Month: March 2018

Human rights defenders Consuelo Soto and Pedro Landa protest against human rights violations in Honduras

Posted on by Nate Radomski

Diseño sin título (15)

On March 13th and 14th Honduran activists Consuelo Soto, environmental defender and leader of the indigenous tribe Tolupán, and Pedro Landa, researcher, human rights defender and member of ERIC-Radio Progreso, visited Madrid. This visit took place within the framework of the intense advocacy and media work carried out by ALBOAN and Entreculturas-Fe y Alegría Spain regarding the political and social crisis that Honduras is facing following the elections held on November 26, 2017.

ALBOAN and Entreculturas organized a variety of meetings with political representatives to denounce, with first-hand information, the serious human rights violations which are currently taking place in Honduras with the objective of building support from Spanish institutions and society.

Pedro Landa told members of Congress about the democratic crisis which is building up in Honduras since the coup d´état in 2009 ,and which ultimately led to the reelection of president Juan Orlando Hernández after elections held in December last year. In addition, he denounced the brutality of the police and other serious human rights violations that took place during the peaceful demonstrations in the post-electoral period. To this end, he referred to the recent report issued on March 12th by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Honduras documenting at least 22 civilian deaths during the post-electoral period, of which 16 were violent deaths caused by shots fired by security forces.

Consuelo Soto denounced the activity of the extractive industries in Honduras, which carry out their projects without the consent of local communities and which provoke great harm to the population and the environment. She also reported her tough personal experience as a land rights defender in Honduras: “I believe that all human beings deserve to be respected. They killed my husband and everything remains in impunity. After that, I had to flee for my life, but I continue to defend the Earth. My people are fighting and I will continue to do the same”.

Landa and Soto also had the chance to meet with representatives from the Human Rights Office and the International Cooperation Directors of Latin America and the Caribbean of AECID (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Consuelo Soto y Pedro Landa ended their visit with an internal conference directed to Entreculturas staff and volunteers and with interviews with the press.

This visit forms part of the actions implemented by Jesuit and Ignatian-inspired institutions around the world, such as the Latin American Conference of Provincials, the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the U.S., Fe y Alegría, the Xavier Network, and Ignatian Solidarity Network, just to name a few of the many standing in solidarity with the people of Honduras.

“Fe y Alegría is what we need to catalyze the change we want.”

Posted on by Nate Radomski

Diseño sin título (9)

I had the privilege to attend Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, a top quality Jesuit institution in Caracas, Venezuela. The integral education I received made me cultivate a powerful connection with the value of excellence, as well as a profound commitment to service and a strong appetite for becoming a factor of change in the troubled environment that surrounded me.

Being part of the Ignatian community allowed me to appreciate the work of Fe y Alegría very closely. Every once in a while, we received sets of raffle tickets that we had to sell to contribute to the organization. When I was a child, I did not understand the purpose of this, but as I got older I understood the great value that this small grain of sand had in the most marginalized areas of society. Nonetheless, it was in ninth grade that I fully grasped how meaningful and important the labor of Fe y Alegria really is. That year, I had the opportunity to participate in my first exchange activity in one of their rural schools, Padre Román, located about three hours from Ciudad Bolívar. I spent a week there with students from different indigenous ethnic groups, engaging in their daily routine and sharing unforgettable moments of work and recreation. The barriers that divided our society were suddenly broken. This interaction made us understand that even though we come from very different backgrounds, at heart we are all the same. We share the same ambitions and therefore we deserve to have the same opportunities.

The wonderful experience I had at Padre Román motivated me to continue exploring this universe, which led me to sign up to go to Mérida to visit San Javier del Valle the following year. Again, I was amazed by how those seemingly small contributions from the raffles were being transformed into a stimulating environment of growth. San Javier is a truly sustainable farm school, where students from all over the region learn about conventional subjects and at the same time prepare to enter and adapt to the workforce. The school provides them with all the necessary tools to become competent professionals, by allowing them to develop skills through specialized courses in areas such as agriculture, metallurgy, electricity, textiles, and plastic arts. I was so grateful for the kindness of the people and the good vibe of those mountains, that when I was offered the possibility to visit again in my senior year, I did not hesitate.

It was through these three activities that I realized Fe y Alegría is much more than just education. This organization goes beyond and instills essential values to form holistic and engaged citizens. These students have goals, aspirations, and desire to work to achieve their dreams. More than that, they have the eagerness and the passion to become positive leaders in their communities. The more I spoke with them, the more I recognized how fundamental Father Vélaz’s vision was.  Honoring his legacy, I am more convinced than ever that, in this divided world, supporting initiatives like Fe y Alegría is precisely what we need to catalyze the change we all want.

