Cloudforest Initiatives
P.O. Box 16177
Saint Paul, MN 55116
651-592-4143
tomas@cloudforestmexico.org

Never Again a World Without Us, Voices of Mayan Women in Chiapas 

By Teresa Ortiz

We are happy to report that board member and co-founder Teresa Ortiz new book is available. Her book is a collection of testimonies from indigenous people throughout Chiapas.

Never Again a World Without Us, is the cry of indigenous people, and it is particularly the cry of indigenous women who are only just beginning to win spaces for equal participation in their own communities. Not surprisingly, the array of voices carries complex and intertwining messages. Some of those interviewed are supporters of the Zapatista movement, and all of them have been affected by it in some way. Some speak as poor people struggling for land and economic justice. Some speak as indigenous Mayans who want to preserve their traditional decision-making systems. Still others speak as outraged victims of violence. (Introduction)

To order, please send a check for $17.75 including shipping and handling to 
Cloudforest Initiatives
P.O. Box 16177
Saint Paul, MN 55116
651-592-4143
tomas@cloudforestmexico.org

What others are saying about Never Again a World Without Us:

CLOUDFOREST INITIATIVES is a small group of people, with quite limited means, who are carrying out some ambitious dreams. We have created a non-profit organization committed to assisting and supporting the efforts for peace, justice and integral development of the Maya communities of Chiapas. We welcome your support.

EDUCATION PROJECT

We organize travel seminars for people who wish to learn more about the Mayan people and their culture. Programs include language study, housing with a Mexican family, and a chance to explore and reflect on the movement for democratic transformation and civil rights in southern Mexico. We also offer volunteers the chance to live in a Tzotzil Maya community in the highlands of Chiapas, to share daily life, and work with the community in construction or other labor.

FAIR TRADE PROJECT

Many of the Maya of Chiapas are organized into self-governing collectives -- "autonomous communities" -- independent of a repressive government. In cooperation with the Mayan community of Magdalenas Chenalho, we launched a production-for-export project. We jointly built a large workshop there. After a year-long training course, community members manufacture handcrafted iron and wood bookshelves. To benefit the community, we will sell these fair trade products in the U.S. at fairs, bazaars and retail outlets. We also import and sell no-chemical coffee from the self governing autonomous communities.

INFORMATION PROJECT

We publish a bi-monthly newsletter, utopias, with analysis of the ever-changing political situation in Mexico and first hand testimonies from members of the Chiapas communities. We produced and distribute the English version of the highly acclaimed documentary Victims of the War in Chiapas. We coordinated and accompanied a U.S. tour by two internal refugee Tzotzil Maya members of Las Abejas, the group massacred at Acteal. The tour of seven U.S. cities raised over $6,000 for the Mayan refugees.