Women for Justice, Education and Awareness
A Note to Our Donors Jan. 2010
Dear Supporter of MuJER,
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
This entry was posted on Martes, Junio 1st, 2010 at 19:06 and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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