[Blog post by Luis Ravelo, former Colegio de San Ignacio de Loyola de Caracas student.]

6th Global Meeting of the Youth Solidarity Network

Posted on by Nate Radomski

Diseño sin título (8)

In mid-February, the 6th Global Meeting of Entreculturas-Fe y Alegría’s Youth Solidarity Network took place. 280 participants came from 9 countries where Fe y Alegría is located, as well as from the Autonomous Communities in Spain where the Network is present joined together; the 6th Global Meeting was a huge success in terms of participation, content and collective construction.

The theme of the meeting brought youth, teachers and companions to a world in the year 2030, where all the Sustainable Development Goals have already been fulfilled and where a peaceful, sustainable and egalitarian environment served as a guide throughout all of the workshops and activities.

The closing ceremony had exciting testimonial moments from the participants.  Marta, a teacher from the Youth Solidarity Network in Seville claimed: “I take from this gathering the energy to engage other colleagues, other teachers in our educational spaces with the idea that these kinds of spaces provide great potential for social transformation, not only in our daily lives, but also related to global realities.”

“We are really different but I think that the things that unite us are much bigger than our differences and those things are the concerns and dreams we have. I think this experience has given us the opportunity of looking into the eyes of people like me, who are outraged but feel responsible for promoting change. We are not alone and there are many of us who want to change things”, said Irene, a member of Entreculturas’ Youth Solidarity Network in Alicante.

Álex from Venezuela, concluded “in my opinion this gathering has provided me with a ‘before and after’ in my life, because despite the distance between countries, cultures and beliefs…, we are closer in what we believe and a problem that we think is unique in our countries, in our environments, becomes general when we are united through a network. That network encourages us to grow, to learn from other cultures, to become stronger every day and to be able to achieve everything we set out to do”.

Ramón Almansa, Director of Entreculturas¸ closed the Meeting with an invitation to the youth: “Stay outraged. What is happening can’t happen, it is truly outrageous. Create channels out of your indignation in order to change things…You can help yourselves through contacts in networks, with your participation, including initiatives in your educational centers, with demonstrations, charity runs, with La Silla Roja… Indignation must be channeled, but you shouldn’t lose it, because being outraged is your major strength.  Make yourselves visible, make your voices heard: you have many things to say.”

The gathering closed with a special tribute to the group of 40 young volunteers over 18 years old who once formed part of the Youth Solidarity Network and who facilitated workshops and spaces, organized and collaborated throughout the course of the meeting with an enormous sense of responsibility and commitment.

International Meeting of “Red Generación 21”

The meeting also served to announce the International Youth Gathering of Red Generación 21, where almost 80 youth and companions participated from Fe y Alegría countries: Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru, Italia, Dominican Republic and Colombia. The first day focused on how Red Generación 21 can collaborate in the building cultures of peace and what this has to do with the construction of global citizenship from and for young.

Jessica García, spokesperson of Red Generación 21, head of Non-formal Education at Entreculturas¸ explained: “This year the Gathering is really special, as it is a milestone in a long journey: the Youth Network “Generación 21” in which 21 countries with the presence of Fe y Alegría are participating. We are a global movement. A movement of youth that act together to transform our world. This has been the dream of Entreculturas since our Youth Network was created in 2001, it was small at the beginning, but has grown till today. It has also grown at the international level through “EntreEscuelas” [Connected Classrooms] and much can be enriched in this new stage”.

Juan Pablo Rayo, coordinator of Red Generación 21, added: “Red Generación 21 is a proposal for the articulation of young men and women from 21 countries, which are motivated by the need to transform situations that generate violence in their different manifestations. At the same time, it is a conscious answer to increase the possibilities of real change from our indignation about unacceptable aspects and our commitment to transformation”.

The Gathering was attended by the heads of the Ibero-american Youth Organization, and through their interventions, young people learned about the work of this organization as well as the opportunity to participate in proposals developed by the IYO along with young Ibero-Americans to be presented before November 2018, when the Summit of Presidents and Young Ministers of all Ibero-American countries is going to be celebrated. The IYO invited Red Generación 21 to participate in this journey to have an impact on government authorities that are responsible for developing youth policies in Ibero-American countries.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Meeting and who offered all their enthusiasm, desire and commitment into building global citizenship that drives a more egalitarian, sustainable, and peaceful world.