The three have crawled their way to summits, their backs pressed close to the ground by sharp winds. They’ve had wild moose at their heels and slid down wet trails in the rain.
Seven-year-old Sage and ten-year-old Alex have been hiking with their mother, Trish for most of their lives. From the peaks of Katahdin in Maine to Elbert in Colorado, they have hiked all over the US. Their next challenge: El Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route spanning nearly 500 miles.
For Sage and Alex, hiking is more than exercise; it fuels their campaign to raise money for the Global Fund for Women. After reading about our unique approach to women’s rights, the family knew they wanted to get involved by asking their friends and family to donate in honor of their journey.
“A lot of girls around the world need education and health,” said Sage, explaining her reasoning behind choosing Global Fund for her fundraising goal of $5,000.
It’s no accident that Sage and Alex have such a keen understanding of philanthropy at such a young age. Trish intentionally raises her girls with a social conscience.
“Hiking is not just something we do for ourselves,” said Trish. “We believe it’s important, whenever possible, to do what you can to support causes you believe in. If everyone did that, a lot of our problems would be straightened out in short order.”
With hours of training required for their two-month journey, Alex and Sage try to keep it all in perspective.
“It seems like it’s going to be a great adventure,” said Alex. “I used to be nervous, but now I’m really excited.”
Read more about Sage, Alex and Trish on their blog.
By Lydia Holden, Communications Lead for Grassroots Girls Initiative
"I don’t want to lead a life like my mother, where she is dependent on others financially. I want to be independent and learn on my own," declared Shabham, a 19-year-old girl living in Delhi, India.
Shabham arrived from a rural village 13 years ago, where being an educated, self-sufficient girl is not only undesirable, it is shameful for the family.
"They think she will just talk back and do whatever she likes and won’t be obedient. My [extended] family in the village is constantly asking if my parents have found a husband for me because younger relatives are already married," said Shabham.
With great difficulty, Shabham was able to persuade her parents to let her finish high school. But after graduation, her father said "no more." Low-quality public education and her family’s financial situation only prepared her for low-paying jobs. Furthermore, her father and brothers had instilled in her such a fear of the outside world - under the guise of keeping her safe - that, "I was really scared talking to people and would break down and cry," said Shabham. "I always needed company if I went out anywhere."
FAT's new and improved technology center.
Overwhelmed with the boredom of sitting at home day after day watching TV, Shabham was feeling pretty hopeless until a friend told her to go to our grantee partner, Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT), for a six-month free course in computers.
Though India is ripe recruiting territory for tech companies, only 21 percent of IT industry workers are women. Of those, few reach decision-making positions. This is one of the reasons the Global Fund prioritizes tech funding for women's groups like FAT.
Though Shabham had never used a computer before, she liked that FAT strives to empower marginalized and economically poor girls in Delhi by closing the technological divide between men and women.
"Technology is here to stay and not something we can fight against," commented FAT Executive Director Gayatri Buragohain. "Technology controls government and development, so women’s voices are hugely needed in technology, but their voice is not present."
After three months at FAT, Shabham’s life changed drastically—for the better. She applied to university and found a telecom position to pay her tuition. The intrepid spirit Shabham developed at FAT really shone when her father refused to sign her admission form to university. "I told him that when you come for the signature for the marriage document, I will deny in front of everyone and not sign."
With shrewd determination, Shabham is not only studying, she gets high praise from her father, who now brags about his child at university. As Shabham comes into her own she continues to visit the FAT technology center, which recently received a face-lift thanks to a Global Fund supporter, Craig Newmark.
"I want to be a role model and teach other girls for free. In my village the girl relatives are talking about me and saying, ‘Shabham finished 12th grade, so why can’t I?’ I want to help those girls who can’t come out of their house."
Through a partnership with the Nike Foundation’s Grassroots Girls Initiative (GGI), Global Fund for Women and other leading grantmaking organizations are empowering adolescent girls like Shabham to effect social change.
"Tell me how you live with so much pain?” asked Marisela Escobedo Ortiz. "I can’t keep living this way. I don’t want to live anymore."
Norma Ledezma Ortega took Marisela’s hands in hers and said, "Marisela, pain is never going to leave. It’s going to be with you until the last day of your life so make it your ally."
Norma of grantee partner, Justicia para Nuestras Hijas, remembers the pain in Marisela’s eyes that day. "I saw a tired woman, but I saw a mother who was going to fight against adversity, against the same death that awaited her."
