HAPPY HOLIDAYS

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US AT HESPERIAN!!!

Partner Profile: el Comité Fronterizo de Obreras

Long-time Hesperian partner, el Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (Border Committee of Women Workers), a grassroots organization in Mexico that supports union democracy and workers rights, has redesigned their very useful website CFOmaquiladoras.org. Their unique website contains information straight from the maquiladora (factory) workers themselves, many of whom take great risks to report what goes on inside their factories.

With support from the CFO, thousands of maquiladora workers have won significant victories, including: substantial wage hikes; improvements in working conditions; election of rank-and-file activists to local union executive committees; severance packages for laid-off workers that meet the requirements of Mexico 's labor code; and restoration of benefits that have been withdrawn by maquiladora firms.

Despite these victories, maquiladora workers are still facing many challenges to their human and labor rights. This excerpt from a recent CFO letter highlights some current concerns:

In Mexico, 2006 was a year of great political turbulence....[W]e have seen again and again that Mexico’s civil society and our country’s poorest communities are no longer willing to accept the status quo. Many struggles are continuing across Mexico to defend the vote and defend democracy in our country, following the stolen elections of this past July. We are also very worried by the violent occurrences in the state of Oaxaca, one of the poorest areas of our country. The demands raised by Oaxaca’s teachers and communities are thoroughly legitimate. Despite the many hardships they face, the people of Oaxaca are leading the way for all of us by standing up for their dignity. We can only hope for a speedy return of calm—and for our government to understand that the people of Mexico are no longer willing to accept this kind of injustice.

CFO was one of our earliest partners and most steadfast collaborators on Hesperian’s book-in-progress, A Factory Worker's Guide to Organizing for Safety and Health, CFO has reviewed drafts and contributed stories to the book. Several chapters of ‘Work dangers and solutions’ are currently available for free download on Hesperian’s website.

Hesperian Gifts of Health

As we enter the holiday season, instead of getting another tie or sweater, why not tell your friends and family that this year you'd like a gift that will bring good health to a community somewhere around the world?

Hesperian Gifts of Health are a great way to share the spirit of giving—these life-saving health books will spread good health all year round!

Hesperian offers 4 different Gifts of Health options with a range of costs: Rural Health Gift, Women’s Health Set, Disabled Children’s Health Set, and Hesperian Library Gift Set. It’s easy--simply click to our Gifts of Health page to find out more, including how to order.

• The buyer gets an acknowledgement and our thanks.
• The honoree gets an illustrated gift card saying that a life-saving Hesperian book or set of books was sent in her or his name to a community that desperately needs them.
• The community gets a resource that will be used throughout many holiday seasons to come.

Thank you for joining with all those around the world working to achieve Health for All. And whatever holidays you are celebrating – we wish you joy!

Hesperian attends the 134th American Public Health Association annual conference

Three Hesperian staff members attended the 2006 APHA conference in Boston, Mass November 4-8. As usual, we had a booth in the massive Exhibition Hall, which we shared with Doctors for Global Health. It’s always a pleasure to be at the Hesperian booth, as hundreds of fans and supporters come by to share their stories and news of their work with us. Our friend Mohammad Shahbazi came by with the soon to be released Farsi version of Where Women Have No Doctor  he has been translating. A returned Peace Corps volunteer told of how she used our books successfully to diagnose and treat countless villagers during her service abroad in Africa, despite her complete lack of prior medical training. Another woman who works in Latin America told of how our water and sanitation booklets have transformed a number of villages she’s been working in. And a huge number of people were thrilled to see our distribution of other classic titles that we’ve added to our stock, such as Training for Transformation and From the Roots Up. All in all, we did a lot of outreach for Hesperian, gained a plethora of new contacts, fortified existing contacts, and distributed a lot of books and materials!

Additionally, PHM-US (People's Health Movement - US) gathered for a working meeting to plan for the upcoming USSF (US-Social Forum--June 27-July1, 2007). We committed to contact our networks to help organize sessions at the USSF that will highlight social justice issues, bring together US activists, and build the People's Health Movement-US. We discussed having a PHM activist training that would run through the USSF, and a fundraising strategy to raise money for low income activists. If you are interested in knowing more or getting involved contact Tawnia Queen at phm@hesperian.org.

Sarah Shannon, Hesperian's Executive Director, spoke at a well-attended session about the Global People's Health Movement and PHM's Right to Health platform. She discussed two new PHM campaigns: the campaigns for the Right to Healthcare and the Right to Water. The Right to Healthcare Campaign is being launched in 15 countries around the world. It will focus on the increasing privatization of healthcare services and ways in which this denies access to basic healthcare services for poor and marginalized people in every country -- from the US to India to Egypt to El Salvador. The Right to Water Campaign, based on the belief that access to safe and sufficient water is a critical determinant of health, calls on health activists to participate in Blue October organizing activities. The Campaign also addresses the privatization of water resources and the need for governments to provide clean water as a fundamental human right. In addition, PHM is asking for submissions to and participation in the development of the 2007-2008 Global Health Watch. The 2005-2006 edition of this book is being distributed by Hesperian.