In an effort to correct the extreme inequalities documented above, RED WIND COUNCILS was formed by four concerned individuals in the U.S. as a grassroots not-for-profit organization providing support to the indigenous Maya of Chiapas, Mexico for sustainable development projects independent of any political or religious affiliation. Over the past several years we have been fortunate to receive grants from the Levinson Foundation, James H. Woods Foundation, the Sayler-Hawkins Foundation, the Rudolf Steiner Foundation, One Heart Many Rhythms & others to help with self-sufficient projects.

Our project funding includes, but is not limited to:

For years, Red Wind has been building alliances with the Maya, creating a core of strength & sanity despite their extreme poverty & oppression. Red Wind, based on the ancient indigenous councils of the Medicine Wheel ways, models respect for & conservation of the Maya legacy to create a more just society, especially for the children who are the true hope of all. We welcome everyone in the quest for a restoration of balance in ourselves & our world through sustainable projects & cultural renewal initiatives with the indigenous Maya.

THE COMING FACES:
Providing Hope & Skills for Urban Maya Youth

Red Wind Councils has helped many rural Maya communities over the years. We are pleased now to be expanding our efforts to a project for urban indigenous youth through collaboration with a very effective but under-funded local organization. At their center in San Cristobal de las Casas the dire needs of the working street children & teenagers of the city are being addressed in a variety of creative ways.

Urban Maya Youths in Jeopardy

In the last two decades many Maya families have left the rural areas & gone to the cities of Chiapas, most particularly to San Cristobal, driven out by government reprisals, religious conflict or economic migration, only to be greeted by extreme poverty, abuses & continuing discrimination. The most tragic & far-reaching consequence of this is that their children are robbed of their childhoods. Sometimes rejected by their parents who are completely unable to care for them, sometimes running away from intolerably violent family situations, too many children, some as young as four years old up to seventeen, are living on the streets & eking out a living as best they can with cruelly limited resources.

Most of the children work long twelve hour days selling things in the streets or providing services such as shoe-shines. They are ill-nourished, spending a bit of what they earn on bread & drinks, or living off garbage, & having to pay for the use of public toilets. Many have no roof over their heads, with only a flattened cardboard box for a bed & blanket. Their harsh living conditions, deprived of nourishment, education, love, recreation & creative expression, are cruelly compounded by the painful realities of living on the streets. There they are vulnerable to being cheated or robbed of their meager earnings, being caught up in gang fights & delinquency, rapes of both girls & boys, glue sniffing & other drug use, & kidnapping for the sex trade or the organ market.

This local NGO was founded in 2008 to provide a refuge from the abuses confronting children on the streets. Here, working street children are given a place to rest, shower, eat a nutritious meal, study & play. Most importantly the children are accepted, loved & respected through various educational & recreational programs, such as:

• Literacy
• "Open" Elementary & High School where equivalency classes are offered at the student's own pace
• English classes
• Art & recreation programs where pleasure, enjoyment & creativity are fostered along with fine & gross motor skills & cooperation & collaboration
• Vocational & practical skills are taught such as computer literacy & proficiency, landscape & vegetable gardening, financial skills, as well as use of the library for research & reading for pleasure
• Self-care skills such as nutrition & hygiene, cooking & baking, & sexual education
• Medical attention

 

Hope for a Brighter Future

Red Wind Councils offers vital support, both financial & technical, to help ensure that this amazing resource remains available to the marginalized working street children of San Cristobal. With the expertise we have been developing working with the rural Maya communities, we are funding the building of a greenhouse to grow vegetables not only to feed the children who come there, but also to sell to the larger community to help sustain its ongoing efforts. With this project the children are learning cooperation, autonomy, responsibility for themselves & for helping to keep their doors open.

The consequences of the unimaginable deprivations & abuses suffered by the children are devastating & can be life-long & on every level: physical, emotional, mental, & spiritual. Red Wind Councils has entered into this collaboration to help this work of healing these severe woundings. The emphasis in all interactions is on respect of self & others, courtesy, caring for oneself, the environment, & others, gratitude, joy, & self-confidence in one's ability to creatively & collaboratively solve problems, & perseverance in reaching goals. The love & care that the children receive here have helped them to get off drugs, become less aggressive, grow more aware of their fellow children, to have more respect for adults, & to have more of a sense of courtesy & kindness toward both. Their education here gives them much broader prospects for their futures & also helps them to understand their rights as citizens so that they will not be so easily taken advantage of. Together we are proving the hope that dignity, happiness, & a better future are possible.

To help & make donations, contact us or click on the Donation link at the bottom of the page. Please be sure to let us know that you would like your contribution to be designated towards this project.

 

 

The Spirit of the Maya

Top