We hope this letter finds you well.  We would like to share with you some of MuJER’s accomplishments and successes, both of which have been made possible with your support of our efforts.

Establishment of our Community Empowerment Center in February 2009

In just over three years, MuJER went from offering literacy classes in the women’s work rooms at the La Linea red light district to opening a multi-service community center to serve female sex workers throughout Guatemala City.  MuJER’s Empowerment Center offers semester-long educational and vocational courses, as well as short-term self-esteem, leadership, and anti-violence workshops.  Our Center also provides a safe place for the women to meet, relax, and build constructive relationships with other sex workers.

Creation of Educational and Vocational Opportunities

MuJER has worked with more than 300 different women sex workers in Guatemala.  In the last two years alone, we have worked with six women in basic literacy and 17 women have participated in accelerated elementary school program (grades 1-6).  Six women have received their sixth grade diploma.  We have had 70 women participate in our vocational programs (computer classes, cosmetology school, jewelry-making, basic English, and embroidery).  We currently have waiting lists for vocational classes and are hoping to expand our capacity to meet demand.  We have begun a hand-made jewelry business to provide a source of alternative income for women sex workers.  In addition, we have provided scholarships to women from our community for vocational training and have subsequently hired these women to teach classes at the Empowerment Center.

Empowerment of Sex Workers through Personal Relationships

When we first arrived at La Linea, the women viewed us with skepticism.  Day after day, MuJER’s two staff members visited the red light district and earned the women’s trust.  As the relationships developed, the women opened up to us, revealing their real names and personal stories.  A MuJER staff member continues to meet weekly with the women of La Linea, and this year we expanded our services to include personal visits with women at a second red light district, El Trebol.

With the trust developed through these weekly visits, MuJER engages its participants to speak up for themselves, to develop positive relationships with other sex workers, and to organize as a community to advocate for their rights.  We have encouraged leadership development and have trained women to speak at forums and events that address violence against women, prostitution, and human trafficking.  It is often through MuJER that Guatemalan sex workers become active in promoting their rights for the first time.

Our Goals for 2010

In 2010 we are hoping to rent one more classroom for our community center, which would enable us to offer a wider variety of classes to the women.  We are also planning to double the number of anti-violence and self-esteem workshops we offer.  In addition, we are in the process of developing a lending library for the women so that they can borrow books and read to their children at home. This program will be accompanied by “Mommy and Me” Reading Workshops at the Empowerment Center. We also intend to increase the number and variety of handicraft classes we offer and to assist the women in developing small businesses.  We will continue to help Guatemalan sex workers organize on behalf of their rights and we are currently attempting to reform anti-prostitution legislation which has victimized, rather than assisted, the women of our community.

Please visit us at www.mujerguatemala.org to take a look at our new website, learn more about our programs, and become more involved in support of our cause.  Thank you again for your support.  We hope you agree that your donations have been put to good use and that you will continue to support us in the future.

Sincerely,

Jodi Finkel, Ana Moraga, Tania Torres

Founders, MuJER

In addition, we were awarded a $1600 grant from the Open Meadows Foundation. The grant will provide funds to conduct three workshops on Guatemala’s Anti-Trafficking Law as well as to continue with our weekly “travelling workshops/personal visits” at three red light districts in Guatemala City. We use these workshops to go door-to-door at La Linea, El Trebol, and Parque Concordia. With these visits, we maintain trust with the women, are made aware of their immediate needs as well as their long-term aspirations, and can also educate them about their legal rights, emotional health issues, sex worker concerns.

Our past financial awards include:

Cordaid (2009) $13,000

Starbucks Innovation Fund (2009) $15,000

Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (2008) $500

Global Fund for Women (2008) $5000

Mama Cash (2007) 10,000 Euro

Urgent Action Fund (2007) $4627

Democracy Council (2007) $1000

Youth Action Net Award (2007) $500

Jesuit Community of Loyola Marymount University (2006) $1000

Dean’s Office, Belarmine Collge, Loyola Marymount University (2006) $1000

Much of our programming—including semester-long educational and vocational courses as well as short-term self-esteem and anti-violence workshops—takes places at our Empowerment Center . The Center, located in a colonial house in downtown Guatemala City (not far by bus from several red light districts), includes a communal area, a class room, a courtyard, and a small office. Our Center provides a safe place for the women to spend time, relax, discuss their needs, and build constructive relationships with other women sex workers. It also serves as a home-base from which we can educate women about their rights and help them organize to address their collective concerns.

While working with the women of our first red light district, La Línea , we noticed that although the women were bettering their skill sets through our programs, they were hesitant to consider alternative employment opportunities because they did not believe that they deserved a better life. Since low self-esteem also means that women are unable to stand up for themselves or to speak out against the discrimination, abuse, and violence they face every day, we realized that we needed to help women sex workers develop a sense of self-worth and a belief in their right to enjoy a better life. We see this happening at our center every day.  In fact, is often as a member of “MuJER” that Guatemalan sex workers become active in promoting their rights as well as the rights of others in the sex worker community.

Upon our arrival at La Linea, we were viewed with skepticism; the women doubted we would stay more than a few months and therefore were not interested in participating in our literacy program. Day after day, MuJER’s two staff members visited the red light district and earned the women’s trust. As the relationships developed, the women opened up, revealing their real names and personal stories. A MuJER staff member continues to meet weekly with the women of La Linea, and this year we expanded our services to include personal visits with women at two other red light district in Guatemala City, El Trebol and Parque Concordia.

With the trust developed through our personal relationships with individual women—and with the support of our partner organizations— we have been able to encourage sex workers to stand up for themselves. Women from our community have participated in national and international events and forums related to the rights of sex workers, legislation affecting prostitution, and domestic anti-violence campaigns. MuJER also offers group workshops on violence prevention as well as leadership development programs to train sex workers to speak out on behalf of their rights. We are creating a local advisory council, composed of the women themselves, to help with the development of new programs.

In February 2009, MuJER opened its community center, called the Empowerment Center, where we offer semester-long educational and vocational courses, as well as a series of workshops. We have provided scholarships to women in our community for vocational training, and have subsequently hired these women to teach classes at the Empowerment Center. The Center provides a stable and positive base from which we can educate women about their rights and help them to organize to address their collective concerns.

Paola Hernandez, MuJER’s Jewelry-Making Instructor and a Guatemala native, was born in San Antonio Suchitepequez.  She left San Antonio when she was very young to work as a housekeeper until 2004, when she started working as a sex worker.  In 2006, Paola began the elementary school program at MuJER, and since then she has taken many courses including the beauty and computer skills classes.  Since joining MuJER, Paola’s life has changed in the sense that she thinks positively about everything.  She finished elementary school and MuJER gave her a scholarship to study jewelry-making, a craft she greatly enjoys.  In November of 2008 Paola stopped working as a sex worker and instead focus on her new goals of graduating from nursing school, working as a nurse, and receiving her high school diploma.
Paola now works full-time with OMES (Organización de Mujeres en Superación), where she has worked since March 2009. With OMES she works as an educator, conducting workshops on human rights and self-esteem.  Paola has a ten-year old son and is very proud to be a mother.