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Your support truly makes a difference in rebuilding for a new El Salvador!
CIS GRASSROOTS ORGANIZER PROJECT 2007
Overview
The CIS grassroots organizer program has had an impact in the communities and on a national level in a variety of ways.
First, the grassroots organizers have facilitated consciousness raising through giving and receiving trainings about topics such as the economic, political and social analysis of the current national situation involving water rights, political economy, human rights, preventing and minimizing the impact of disasters, gender equality, and solidarity.
Secondly, CIS has worked to strengthen the concept of solidarity and to eliminate the practice of assistencialism. Solidarity, for the CIS means accompanying the Salvadorans and unity with them in their struggle for social and economic justice. Assistentialism is a practice of giving hand-outs, which foster dependency instead of providing the tools for individuals and communities to achieve self-determination and the ability to overcome their problems. The impact of the orientation of building solidarity can be observed in the ability of the communities to organize themselves, both for educational purposes and for mobilizations, as well as to make their demands known on local and national levels. The communities have asked for support in education, organization and human development in order to overcome dependency.
Additionally, the grassroots organizers have facilitated trainings that have resulted in cultural development in their communities and have carried out economic development activities that include work in and permanent training on music, dance, computation, English, and craft making. They have also facilitated the development of small businesses for women such as natural medicine, raising chickens and pigs, organic crops, sewing, embroidery, weaving, crafts and other productive projects.
Community organizations are also expanding their work in education and human development in many ways: they have opened Internet Cafés, mobile libraries, child development centers and scholarships programs for high school and college students. They intentionally design these programs to strengthen their own internal organization at the same time. Community organizations are carrying out efforts to include participation of women and young people.
Finally, the grassroots organizers are key in our ability to respond to national emergencies such as the Hurricane Mitch, the earthquakes of 2001 and Tropical Storm Stan 2005. Their role is critical in the moment of an emergency, providing evacuation, shelter and food, as well as in coordinating reconstruction efforts. The organizers are well known in the communities and can get to isolated areas. They are accustomed to traveling on foot and are not deterred by landslides or other obstacles to community access. They serve as a link with agencies that provide emergency relief, getting it to where it is needed in a timely manner. CIS grassroots organizers coordinated the reconstruction of hundreds of permanent homes after the earthquakes and are now providing aid in reconstruction and survival strategies to families who lost their crops and homes during Tropical Storm Stan.
Highlights of Community Organizations’ Achievements of CIS Grassroots Organizing Project of 2006
The Cultural Association is a community organization that focuses on women and youth. They offer a variety of training for community members, including English and computer classes, sewing, dance and music. The CIS supports women’s sewing workshops, the purchase of land for 12 families left landless after Tropical Storm Stan and other community projects. Salvadoran Enterprises for Women, the Lily Foundation and Rainbow of Hope for Children Foundation all channeled funds through CIS for women’s development and emergency aid in 2006.
Citizen’s Roundtable, San Pedro Perulapán The Citizen’s Roundtable has been busy with the following initiatives: organizing in various villages, developing a sister relationship in El Espino with the Foundation for Cultural Exchange in Colorado, mobilizing for marches, and distributing fertilizer to families who lost their crops due to Tropical Storm Stan. Families could not afford to plant their crops due to crop losses in 2005.
Citizen’s Roundtable, San Rafael Cedros The Citizen’s Roundtable focused on the organization of women by providing political education classes for community members, which ran for eight weeks covering topics of human rights, solidarity and political economy, among others. The women’s committee in Cocobano will begin a small chicken coup to improve the food intake and income for their families thanks to a donation from Salvadoran Enterprises for Women. Presentation Church in Kansas City will begin a program supporting 14 scholarship students in high school beginning January 2007 and marks the beginning of a new sister relationship.
Trainings were provided for the women’s group. Six micro-credit loans were given to women in the group for their small businesses thanks to St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New Hampshire.
Voice of the People Association, Estanzuelas The Association focuses on the organization of women and youth, providing them with a community center, computer school and English classes. The organization facilitates 55 high school scholarships and five university scholarships thanks to their sister parish of St. Patrick’s in Kansas City. They are also carrying out a five month leadership training school for women this year, thanks to support from Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Kansas City.
Association for Infant, youth and community development of Zaragoza The Association supports four child development centers thanks to collaboration of Books for Peace. They also run a community Internet Café at affordable prices. Their projections include opening a broader community center where youth can study and have access to a small library.
