Gender Equality Mexico Project #43868

Young Indigenous Women Empowered with Basketball

by IDEAS INFORMACION Y DISENOS EDUCATIVOS PARA ACCIONES SALUDABLES, A.C.

Young Indigenous Women Empowered with Basketball

Project Report | Jun 29, 2020
JUNE REPORT 2020

By Andrea ML | Project Leader

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Young Indigenous Women Empowered with Basketball

After having started our activities with lightning tournaments in the communities of Nuevo San Juan Chamula and Chenalhó, Chiapas, with more than 60 girls participating, we have had to take an indefinite pause in our activities due to the covid-19 pandemic.

In the month of March, the Federal Government of Mexico, together with the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Public Education and the local Governments and Institutions in the state of Chiapas, announced emergency measures due to the appearance of the first cases of covid -19.

The main measures were to suspend all non-essential activities, including school and extra-school activities, since these favor the agglomeration of people and thereby increase the possibility of contagion. In the same way, it is recommended to stay at home, go out only for essential activities such as acquiring food, carry out hand washing with soap and water frequently, the use of obligatory mouth covers and keep distance between people.

It is undoubtedly a difficult situation that the world is facing and the communities in Chiapas are no exception. That is why we decided to accept and respect the measures that the authorities indicate, hoping to return little by little but with health to our projects.

For now we maintain contact with indigenous youth who have internet access in their communities. However, we hope that in the month of August we can fully reactivate our project with indigenous youth through basketball. Faced with the panorama now more than ever we believe that this sport can empower and promote healthy habits.

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Mar 2, 2020
FEBRUARY 2020 REPORT

By Andrea Morales | Project Leader

Report
Young indigenous women empowerment through basketball!

IDEAS Ch’ieltik is a Civil Society Organization that for 10 years has been working for the rights of children and youth of indigenous peoples of Chiapas to strengthen their capacities through training, cultural and artistic activities with a rights perspective.

On this occasion we are very happy because thanks to your support we have started a new dream: to strengthen more young women from the state of Chiapas.

Our activities have already started:

In the municipality of Chenalhó we had our first lightning tournament, in which 40 girls from the Technical High School participated, in eight teams. This tournament was held on the main court of the municipal capital of Chenalhó, we have the assistance of mothers and fathers, as well as the total student community. After a day full of emotions, they won with a score of 36 to 14 “Las Águilas Negras”, a team of 15 young people from first grade of secondary school.

As Our work is carried out in 5 micro regions located in Los Altos and La Selva Chiapaneca, where communities with the lowest Human Development Index are located. The activities are facilitated by the “Semillero Team”, (young indigenous educators who carry out direct work in the communities, from the Mayan, Tseltal, Tsotsil and Tojolabal cultures), that is why in Nvo. San Juan Chamula, municipality of Las Margaritas, also was hold the first tournament, where 4 teams participated, with a total of 24 players from 109 High School, where the final score was 32 to 26.

The objective of these first activities is to strengthen women, supporting them to make use of public spaces within their communities, due that In Chiapas, women's conditions are limited in their access to education, health and recreation. Women from an early age must engage in housework and be prepared for the fulfillment of the role of being mothers. This situation has a bearing on the high rates of teenage pregnancy and marital unions at an early age, a phenomenon that in many cases arises from negative cultural practices such as the sale of girls and adolescents, the normalization of sexual abuse and gender inequality.

That is why, we find sports as a tool that improves development and physical well-being and strengthens leadership, teamwork and companionship. However, in Chiapas, the lack of public spaces conditions the access of young indigenous women to practice, not to mention that in basketball or in any other sport the presence of men prevails. As far as the next basketball activities is concerned, the winning teams of each of the tournaments will be followed up and trained to improve their basketball skills, leadership workshops so they can manage their own spaces and empower themselves.

Next month the tournament will be held at CECyTe 18 in Chenalhó and the Rufino Tamayo Telesecundaria Escuela de Nvo. San Juan Chamula, and then, we will start with the training of these Ch’ieltik teams.To achieve our goal of empowering more than 50 indigenous young women, we need to form basketball teams and provide them with professional sports advice to increase their skills, in addition to the acquisition of the necessary sports equipment and the rehabilitation of the courts in community and school spaces within the regions of Los Altos and La Selva, in Chiapas.

With your donation, we will continue to strengthen the indigenous youth of Chiapas. Your contribution is very important!

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