Lakota Lands Recovery Projects, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota: Assisted with forest management plans; provided outreach and mapping support for home weatherization initiatives; adopted seven buffalo, sold 600 lbs of bison meat at Winter Markets and distributed another 600 lbs of meat to the elderly plus taught programs to dozens of youth about the spiritual connection with the buffalo. Earth Tipi: Built a house using reclaimed pallets and petitioned Congress to maintain funding for tribal housing; planted a fruit orchard of 30 trees. Peruvian Amazon Indigenous Support Network: Initiated petition to Maple Energy to address multiple oil spills and inadequate clean-up in two Shipibo communities; supported flood relief efforts (thousands of Shipibo families experienced losses of homes and crops); supported land demarcation projects; partnered with Engineers Without Borders on clean water/renewable energy project. Empowering Youth Cambodia: operated three schools serving 350 children from slum communities in Phnom Penh; provided medical and dental care and 33 scholarships (19 at university,14 in high school). Sarada Group of Development Initiatives in West Bengal, India: grew 10 women-owned micro-enterprises, involved 5 women groups in plantation projects on barren lands, assisted with 100 children attending school, saw attendance in literacy campaign increase by 50%, provided health and nutrition training for women and families. Currently, we are planning to expand our support to Maloca, working in Ecuador with indigenous peoples in Amazon basin on strategies for defending cultural rights to land in the face of oil and gas extraction; Village Care Initiatives in Sierra Leone, dedicated to caring for widows and orphans with the resources they have on hand; Living Roots, Baja working to protect the endangered Ranchero culture of Baja California Sur, and Jenzera in Colombia and Dineh Voices of the People, both groups advocating for civil and human rights and protecting cultural self-determination.
Spring II Session
GSLL 1517 – Community-Based Organizing
Taking a practical “hands-on” perspective, this course will explore the theories, tools, styles and challenges of community-based organizing. It will discuss practical strategies for developing community leadership and working with marginalized communities, exploring the ideas and examples from Evo Morales, Paulo Freire, Saul Alinsky, Sub-Comandante Marcos, the Bridge Immigrant Rights experiment and Martin Heidegger.