CORDECOT, Tamanique CORDECOT is present in 17 communities in Tamanique. They organized three new women’s soccer teams, formed a scholarship committee to administer the new scholarship program with Assumption Church in Iowa that began in January of 2006, which formed a new sister relationship. CORDECOT has organized and provided political education in 15 communities. CORDECOT is planning a week long health brigade for January 2007 with PeaceHealth.
Community Association of Comasagua This year the grassroots organizer worked to facilitate training in natural medicine and support for a youth music group. The association organized the construction of permanent housing for 22 families in the community of Arcoiris for left homeless in the 2001 earthquakes thanks to Rainbow of Hope and CORDES Foundations. Two women’s groups received seeds and fertilizers to grow crops this year thanks to the El Salvador Kommittee in Rotterdam and CARECEN, Los Angeles.
All of the communities mobilized citizen’s education and voter turn-out for the March municipal and legislative actions and International Labor Day (May 1), among other protests. On the local level there were mobilizations for potable water and other demands on the government such as the distribution of the emergency aid and the forgiveness of the debts of farmers for micro credits, among other activities.
On September 10, 2006, the communities organized their first popular fair trade exchange in Comasagua promoting local musical groups and dance troupe, sale of Salvadoran goods ranging from crafts to candies, shampoos, natural medicines, typical food, clothing and other goods. In September the communities also organized the distribution of donated materials to strengthen their organization such as sports equipment, office supplies, computer goods, books and educational materials facilitated by the Sisters of St. Francis in Kansas City.
The CIS facilitated over $100,000 in donations above grassroots organizing costs for community projects such as women’s businesses, scholarships, Day Care Centers, land, seeds and fertilizers, sports equipment, mobile libraries, computers and more, all made possible with the grassroots organizing base to implement and follow-up on projects.
Thank you to the following organizations that support CIS grassroots organizers Books for Peace Latin Amerikan Gruppen – Norway Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Kansas City Rainbow of Hope for Children Foundation, Canada St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New Hampshire
And to those organizations supporting ongoing projects in the communities Assumption Church, Iowa Books for Peace CARECEN, Los Angeles Chicago Religious Leadership Network Daughters of Wisdom Dominican University El Salvador Kommittee, Rotterdam Foundation for Cultural Exchange, Colorado Franciscan Sisters, Kansas City, MO Latin Amerikan Gruppen – Norway Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Kansas City PeaceHealth Presentation Church, Kansas City Rainbow of Hope for Children Foundation, Canada Salvadoran Enterprises for Women St. Patrick’s Church, Kansas City St. Robert Bellarmine Church, Kansas City St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New Hampshire
$50 - $40,800. No donation is too big or too small. Fifty percent of our organizer budget is from donations of $50 - $1,000.
$3,600 – grassroots organizer stipend for one year $1,500 – minimum logistical support budget, such as mobilization, office supplies or trainings. $5,100 – grassroots organizer stipend and organizing expenses.
3. Sister Relationship. Organize an annual delegation of 8 – 10 members of your church, community group, friends or university. This long-lasting relationship is a mutual one based on accompanying the community in their needs paired with the sister communities’ abilities to support projects such as grassroots organizing, education, human development, local economy, environment or healthcare. The basic tenet of this program is the belief that through organization and human development, the communities can develop tools for their own self-determination. The sister relationship benefits by learning about not only the social and economic reality of El Salvador, but also the world, making them better citizens. Communities are enriched in faith and hope for social change through people to people solidarity!
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS CAN BE MADE OUT TO: CIS / PO BOX 17025 / ST. PAUL, MN 55117. PLEASE MAKE A NOTE THAT IT IS FOR GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING PROJECT. Write us at: cis_elsalvador@yahoo.com if you have questions or interest in this project. Grassroots organizers are requesting computers to be able to write reports, write funding proposals and for other needs. The Cultural Association of San Francisco Chinameca, Zaragoza, and the Voice of the People in Estanzuelas all run Computer training schools and are looking for donated second-hand computers that can be connected to the Internet. The women’s association in the village of La Loma in San Pedro Perulapán is also planning to set up a computer school / Internet Café. Estanzuelas, San Francisco Chinameca, Comasagua and other communities are requesting volunteers to teach English. The CIS can provide training for volunteers who come for a minimum of 10 weeks. Contact us for more information about this valuable opportunity to work directly in the community with the grassroots organizers.
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