an interesting dialogue where I explained what IDEX was and they told me about their plans and hopes for this project.
From the meeting I could instantly tell that this was a project that has ownership amongst the people themselves. This project was planned and initiated by them and now they are building their capacity to see the project through with the support of Enlace Civil. It is a constant support that encourages professional development as Enlace Civil helps them administratively such as guiding the financial administrator to practice Excel to track the funds.
These people have been chosen by the communities to be in this commission and Enlace Civil is giving them the basic skills to govern their people and to help them improve their quality of lives.
You can’t come here and not feel that people have taken ownership of their own governance and that this is all done with the goal of providing a better future for their communities.
Katherine, with Toño, DESMI’s Director
When I entered DESMI’s office, I thought to myself, “I want to work here!” DESMI’s office is in a beautiful colonial house with a huge garden, which they have owned since 1979. I knew several of DESMI’s staff from my IDEX trip to Guatemala last year, so seeing them again felt like seeing old friends.
Sitting down with the staff on my office visit, DESMI taught me a lot about their programs, and specifically their microcredit program. DESMI works in 3 regional areas in Chiapas: North, South and Los Altos. Currently, they have one person managing each regional area but they are in a process of staff restructuring to see if there is a way to better facilitate the work in these areas by distributing the responsibility.
I found DESMI’s microcredit program very interesting. DESMI’s loan fund will only be distributed to collectives. The whole process from the moment the community applies for microcredit to receiving it may take 2 to 3 months, as DESMI wants to ensure that the microcredit they receive will guarantee success of their project. There hasn’t been a case where DESMI has rejected an application. Instead, if something doesn’t make sense or the application is not complete, DESMI’s staff will take the time to visit the collective and work together on the application. Every first Monday of the month, DESMI’s staff sits down together to look at all the applications. Since 2003, they have not received many applications.
DESMI expressed to me their excitement on the exchange trip they’re doing next week together with K’inal Antsetik to visit IDEX’s Guatemalan partners: AFEDES, APROSADSE and ISMU, as well as other organizations. They are planning to visit AFEDES’ Weavers’ Store in Santiago Sacatepequez and APROSADSE’s agricultural program in Chimaltenango.
DESMI is hoping to learn especially how these organizations work with gender issues into their programs, since DESMI is also initiating their own workshops on masculinity. These exchange trips, organized by IDEX partners themselves, came about during IDEX’s regional conference in Antigua, Guatemala in January 2006. IDEX’s partners decided they wanted to exchange experiences as they saw that they all were facing similar challenges although living in different political and cultural contexts.
IDEX has been a long supporter of DESMI and it’s easy to see why. DESMI is continually working to become more efficient in their site visits, training and in being more aware of the needs of the communities. DESMI is currently working on developing a monitoring and evaluation plan to ensure they are achieving the objectives they have set themselves to accomplish.”It hasn’t been successful yet, to be honest,” Toño, DESMI’s Director tells me, “but we are doing our best to get this plan together because we want to make sure that DESMI is working well to improve the quality of life of these communities.”
Kat
Today I went to San Rafael, a community near Comitán to visit a training workshop that IDEX partner, DESMI, was facilitating together with the collective living there.
San Rafael’s collective is a new group that started one year ago with DESMI. In this brief period, they have already established their own training center that teaches community members in the region how to grow a type of mushroom called zeto.
When I got there, they were already sowing the mushroom seed in bags filled with olote (corn without their kernels). The training had started yesterday and I was joining them in their last phase. They encouraged me to participate and it looked like fun, so I did. I felt like a surgeon as I wore my mask, hat and latex gloves. The gear was to help prevent contamination on the seeds, so they can grow better. Once the bag of seeds with olotes was completed, it was placed in a separate dark room covered with plastic to foment the mushroom to grow.
After the training workshop the trainees, two of DESMI staff and I sat down together and had a good talk about their experience in working collectively, the projects they’re working on and their hopes for their communities. The trainees were representative leaders that their communities had elected to promote organic agriculture. When I asked them what their hopes were for themselves and their communities, many responded that they wanted health among community members to improve and that everyone should have a balanced diet. One young man, promoter of organic agriculture in the community of Nuevo Tepeyac said, “I’m hoping to change the world.” Everyone cried in unison that this was really the ultimate goal, to show that there is a better way to live in this world.
Don Juan, member of San Rafael’s collective, used to own the land where the training center now stands. He sold the land to the collective so that the center could be owned and used by the collective members. He offered to show me his plot of land after the meeting, where he just harvested his milpas (corn). He’s been practicing organic agriculture for 4 years now. Everything he grows has been primarily for his family’s consumption, and whatever remains, is sold at the central market in Comitán.
It was a great experience to be among the people at the training today. All of them had the intention to go back to their communities to demonstrate how to grow mushrooms and if they are motivated enough, San Rafael’s collective will go directly to them to train them and give suggestions. A couple of the trainees today were 14-year-old, young girls, who are already working to support their community.
They have all shown how much they care for their land, for their Mother Earth. They’ve all come here to be part of something bigger, because they want a better life, a better world for themselves and their communities. One cannot help but witness their dedication to achieve this wonderful goal!
Kat
