From the Central American region, there are 18 compañeras participating, from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica. The group also includes the participation of delegations from allied organizations to the March such as: Amigos de la Tierra (El Salvador and Costa Rica), Convergencia Sindical (Panama), Vía Campesina (Honduras), Movimiento de Mujeres del Campo MMC-ATC CLOC- Vía Campesina (Nicaragua) and Schafik Hándal Institute (El Salvador). From El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala we bring some voices that summarize the participation of the NCs and partner organizations that make their lives in Central America.
Guatemala: Feedback and greater knowledge
The NC from Guatemala is embodied by Alianza Política Sector de Mujeres (APSM), an organization that unites 32 organizations of women, feminists and indigenous peoples around the defense of the body-land territory, the emancipation of women and peoples, and the transformation of the system. Currently, four compañeras from the APSM participate in the educational process of the Berta Cáceres Feminist School WMW Américas – Abya Yala. They are: María Velásquez Xón, Maya K’iché, member of among other spaces in the sector, of the space of Mayan and Xinka women, a space for analysis, discussions, debates and proposals that contributes to the construction of a project of Utz kaslemal’ ki k’e ixoq’i, (Good Living of and for Women), Maudy María Ucelo Jiménez young Xinca woman from the community of La Paz de Santa, María Xalapan, human rights and land rights defender, who focuses her work on the prevention of violence against women, girls, young people and adults and Isabel Sáenz, member of Luna Association of Midwives of Huehuetenango. For the compañeras of APSM, participating in the school has afforded them “feedback and increased knowledge about systems of oppression, which becomes a greater commitment in the daily life of our community and organizational work." In addition, the school is that space where you find the diversity of views of the women of the continent, affirming the plurality of women we are and that despite the distances there are coincidences in our problems, this knowledge, according to the Guatemalan participants, strengthens our identity as WMW Américas. The compañeras of WMW Guatemala highlight that despite the limitations imposed by being virtual, the facilitation and methodology are adapted to the profiles of the participants and the contents are accessible to understand and discuss. The participants from Guatemala agree that “The exchange of worldviews and diverse struggles enrich us, give us hope, joy and give us elements of identity and belonging to this anti-systemic struggle to advance in the emancipation and transformation of realities from our situated knowledge and practices. At the end and completion of this process we hope to continue strengthening organization in the territories of Abya Yala - Américas and to continue to dialogue and collectively debate our proposals for transformation”
Honduras- Vía Campesina: Feminist and popular methodology.
Among the participants from Honduras is Wendy Cruz, militant in Vía Campesina and part of Plataforma 25Nov. Wendy defines herself as a peasant feminist fighting for food sovereignty and for all people to have a life free from all kinds of violence. For Wendy the School has been a rewarding experience that has allowed her to learn feminist and popular methodology and new knowledge, she highlights the impact she felt in the group work that revealed the interweaving of systems of oppression and how they act on the lives of women, territories and nature. Wendy is already working on the socialization of knowledge and practices shared in school, in this regard he shares with us: “I hope to put into practice the knowledge and learning acquired in our commitment to training the Margarita Murillo School in Honduras and in the Articulación de Mujeres (Women’s Caucus) of LVC Central America in our project to build an identity construction of Peasant and Grassroots Feminism.”
El Salvador: Tools to reach more women
Asociación Movimiento Salvadoreño de Mujeres (Salvadoran Women's Movement Association) is a feminist organization, founded on February 26, 1988, with the main goal of promoting women's rights in the countryside and the city. The Salvadoran NC participates with Idalia Margarita Martínez Vásquez, Territorial Organizer in the Department of Usulután, Jenny Morales, social organizer of MSM, Tania Libertad González, Psychologist of the Association and Ana Cecilia Hernández, Planning and Project Coordinator. The compañeras agree that the school provides them with tools that they can use in the territories and that it is a very enriching space of knowledge, in the words of Tania Libertad: “The experience has been very rewarding, given that in the debates we have been able to realize that the situation of women is similar in different countries, therefore, it gives us reason to continue articulating efforts and reach many more women, in the same way, knowing the types of leadership and actions of the other participating colleagues is very enriching; in methodological terms I have managed to acquire new knowledge and methodologies for my action in the territory.” Schafik Handal Institute: Popular education to continue building The allied Organization Schafik Handal Institute participates with two compañeras of the collective of educators. The collective has been working since 2015 to preserve the political legacy of the Salvadoran leader Schafik Handal and organizes theoretical and practical conferences from the pedagogical political approach of popular education, with militant women and men from social, political, feminist, student, labor union and community organizations, based on: inclusion, debate and Marxist analysis, gender equity, the environment, solidarity, feminism, social struggle, historical memory and collective and voluntary work. Alejandra Bonilla points out that in the Institute "we seek to hold political education from an analysis of the concrete reality as a working class, without neglecting the creation of a mística (mystique/spirit) of collective work… popular education to continue building social awareness and sensitize in the different struggles for the construction of a more just, equitable and harmonious society with our mother earth; to be a militant and a popular educator with a conviction and commitment to defending life.” Miriam Díaz adds to the description of the work that is done by the collective of educators and popular educators: “A fundamental aspect is historical memory, that is why all the formative processes incorporate a critical historical look that helps us to understand the today to transform reality in a revolutionary way.” For Miriam, participating in the school is a source of joy: “The School offers us a critical and deep look at our realities, but also presents us with alternatives such as feminist economics that challenges each participating organization and enriches our spaces”