The Zapatista women of Chiapas, Mexico, are in need of medical resources and training, and a local group is coming to their aid.
The Escuchame Rugir Collective - which means "hear me roar" in Spanish - has hosted a fundraising dinner for the women for each of the past five years.
This year's event will be held at St. Francis Xavier Church on Saturday. The collective asks for a $10 donation for tickets, which can be picked up at the Peace and Justice Center at 202 Harvard Drive S.E.
Donations will pay for medical supplies for the indigenous women who were involved in the 1994 Zapatista rebellion.
Sandra Ortsman, a UNM alumna and member of the collective, said the state of health care for these women drastically decreased after the insurrection.
"If you know anything about the Zapatista uprising ... one of the things that they did was they threw out all of the government programs, which were all basically health and education programs," she said.
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Ortsman said the Zapatista women have since decided to reach out to procure their own money and medical supplies.
The collective hopes to raise $3,000 for its cause, Ortsman said.
Ortsman said the Zapatista women want to fight the discrimination they encounter at public hospitals.
"When women in Chiapas go to the public hospital, they're treated really poorly because there's so much racism and classism against indigenous people," she said. "It's a really disrespectful experience, and being able to control the health of the community is really empowering and positive and affirming in the community."
Lisa Sanderson-Fox, an organizer of the fundraising dinner, trains health care providers who are deployed throughout Chiapas.
She said the event will fund women's health care in particular.
"The money specifically is going into a fund that we will bring to them so that they can actually have money to pay for the lab fees for doing Pap smears and for their birth kits," she said.
Cecilia Chavez, a volunteer at the Peace and Justice Center, has traveled to Chiapas several times in the last five years.
"As soon as I get into Chiapas, I can feel the energy. It's the best place," she said. "We are providing them an opportunity. We're helping them get empowered about their own bodies and be independent."
Christine Eber, an associate professor of anthropology at NMSU, said she will bring fair-trade arts and crafts to the dinner and speak about her recently published book, Women of Chiapas: Making History in Times of Struggle and Hope.
The event also includes a posole dinner and silent auction, which will feature jewelry and other donated items, such as gift cards for massages and food from Il Vicino.
The musical group Felix y Los Gatos will perform from 6 to 7 p.m.
"I really hope people come out, and what's great about this project is that it presents a model that we can all look to, of a community of people that have ... reached out to other people, establishing autonomy and self-determination," Sanderson-Fox said. "I think we could all benefit from a little bit of that."
Saturday
St. Francis Xavier Church
801 Arno St. SE
4 to 7 p.m.
