Brima Sheriff, Director of the Sierra Leone section, dancing with community in Mapaki ©Amnesty International
The drive back from Kambia to Makeni was beautiful. There is green grass for miles, with tropical trees and rushing rivers. We passed many villages on the way with people selling snacks.
A heavily pregnant woman sold me some bananas when we stopped – we were still miles away from Makeni, where the main hospital is. I dread to think what would happen to her if she had complications.
We got back to Makeni at midday today and had an NGO partner meeting shortly after to discuss longer-term plans. We identified three main areas to focus on in the longer-term including the monitoring of health systems, working with local communities on empowerment, information and human rights education and campaigning activism. They all work on issues surrounding these areas and are planning to incorporate maternal mortality in their work.
Continue reading ‘Joining in the dancing in Mapaki in Sierra Leone’
We have come to the end of the World Social Forum. It has been a very interesting journey for all members of the Amnesty delegation. We have gained a lot of inspiration from the sheer amount of people present in the Forum and the true diversity of its participants.
We have met with individuals and organisations and identified points of convergence in our thinking as well as discussed possibilities of future collaboration. Through our stand, we have amplified Amnesty International’s voice; we reached out to hundreds of people.
Above all, we have worked together, eighteen Amnesty International delegates and friends, as one Amnesty.
Below, some of the reactions of two representatives of the Indigenous Community of Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa. They participated in a workshop organized by Amnesty International and Civicus and told their story to participants.
Albino Gomez, Yakye Axa:
“What I liked most today was the participation of many people in the workshops and I am really happy with their interest in our case. They have also signed a petition to the Government of Paraguay requesting our ancestral lands back.
Continue reading ‘WSF2009: “The solidarity will help us a lot”’
29 January 2009: Amnesty’s delegation participated in several workshops at the UFPA (Federal University of Pará) and UFRA (Federal Rural University of the Amazonia). The UFRA holds most of the thematic tents including the Human Rights tent and the Indigenous Peoples’ tent.
The representatives of the two indigenous communities of Yaky Axa and Sawhoyamaxa from Paraguay joined a workshop/forum organised by FIAN and HIC, two organisations working on the right to food and right to housing, called human rights and struggles over land, habitat and the environment.
Continue reading ‘WSF2009: Participating and accomplishing something’
28 January: We got to the site of the UFPA (Federal University of Pará) early that morning to set up the stand. The site is enormous and very well organised. The river draws a natural boundary in the east – the view is very pleasant, you can get on a little boat and visit the nearby islands.
The stand was set up in about an hour and the response has been great from the start. A good selection of Amnesty’s work is presented there and the petition and action post card on the two indigenous communities of Yaky Axa and Sawhoyamaxa who seek to recover their ancestral land has gained excellent support.
Continue reading ‘WSF2009: Setting up and getting started’
