Gender Equality Mexico Project #39917

Our Voices are Stopping Violence!

by Amextra, Inc.

Project Report | Apr 15, 2022
We start the work with the community!

By Alejandra Romero | Fundraising Manager

Women and children of Ocosingo.

At Amextra we are extremely happy because we have started with the implementation of CNP in the communities. It has been a long journey since we began collecting the testimonies of dozens of women victims of violence, and with the help of Dr. Cash, we are ready to act!

During these months of work, we have produced 25 illustrated stories that are reflected in 5 books, which were titled by the women and men of the community as "Bixi to Wotan", which is a Tzeltal greeting that means "How is your heart?".

Despite the difficulty in getting closer to stories as sensitive as those found in books (which have shame, love, violence, sexuality, and desire as themes), and the various obstacles presented by the pandemic, these materials are already printed and at the beginning of April we trained 16 local promoters who will work directly with dozens of people using the CNP methodology.

From April to September we will pilot the CNP in Ocosingo, and we are sure that we will have great results that will allow us not only to improve the lives of dozens of rural and indigenous families in the municipality but also to replicate this methodology in other communities.

Thank you so much for allowing us to get here!

Sincerly,

The Amextra team

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Oct 22, 2021
Alejandras story

By Stephanie Ahlgrain | Manager of Fundraising and Strategic Alliances

Alejandra is one of the four illustrators working on the Community Narrative Practice (CNP) project in Ocosingo, Chiapas. Earlier this month we interviewed her about the process. Below, a shortened version of this interview.

1. What has been the most enriching part about illustrating the stories for the CNP project?
The most enriching part about participating in this project is all the experience and knowledge that I have acquired during the illustration processes, such as learning real stories of problems that are currently present in Tzeltal communities, creating this visual representation of the stories. I have always sought that my work as an illustrator has a purpose and an goal, what better way to achieve this than by participating in this project.

2. What have been the challenges you face in the process?
One of the great challenges is communication and coordination at a distance, due to Covid. In addition to time, it has been challending to get involved and adequately represent these communities so that people can identify with the stories and thus achieve the objective of the project.

3. What lessons is participating in this project leaving for your life?
My personal lesson is that we still have a long way to go in terms of current situations of violence, we still need to really do something for the communities and address all these problems that are not being addressed perhaps, as they should be, however. I'm glad to be able to contribute from what I like to do, I really want to help as much as I can.

Thanks to Alejandra and the other illustrators all 25 stories should be completed and printed by December, in order to begin the organization of 8 groups (organized by age group and gender) in January.

Thank you for your support of this project. One story and discussion at a time we can change the reality of gender violence in Mexico.

Stephanie

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Jun 30, 2021
Eleven watercolor stories are coming to life

By Stephanie Ahlgrain | Manager of Fundraising and Alliances

Dear friend,

Thank you for your continued interest and support of this Community Narrative Practice(CNP) pilot program in Mexico, led by Amextra. While the pandemic has made the process of illustrating the stories more complicated, we are proud of our advances today.

After an exhaustive selection among 20 candidates to be part of the team of illustrators, four people were chosen: two women who are not from the state of Chiapas, but have had contact with the Tzeltal communities, and two men who are from Chiapas: one is from the Chol indigenous region and another is from San Cristóbal de las Casas. To date, 11 stories have been illustrated; These have been meticulously elaborated by hand, painted in watercolor, seeking that the illustrations capture the sense of the problems that are to be addressed in each of the stories; so that this allows in the implementation, to generate the dialogue of the causes and effects of the violence problem. Three such stories are attached to this report, so you can see the richness of the drawings which will be used to spark dialogue.

The process has been slower than planned, since it is the first time it has been carried out virtually. We planned to have the illustrators concentrated in Chiapas for 8 to 10 weeks, so that they could dedicate themselves full time to the illustrations, and thus be monitored daily. But due to the pandemic, this had to be modified and carried out virtually. To facilitate the process we have had one or two weekly meetings with each artist to monitor their work and provide feedback. The stories are being assigned according to artistic abilities and also according to what they and they are choosing. In the first week of June a new illustrator joined to help finish more of the illustrations in a shorter time.

Starting on July 15th we should have all of the illustrations complete and will be able to advance to the printing of the books. Work with the communities is scheduled to begin in October, after the training of the facilitators in September.

We deeply appreciate your interest and investment in this life-changing work. Violence against women should not be a normal part of society and this project is gradually working to change this reality in Chiapas, Mexico.

All the best,

Stephanie

Manager of Fundraising and Strategic Alliances

www.amextra.org

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