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 Asociación
Mujeres en Apoyo Para la Salud Mental Communitaria, San
Salvador, El Salvador. The Women's Association for Community
Mental Health conducts weekly meetings with women in five poor and marginalized
communities who are struggling with the devastating consequences of
El Salvador's long civil war, and of two earthquakes in 2001. Trained
mental health workers facilitate meetings in which women share experiences,
and learn about basic human rights related to healthcare, education,
employment and housing. They also focus on specific women's issues such
as gender equality and the right to protection against violence. The
project aims to empower women and increase their self-esteem.
 AMUSAMECO
has had much success in developing women leaders, and incorporating
young women into their Coordinating Committee. In 2003 they will continue
this work as well as expand the project to other communities. They will
also hold parallel meetings with young adults aged 12 to 18 years.
 Burmese
Refugee Project, Thailand. The Burmese Refugee Project
works with Shan refugees who have fled persecution by the military junta
in Burma, and are now living in camps in Thailand. Many of the Shan,
who have survived rape or torture and have seen family members murdered
in Burma, suffer from nightmares, depression, and loss of the will to
live. As a result, some refugees have turned to drugs, and family violence,
once rare, has become a problem. The Shan are not eligible for refugee
status, and thus cannot enter UN refugee camps. They are liable to deportation
by the Thai government.
The
project we are funding is run by two college-educated Thai social workers
who employ a participatory model of community development, providing
social support and overseeing the educational needs of Shan children.
Services include group cognitive therapy, literacy classes, and health
and emergency management workshops. The goals of the project are to
support participants in envisioning a future democratic Burma, creating
a supportive, participatory, and prosperous community, preserving Shan
cultural values, and reclaiming their rights as displaced people.
 Ibdaa
Cultural Center: Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, West
Bank, Palestine. Dheisheh is one of the 59 Palestinian refugee camps
established after the expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians following
the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Since the beginning of
the second Intifada in September, 2002, unemployment has skyrocketed,
and Dheisheh has been the site of intense Israeli military assaults,
including numerous invasions by tanks and shelling by Apache helicopters.
Political instability and violence, compounded by daily obstacles under
the occupation, have had a profoundly negative impact on the children
whose lives are defined by curfews, demonstrations, and funerals.
The
Ibdaa Cultural Center
was established to enable children to participate in activities that
nurture their talents and creativity. The MBF grant will support counseling
services, workshops (music, art, creative writing, and drama), and other
therapeutic activities for the children of Dheisheh, particularly those
with family members killed or imprisoned since the start of the Intifada.
It will also provide mental health workshops for parents and other adult
volunteers working with children and youth.
Madre
/ Wangki Luhpia, North Atlantic Coast, Nicaragua.
Nicaragua's predominantly rural North Atlantic Coast has been devastated
by decades of war, government neglect, and US-driven economic policies
that have undermined local economies and traditional ways of life. For
2003, the MBF will be partnering with MADRE,
an international women's human rights organization, to support Harvesting
Hope, a project of Wangki Luhpia.
The
Fund will provide approximately half the budget of Harvesting Hope,
which seeks to alleviate depression, trauma, and a pervasive sense of
powerlessness among the people of two indigenous Miskito communities.
This project will provide both agricultural and human rights training
as well as seeds and livestock to families in these communities, in
order to increase their self-sufficiency and ensure sustainable access
to food, while also strengthening local indigenous women's organizations
and empowering them to exercise the full range of their human rights.
 Pastoral
de
Solidaridad y Reconciliación,
San Marcos, Guatemala. The REMHI project of the San Marcos Diocese
was part of an inter-diocesan project that produced the report, "Guatemala:
Never Again," a documentation of human rights violations in
the country. The goal of the project is to motivate the organized participation
of the people in the construction of a new Guatemala and the development
of a more human and dignified life. REMHI is a response at the community
level and emphasizes exposure to history, mental health training, and
human rights for the people of San Marcos, which has a primarily indigenous
population (mostly Mam).
In
2003, the project will continue with the work of exhumations and reburials
of victims of the violence, which helps family members gain closure
and cope with the overwhelming fear of reprisal. It will continue to
commemorate important anniversaries to prevent the obliteration of the
past, and to support the training of community leaders to give workshops
that contribute to reconciliation. It will also hold the first national
assembly for civic groups and present a regional report on the impact
of the armed conflict.
 Slum
Development Society, Chennai, India. The Slum
Development Society was founded in 1987to address the human rights
and mental health needs of the Dalit, or undercaste, in rural Tamil
Nadu. The Dalit have been oppressed for centuries, and despite the government's
stated goal of ending the caste system, their situation remains dire.
SDS has been involved in a wide range of social and economic action
projects including literacy, skills and job training (especially for
women), a night school for children, small business loans for women,
health workshops, and summer camps for children.
MBF's
support this year is for job training for women making candles and doing
tailoring, and for a project to organize members of the Dalit community
to dig new wells in response to the chronic drought afflicting the region.
A third initiative is aimed at children and adolescents, and includes
free after-school tuition, a mental health and human rights camp, and
community organizing for human rights.
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English
to Spanish translations
courtesy
of Melisa Flores
©
2007, Ignacio Martín-Baró Fund for Mental Health & Human Rights
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