Strengthening the voice of indigenous communities and helping them to improve their livelihoods is a major focus of CAFOD’s work in Mexico.
In the impoverished southern region of Chiapas, nearly six out of ten children are malnourished. The scarcity of education and employment opportunities has led to high levels of youth migration and an escalation of political instability in the region.
Here in Chiapas, CAFOD works with a Jesuit organisation called Fomento Cultural y Educativo (Cultural and Educational Promotion). For more than 25 years, Fomento has worked with the indigenous Mayan population to help them gain a greater voice in Mexican society and politics.
Working with a network of 80 community leaders, Fomento provides leadership training and educates communities about the deeper underlying causes of political, social and economic inequalities. Fomento encourages grassroots organisations to act as a platform for people’s participation in their own development, as a means to achieving positive and peaceful change.
The celebration of Mayan culture and spirituality is a key value underpinning Fomento’s work. Mass is celebrated in local Mayan languages and the recovery of forgotten traditions is encouraged in a culture that is struggling to survive as young people leave in droves for the cities.
With CAFOD’s support, Fomento runs community health programmes and adult literacy classes and encourages local farmers to form agricultural cooperatives so they can increase their income.
“Fomento gives us the capacity to unite so that our voices can be heard,” says coffee farmer Vicente Gómez Gutiérrez. “They are helping us to stand up for ourselves.”
