The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), Berkeley CA, has worked for 25 years to provide on-the-ground humanitarian aid to children in the Middle East. MECA’s MAIA Project was launched in response to a vote by the Student Parliament at the UN Boys’ School in Bureij Refugee Camp, Gaza. The students were given the opportunity to choose one thing they most wanted for their school: They chose to have clean drinking water. The water crisis in Palestine continues to worsen particularly in Gaza where desalination plants were bombed in Israel’s Operation Cast Lead assault in 2008/2009.
Working in partnership with community organizations in Gaza MECA’s MAIA Project has provided clean water to 14 large UN schools in Palestinian refugee camps and to 13 kindergartens in refugee camps, towns, and villages. The systems are funded by grassroots organizing efforts in the USA.
The MAIA Brigade painted 8 murals at 8 of MECA’s Filtration Systems. These are just a few here. To See more photos: Click-MAIA MURAL More information and our blog:www.Maiamuralproject.org
Come out n Celebrate the Completion of 5 of the 10 Water Writes Murals hosted by the Estria Foundation! Muralists who traveled to Hawaii, Palestine, and the Philippines will share their videos, photos, and stories.
The MAIA MURAL PROJECT will be a series of collaborative murals focusing on environmental justice, specifically water or ‘maia’ in Arabic. We will work with youth and artists in Gaza to paint murals at sites of water purification units that the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) is installing at UNRWA schools and kindergartens. The quality of water in Gaza has been eroded, particularly in the Israeli assault of 2008-9, creating a severe health hazard to which children are most vulnerable. In addition we will work on two large-scale public murals that will address the issues of the universal right to water and international solidarity. To read more about this humanitarian crises please see: http://www.mecaforpeace.org/project/maia-project.
The MAIA Mural Project joins the ESTRIA Foundation’s Water Writes Project and will be the 10th mural in a series of projects in 10 cities around the world in 10 focusing on the universal right to water. The project is also sponsored by MECA, Break the Silence Mural Project, the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice and the Gaza Community Mental Health Programe.
The MAIA Mural Project is the Gaza part of “A Tale of Two Cities- The Olympia-Rafah Mural Project” located in Olympia WA. These projects make connections between struggles and movements for social justice around the world.
You will be able to see our work as it unfolds on our blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. We will also be uploading video and interviews with our Palestinian partners, giving you a real sense of what we are experiencing and whom we are working with. This extensive documentation will become part of a growing global conversation about resources, water, solidarity, cross-movement building and non-violent resistance to oppression.
On March 30th 2011, Evergreen YAYAs, along with the Evergreen Labor Center, Center for Community Based Learning and Action, and four academic programs, sponsored a panel on farm worker justice. With over 175 people in attendance, the event was a great success and served to raise campus awareness about farm worker justice, immigration reform, and the rights of undocumented workers.Patricia Vasquez represented Inmigrantes Unidos de Shelton and spoke about issues concerning immigrants in the South Sound. Hilary Hacker spoke about the importance of being an immigrant ally and the function of Bridges Not Walls; a coalition of community members in Olympia and Shelton working solidarity with the immigrant communities in our area to promote human rights, economic rights, and civil rights for all people.Arturo Sepulveda, a union organizer with UFW in Eastern Washington, made the long drive along with Jesus and Remaldo Larias, two workers from Ruby Ridge Dairy. The workers report a climate of fear and intimidation at their jobs. They are forced to work overtime which they are not paid for, aren’t allowed lunch or bathroom breaks, and do not have clean water provided to them. Last year Remaldo was fired along with 9 other men for circulating union cards- which a majority of the workers signed. UFW and NFWM have been involved in talks with the owners of the farm that have not yet lead to any resolution.The student response to their speeches was overwhelming and we are now just waiting to hear from the workers how they would like us to support them.- Jenny Lee, Olympia- Washington
The conference includes two days of networking, panels and workshops at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. Panelists will address the current situation in Israel/Palestine, strategies for justice and peace, the growing international campaigns for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and cross-movement building. Local and national organizers will facilitate workshops to educate, motivate and provide tools for community organizing.
Alice Walker
Solidarity in Action Featuring
Keynote Presenter: Alice Walker
Scheduled workshops and events include:
Human Rights and Strategies for Justice in Palestine/Israel
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaigns & Grassroots Organizing
Organizing with the Olympia Rafah Solidarity Mural Project
Cross Movement Building
Social Networking as an organizing tool
Report Back on Trial in Israel by the Corries
Celebration with music and dancing Sat. evening in Downtown Olympia
Buffet lunch on Saturday included in the cost of registration
Co-sponsorship Opportunity
If you or your organization is interested in co-sponsoring this years conference, please contact Becca Pilcher. Co-sponsorship opportunities are available at the following levels. Download the co-sponsorship form here.
Friend of the Foundation: $50.00 – $150.00 (Your name will be listed in the Conference Program.)
Partner in Peace: $150 – $350.00 (A black & white ad for your company will be placed in conference program, seen by up to 300 people.)
Ally in Action: $350 – $600.00 (The above perks plus one free ticket for the entire weekend including Alice Walker at the Washington Center.)
Harbinger of Justice: $600.00+ (The above perks plus an ad placed on the RCF website and in the Washington Center program viewed by up to 1000 people OR 2 Free Tickets to the full conference including Alice Walker.)
ORSMP’s own Hilary Hacker has been nominate to win a Students In Service Award!
All you have to do is VOTE for me and PLEASE spread the word through any networks you have… email, facebook… etc.
Hilary and ORSMP and Antioch would appreciate it sooo much! $5,000 for Hilary, $2,500 for Antioch, and $2,500 for the Olympia Rafah Solidarity Mural Project!
Check out this clip I created in order to document the community work that I’ve done since beginning grad school at Antioch University http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS_tggyP-U0. It’s only 3 minutes!
The Itisapartheid www.itisapartheid.org Collective and Stop the Wall http://www.stopthewall.org/ want to announce the winner of the Israeli Apartheid Video Contest.
Expert Panel Prize: Road Map to Apartheid
Palestinian Popular Jury Prize: Confronting the Wall (there were showings and voting in the
West Bank and Gaza)
Global Jury Prize: Ali Wall (from internet voting)
Overall Prize: Road Map to Apartheid
The Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project, co-produced by Break the Silence Mural and Arts Project and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, was made possible by the collective effort of more than150 groups and individuals–from local to global, from Olympia, Washington to Rafah, Palestine, from Turtle Island to Latin America to Sri Lanka and Indonesia to Derry, Ireland to Tel Aviv, Israel.
This multi-media project aims to build relationships across movements, cultures and great distances. It honors those who have lost their lives striving for liberation, and seeks to strengthen and make more visible the efforts of some of the many organizations and individuals who dare to imagine a different world.
Arturo Sepulveda, a union organizer with UFW in Eastern Washington, made the long drive along with Jesus and Remaldo Larias, two workers from Ruby Ridge Dairy. The workers report a climate of fear and intimidation at their jobs. They are forced to work overtime which they are not paid for, aren’t allowed lunch or bathroom breaks, and do not have clean water provided to them. Last year Remaldo was fired along with 9 other men for circulating union cards- which a majority of the workers signed. UFW and NFWM have been involved in talks with the owners of the farm that have not yet lead to any resolution.The student response to their speeches was overwhelming and we are now just waiting to hear from the workers how they would like us to support them.- Jenny Lee, Olympia- Washington
