CISPES Material Aid Projects for 2011-2012

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Supporting Resistance to Corporate Globalization and Building Popular Power This is an exciting moment of change in El Salvador, as the countryís first progressive government enters its third year. The Salvadoran social movement and FMLN continue to lead the struggle to challenge corporate power and US domination and to create people-centered economic alternatives and true democracy. The CISPES Education Fund is proud to be supporting the important work of our partners in El Salvador during this critical transition to build power from below! Please join us in fulfilling our commitment to raise $9,000 in support of women-led, worker-led, youth-led and community-based organizing. $3,000 to the FMLN Womenís Secretariat Women constitute the majority of the population in El Salvador and live with the problems of socioeconomic exclusion, violence, and marginalization. It is of primary importance for the FMLN Womenís Secretariat to support and strengthen methods, policies and strategies that promote the leadership of women, especially young women, in solving these problems. The main goals of the Womenís Secretariat are to promote womenís political participation and to empower women to assert their rights. These funds will support a series of leadership trainings and local assemblies across the country that will serve to build class and gender consciousness based on womensí analysis of their own experiences. $2,000 to the Salvadoran Union Front The Salvadoran Union Front (Frente Sindical SalvadoreÒo, or FSS) is a coalition of more than forty unions, founded in 2005 as ìthe working classí instrument for struggle.  The FSS strategy is to unite the growing organized labor movement in order to demand profound change to El Salvadorís economic model and justice system to favor workers over corporations.  These funds will support in-depth trainings for new union organizers to learn leadership, organizing and collective bargaining skills and El Salvadorís labor history. These trainings also bring new unions into the coalition, serving the long-term goal of strengthening El Salvadorís social movement, which is critical to breaking the eliteís economic hold. $2,000 to the FMLN Youth Secretariat Throughout El Salvadorís history, youth have played a crucial role at the forefront of struggle.  After decades of marginalization, violence, and cultural imperialism that has promoted individualism and apathy, it is an urget priority to re-integrate youth into political and social organizing. The FMLN Youth Secretariat is engaging with youth in San Salvador through artistic and cultural projects, for example silk-screening collectives and drum crews, which these funds will be used to support. In addition to bringing more young people into political spaces, the collectives promote young womenís leadership, provide professional skills and a source of income, and carry out activities for the cityís youth as an alternative to violence. $1,000 to Participatory Democracy Trainings in Mejicanos Mejicanos is a bustling working-class municipality outside of San Salvador where the local FMLN government has implemented a variety of participatory processes - from communal tribunals on public works projects to community consultations regarding residentsí priorities -- to guide local governance. Participating in a local, participatory democracy is intended to be an empowering catalyst for building popular power that can transform Salvadoran society.  These funds will be used to support trainings on how to carry out communal, democratic processes involving a wide-range of residents. $1,000 to Strategic Organizing Fund The Strategic Organizing Fund serves the important role of allowing CISPES to respond to the immediate needs that arise for the Salvadoran social movement. In the past, this fund has been used to finance emergency mobilizations, strikes, protests, picket lines and other mobilizations that are not included in the rest of the docket. Women-led projects, or that promote gender-consciousness, and actions that may not get funded by more mainstream sources will be prioritized.

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Meet some of the sustainers who power our work!

"I am a CISPES supporter because continuing to fight for social justice and a more people-centered country means continuing the dream and sacrifice of thousands of my fellow Salvadorans who died for that vision.” - Padre Carlos, New York City

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