MADRE Programs in Guatemala

MADRE and the Barcenas Committee

MADRE has worked in the Barcenas community in Guatemala City since the early 1990's. In 1997, inspired by their work with other MADRE sister organizations in Guatemala, a group of women from Barcenas decided to form their own organization—the Barcenas Committee—to respond to the needs of women who work in the maquilas (sweatshops) in their neighborhood. MADRE began to work directly with the Barcenas Committee in 2003.

Through MADRE's THREADS (Training for Human Rights Enforcement—Advocacy, Documentation and Support) program, the women of Barcenas are learning to document and combat human rights abuses in their workplaces and communities. This innovative program addresses the need for a stronger connection between international human rights advocacy and the daily lives of survivors of human rights abuses. Women are learning to identify and minimize occupational health hazards and build a social network needed to sustain a struggle for worker rights.

The program addresses women's human rights issues on and off the factory floor, offering family planning counseling and condoms to women in the community. MADRE has also supported the production of a popular education manual for maquila workers to enable them to better understand their rights in the factories. In addition to working with THREADS, MADRE supported the Barcenas Committee"s installation of water filters to bring clean drinking water to the Barcenas community.

MADRE supports health fairs in Barcenas, Villa Nueva, and Las Morenas (a community devastated by mudslides in October 2005). The initiative provides more than 100 women with pap smears for early detection of cervical cancer and vaccinates dozens of children. Recently, a delegation of MADRE members delivered donations of books and school and art supplies to the MADRE-supported Children's Book Corner in Barcenas, an underserved, unplanned community on the outskirts of Guatemala City.

MADRE also conducts workshops for the Barcenas Committee on developing the Committee's programs and building the organization"s capacity in planning projects, reaching more women and gaining visibility for their work.

The Rigoberta Menchu Tum Organization

MADRE works in partnership with the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Organization to support Indigenous rights in Guatemala and worldwide. Over the years, MADRE has provided support for Demanding Accountability, a program that supports legal challenges in cases of politically motivated violence against Indigenous Peoples and human rights activists.

In the upcoming year, MADRE will work in partnership with the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Organization to develop Escuela para Padres, a parenting-education and health project for Indigenous Peoples in rural Guatemala. Through this innovative, integrated education program, 50 families who survived Guatemala's long and brutal civil war will receive training in early childhood development and education, to better understand and meet their young children's needs, as well as the healthcare services to which they currently lack access. Topics covered will include nutrition, prevention of common childhood illnesses and infections, parental participation in children's education, prevention of drug addiction and fathers' participation in childcare.

The school will operate in tandem with a new clinic in the same building that will provide healthcare services to 1500 Indigenous families.