A few weeks later, Marisela was assassinated outside of the governor’s office in Chihuahua, Mexico, while she was protesting the release from prison of her daughter’s murderer, Sergio Barazza. Marisela became an ardent women’s human rights defender after the violent death of her daughter Rubi, whose body was found burned and dismembered in a garbage bin. Norma and Marisela met after judges freed Rubi’s murderer, in a meeting with other mothers who were seeking justice from government officials. The two exchanged phone numbers and Marisela decided that lawyers from Justicia para Nuestras Hijas would represent her case.
On International Human Rights Day, we remember Marisela Escobedo Ortiz. We honor her courage, love for her family, and commitment to justice.
"Remember her as the mother who died as she wanted to, fighting and demanding justice for her daughter Rubi," said Norma. "Remember her so that her death isn’t in vain. She will serve as an example of unconditional love, fighting against the worst enemy: injustice and impunity."
Seeking Justice
Femicide is one of the most serious problems facing women in Chihuahua. Since 1993, the city has seen a wave of unsolved murders. Victims as young as six have been raped, tortured, murdered, and abandoned. Hundreds simply vanish. Global Fund for Women supports women who are at the front lines responding to these horrific crimes, like Justicia para Nuestras Hijas, an organization of family members of women who disappeared or were murdered. The group locates missing women and girls and seeks justice for survivors and their families.
Since 2002, Justicia para Nuestras Hijas has carried out 50 investigations, litigated four cases against alleged murderers, presented three cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and won six convictions. As a result of their work, 30 forcibly disappeared women have been found alive. In 2005, Justicia convinced the state government to hire a team of forensic anthropologists to identify the remains of women in the state of Chihuahua; as a result the remains of more than 30 women were identified.
"The love for Rubi and the radical decision to not stop fighting for justice that she so yearned for has been an example to follow," said Norma, reflecting on Marisela’s impact on Justicia para Nuestras Hijas. “Marisela was the woman who died a fighter but she didn’t lose the war, she only lost the battle.”
When Trini found out the government had plans to take over her community’s land, she felt powerless. She remembered friends and family who came before her, who were born and buried in San Salvador Atenco. She imagined signs reading “Federal Property, Do Not Pass” littering her rural landscape.
This was in 2001, when Trini Ramirez Velazquez and the residents of San Salvador Atenco were about to embark on a fight for justice. They began protesting plans to build a new international airport on 10,000 acres of their land, spanning 13 villages.
“These are the lands of our sons and daughters and no one has the right to take them from us,” reflected Trini of Grupo de Mujeres del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra. “I thought about my children and grandchildren. From that I drew courage.”
Photos by Grupo de Mujeres del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra.
Trini needed that courage as months of clashes with authorities followed. The Mexican government responded to the protests with violence so the protestors armed themselves with machetes and took to the streets to protect their homeland. Responding to the need for community organizing and women's leadership, Grupo de Mujeres del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra de San Salvador Atenco formed by courageous women like Trini. Combining human rights workshops and legal counseling, the Global Fund grantee partner was able to show the importance of community decision-making by defeating the government and running the airport project out of town.
Writing History
For more than thirty years, political structures in Mexico have led to economic and social crisis in rural areas like Atenco. Women not only face poverty and lack of land ownership, but also sexual and domestic violence. Women who actively defend their own land are subjected to political harassment by federal and local governments.
“This magnitude of oppression breaks our social fabric. The fear paralyzes us and stops us from having the full confidence to continue advancing,” said Trini. “However, there is a moment when you face the fear…and together we discover the importance of making our own decisions, seeking equality, and demonstrating our capacity to find solutions.”
Global Fund supports groups like Grupo de Mujeres del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra because they work in rural communities that lack basic needs and cannot turn to their own governments for support. It’s been proven that when women are given the opportunity to develop their leadership skills to preserve their lands, knowledge, and ancestral practices, the quality of life for their entire community improves.
"We live in a system where there is much inequality and you can’t close your eyes anymore. You can’t deafen your ears to the screams of help from other brothers and sisters for legitimate demands for justice,” said Trini, who works everyday for change in the face of violence. “History is not written in a few hours or even a day, we write it day by day.”
Same Old Story
Unfortunately, 2001 wasn’t the last time citizens of Atenco would be targets for political violence. In 2006, police arbitrarily and violently arrested 145 people and inflicted sexual assault on 26 women all in the name of preventing flower vendors from selling their goods at a local market. More than five years later, these survivors are still awaiting justice. None of the officials responsible for their abuse have been held accountable.
“The consequence of the injustice I lived, the total disintegration of my family, my friends and my town, made me hit bottom. I decided to leave my depression and fear that was paralyzing me in these moments so I could fight for liberty and justice,” said Trini.
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