Randarian Princess of Wisdom

Must Explore Discovering a Sustainable Critical Revolutionary Pedagogy! Buddhist meditation, Mahamudra, Overcoming Samsara: Renunciation is not a wish to abandon our family, friends, home, job, and so forth and become like a beggar; rather, it is a mind that functions to stop attachment to worldly pleasures and that seeks liberation from contaminated rebirth.NEW UPDATE FROM ZAPATISTA... WITH RISING FOOD COSTS MILITARY TARGET FOOD OF VILLAGES...WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Excerpt of update: Mexican troops and police threaten food supply in La Garrucha

On June 4, 2008 some 200 Mexican troops and police engaged in aggressive actions against Zapatistas in the Patiwitz Canyon of the Lacandon Jungle.
Specifically the heavily armed military / police convoy entered the corn and banana fields surrounding Zapatista communities.

This threat to the communities' only food supplies provoked a desperate response by Mayan boys and girls, women, and men.

Schools for Chiapas supports educational projects in this region and can testify that the Zapatistas neither grow nor tolerate drugs. Using the false pretext of searching for marijuana plants, (I have been to communities here and most people are strongly Catholic and against intoxicants)
these actions of the Mexican government against the key Zapatista caracol of La Garrucha and nearby communities are extraordinarily disturbing.

The soldiers promised to return in 15 days; Schools for Chiapas believes the consequences of continued Mexican government provocation against the Zapatistas could be profound.

To people of conscience ~ Chiapas "Peace Observers" are Needed NOW!

As you see in the above article, there are ongoing and serious Mexican government provocations against the Zapatistas.

Peace Observers play an important role, especially in tense and potentially explosive situations. Most atrocities committed against indigenous men and (especially) women that take place far from the observing eyes of the outside world.
Your presence as a witness and an observer for peace helps prevent such attacks.

You can support the indigenous communities of Chiapas by joining a "Civilian Observation Brigade" and spending seven or more days of rustic living in a rural "hot spot" of Chiapas.
"Peace Observers" must be at least 18 years old, speak Spanish fluently, (I've done a little of this work not officially, and am not fluent, there are language schools nearby)and participate in a training sponsored by FrayBa Brigade Requierments (El Centro de los Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas) or CAPICE Brigade Requierments (Centro de Análisis Político e Investigaciones Sociales y Económicos).
(should have letter of recommendation from non-profit as well)
Your only expenses will be for transportation and the food you cook. Schools for Chiapas urges our supporters to consider contacting FrayBA or CAPISE and serving as a "Peace Observer" this summer in Chiapas, Mexico.
(Frayba is okay, I've spoken with them in Chiapas, and they seem to run a good organization.) "Brigadistas Civiles de Observación" están necesitados ~ AHORA! Tu puedes proteger los derechos humanos en Chiapas como un "Brigadista Civil de Observación" y tomar siete días o mas viviendo rústicamente en uno de los comunidades en peligro.

Revolution, Love...
Global and Local, love one another and love your mother, mother nature!Om Tara Tuttara Ture Soha!

Oaxaca.... ..
I have been to Oaxaca several times, and was taught Spanish there from the kindness of these teachers both at the Instituto de Cultural de Oaxaca, and by private tutors, who were teachers at the schools during the day, but had to tutor for food at night.

Teachers from here have continued to be in my life as friends. It is a great sadness that they should have to struggle against structural readjustments by World Bank which harm all teachers, all students, the world over, which is all of us.
We have come to a time in our history when we watch things we have known come before us in a different form.
May there be peace in the New Year. Feliz Ano!
May all the beings I have met in this beautiful place know peace and joy in the coming year.

Police and protesters fought outside the Oaxaca State University, protesters won
Rest In Peace - Emilio Alonso Fabian
Rest In Peace - Esteban Zurita Lopez

In Nicaragua, where I worked as a teacher, Food Security pressing issue.The cure is school farms which are subsidized and feed children a school lunch. Many families can not send children to school without school lunch, or the children will become to weak walking from school and faint.

Coffee interests in Nicaragua: This is an image of the CEO's of Starbucks meeting with local women
picking in the coffee fields for subcontracted haciendas (1000) for wages so low they can not buy milk for their babies, and live in shanties made with plywood and black plastic garbage bags.
They live in these for the time they are employed, because they come down from the mountains for the work and there is little transit, and no health care.
Worst of all they are only employed 3-5 months of the year, but if they get another job they are ineligible if they do not return the next year to work the harvest again.
I asked women about this repeatedly, and they said it was true,
if you got another full time job and missed a season, your place was gone, and you would not be hired back.

Whether you starved or not was of no consequence.
The happy woman in front I believe is not a worker but a graduate intern from university in agriculture. ..< a>For work on Nicaragua please view my blog or e-mail me directly for the homepage related to projects in Chaguitillo, Nicaragua.
From what I can tell there is a lot of prejudice still in the state department against Nicaragua because of the Sandinistas (the labor party) occupying 1/3rd of the government. This picture below shows children playing on an abandoned tank from the Iran/Contra war at the border next to a sustainable coffee planation, the toys of war are perhaps the only toys they have. This sounds dramatic, but it is true.
However, such pluralism is vital to any democracy.
Also, all development in Nicaragua must be sustainable to local communities and the ambiente naturale.


Other issues in solidarity for social justice and human rights:

..4>Solidarity Issue I.Immigration

500,000-1,000,000 protest possible immigration laws in Los Angeles alone

Student Walk-outs continue.
As many as 3 million children will be left by to fend for themselves while their parents are shipped away, after all the work their parents have done to be a part of this nation, is such a horror that the children have been leaving school and protesting in the streets.

..4> Solidarity Issue II. Chiapas Zapatista New Years Resolutions!
For a world where all the worlds fit
New Years Day 2006
Chiapas, Mexico

The Indigenous Mayan peoples of Chiapas, particularly women and children, are among the most marginalized and exploited communities on this planet. Obtaining access to sufficient food, to basic healthcare, and to a rudimentary education are still daily challenges for Mayans living in the Mexican southeast.

At this moment thousands of indigenous peoples from throughout Chiapas are returning to the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas. Schools for Chiapas is together with the communities celebrating their sacrifices, and their progress, in their ongoing struggles for dignity, democracy, and justice!

After twelve difficult years of insurrection, these visionary revolutionaries have returned to where they first became known to the world.
After twelve difficult years of living under the brutal terms of the North American Free Trade agreement, the Indigenous of Chiapas are launching a major new effort to join forces with people everywhere in order to make the world a better place for everyone! (The Other Campaign)

We deeply thank those who have already responded to our recent snail-mail fund appeal and invite everyone who receives this email to become a donor send a check or credit card to our offices at 1631 Dale Street, San Diego, CA 92102. www.schoolsforchiapas.org!

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Schools for Chiapas works hand-in-hand with autonomous, Mayan communities to provide support in education for literacy, education for health, and education for ecological-agriculture.

The need for schools and supplies; books and bikes; delegates and specialists; text books and equipment is only growing in the Mexican southeast