Women’s Study Tour to Honduras Update

June 24, 2009 in Uncategorized by community

The Women’s Study tour to Honduras focused on bridging the gap between issues affecting indigenous women in the North and South, in order to initiate a discussion about the problems and solutions affecting their respective communities.

As reported by the Huairou Commission, this exchange was facilitated by Horizons of Friendship in collaboration with its partners, the Garifuna Emergency Committee of Honduras (CEGAH), the Huairou Commission (HC) and its member network GROOTS International/GROOTS Canada.

The exchange was a peer learning forum where participants exchanged good practices, and discussed both their successes and challenges in securing participation in political processes. Moreover, it was an advocacy venue to strengthen the importance of women’s leadership, and address language and cultural preservation, land tenure, access to housing and basic services, climate change, HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health and economic empowerment. Preparatory meetings were also held for the 8th Session of the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) from May 18-29th 2009.

The Peer Exchange included indigenous Mohawk, Ogibwe, Tlicho, and Métis women from Canada; Chortis, Pech, Garifuna from Honduras and Mayans from Guatemala who have experiences in organizing and leading communities to respond to community needs and to develop local initiatives to better their life conditions. Besides being an enriching ten-day Exchange demonstrating good practices among a total of 40 participants within the various meetings, the Indigenous women strategized to bring a strong voice at the UNPFII.

The overall planning developed by Horizons of Friendship and the local host CEGAH, for the Peer Exchange consisted of a series of round-table discussions and visits to many indigenous communities, including:

Round-table discussion with Chorti Indigenous Women’s Association in Copan on struggle over traditional land rights and land tenure; cultural rights; access to basic services, access to justice
Field Visit to the Ceremonial Center (commonly referred to as Copan Archaeological Park)
Mayan-Chorti Spiritual Ceremony
Round-table discussion with Pech Indigenous women at Moradel community on sustainable agriculture; advocacy on land tenure; ancestral rights and cultural rights
Round-table discussion with the Garifuna Women for the Development of Mira Monte and Sta. Rosa de Aguan (community hardest Hurricane Mitch). This round-table discussion focused on building community resilience, sustainable agriculture and economic empowerment
Round- table discussion with La Planada community on access to basic services and agriculture
Round-table discussion with organization New Dawn, a self-help groups of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS on responding to HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health
Garifuna cultural and spiritual Ceremony

Aboriginal Canadian participants in the exchange were:

Alex Luke, Youth Outreach on Sexual Health from the Aboriginal Women Resource Center
Faye Dewar, Social Worker and Community Organizer of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women
Jessica Yee, Founder and Director of Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Patricia Lamouelle, Aboriginal Program Coordinator for the Centre for Northern Families
Tiffany Bulmer, Youth Outreach Coordinator at the Centre for Northern Families