PSYDEH’s Global Giving Project Implementation Continues

PSYDEH’s “Fruits of Change” 2016-2017 project is funded by individual global citizens via our collaboration with the US foundation Global Giving. Our objective? Empower poor indigenous women (and men) to plant the seeds for the fruits of change they themselves harvest in their own local communities.

As highlighted in our JUNE 2017 VIDEO FIELD REPORT, we began project execution with the 3rd Regional Forum uniting over 200 indigenous women and men on how best to participate in Mexico’s electoral process (our excuse to continue crossing cultural and geographic boundaries).

Now, we launch the second action: incentivize our nascent umbrella network (Network) of four local indigenous women-led organizations (NGOs) to problem solve in their extremely poor Otomí-Tepehua region (Region) of Hidalgo, Mexico.

This action begins with our women consultant and anthropologist Rosa María Vázquez conducting appreciative inquiry with women leaders on where they stand, in their personal lives and as leaders of their organizations and Network, as well as whether and how PSYDEH is helping or failing them as trusted partner.  This work informs execution of forthcoming monthly meetings with Network NGOs during which women will prepare project plans for new pilot projects and early 2018 fundraising.

Lessons learned from Ms. Vázquez’s four-day inquiry include: (1) women partners want to produce projects that result in concrete benefit to themselves and their communities, (2) women need region-based permanent PSYDEH staff to provide consistent, intimate support to them and their NGOs, (3) PSYDEH needs to provide quarterly financial reports to women leaders to explain what we do “in the office” and how we propose to spend raised money, and (4) PSYDEH and women partners should explore new work policies on myriad issues including what we mean when saying “partner”, “collaborator” and “staff or how we link our work and the Network with other NGOs and government.