translation to original post by: Asha
http://chiapas.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=153340
“Una cosa son las palabras, pero hay mucho trabajo detrás”
Primer dia, encuentro de mujeres zapatistas con las mujeres del mundo.

In these last few days of December 2007, the 3rd Encounter of the Zapatistas with the People of the World, the 1st Gathering between the Zapatista Women and the Women of the World, is taking place in the Caracol "Resistance Towards a New Dawn" (La Garruca, Chiapas). "As we have here these yellow, black and white maizes... we are very happy too to be so many and so different, but one single humanity" summarized Commander Rosalinda. Walking around the Caracol, you can meet different women involved in different struggles, Women in Black, women Promoters of Health and Education in indigenous communities, women from the Front of the People in Defence of the Land, from Via Campesina, Zapatista women, women from the Other Campaign, little boys, little girs, and young women from all over the world and also men. Although men, according to the gathering's organizers, don't participate in the plenary on this occasion, because the voice is that of the women. During the first day the work of the women from the Caracoles of La Garrucha and Morelia has been explained. One of the ideas that has been highlighted the most is that they are women and communities in resistance who are not thinking to leave the land recovered in the 1994 uprise because of the pressure from the para-militaries they are under at the moment. Women explained the struggle to make their voice heard and to put their rights into practice. As a compañera Zapatista said " put in words it seems very simple, but behind it, there is the work and the tears of many women". Each Caracol has been represented in the interventions of Promoters of Health and Education, of the Good Government Council, of grandmothers, mothers, children, women married and single, women responsible for collective work, from the Agrarian Commission, Commanders and Insurgents of the EZLN and other compañeras. Many of the elder women knew the life in the master's estate plantation where they were forced to work under extreme conditions, without food, without education and health care and where they were even sexually abused. They told us how this situation changed from 1994 onwards because, as they said, "we realize that as women we have the same right to learn and to defend ourselves". Education is for them a basic necessity, one of the Zapatista's demands. They suffered in their own flesh how in governmental schools their native language and their identity were rejected: " ( what they tought us ) ... are the ideas of other people who don't even know how we live" - said a Promoter of Education from Morelia. It is for that reason that many women are getting the skills to become Promoters of Education and together with the others are coordinating the training centre and they are developing an autonomous education for everybody, based on comradeship, respect and equality where their own culture, language and identity are respected. " The autonomous education was borned for all the children and for all the men and women. Many poked fun at us for being Zapatistas and because we were ignorant, but we were not discouraged. We want our word as children and women taken into account, we deserve respect from everyone, now as women we know it, we do not want to return to the scorn, the humiliation and oblivion", explains a promoter of education from Morelia. A young compañerita in the panel responds to a question from a woman from "civil society" about the relationship between parents and children in respect to education, she said " our parents encourage us to make an effort in school". Some of the most emotional moments of the day were the participation of the girls in the different plenary sessions where they explain how it is their struggle, as little girls. one of the girls from the Caracol La Garrucha said: "Now i am going to talk to you about my life. I am 8 years old. as a girl y have the right to do whatever i want. To study in the school. My parents encourage me.I have a right to play, to dance, to take walks thanks to this struggle and to our elders, to change life amongst humanity. I know the reality, these right will be my best weapon to fight in the future. Sometimes in my school we can't get the resources, my parents work to get them. We don't take the crumbs from the bad government. Health promoters emphasized the need of better resources for the specific attention of women. Mortality of women during labour, and because of complications before and after labour, as well as due to cervical uterine cancer used to be more frequent before the 1994 uprising, the promoters continued, saying that this was due to peoples ignorance of women's heath, of the lack of resources to reach the government's hospitals and the bad treatment they got when they arrived there. She also explained how, frequently, men didn't pay attention to women's pains, until they where too bad and there was no longer the possibility of a cure. In traditional child birth women where treated by the midwives who usually didnt have access to equippment and medicine in case of difficulties. When a girl was borned the midwife was paid less than with a boy as it was considered that a girl was less valuable. A great part of the health promoters work consists in informing women on how to look after themseves before and after child birth but also about nutrition and sexual health. The promoters use both traditional medicine as well as the biomedic medicine they might have available. One of the women from the Good Government Council of the Morelia region, talks about the need for female health promoters so that women can have access to it " it is important that there are women in health so that the women aren't ashamed ( no tengan pena ) to be treated" in the micro clinics and houses of healh that have been built in zapatista territories everybody that needs it is cared for, they don't reproduce the same discriminatory treanment they used to get and do get in the hospitals. " Our duty as women is that there are more women participating" said Ofelia, from the Good Government Council of Morelia, Heart of Hope's Rainbow. " Our comunities have chosen us to look after the collective and communal interests, a good government that obeys, which looks for equalitarian development". Women who hold positions as authorities ( positions of responsability towards the autonomous municipalities, the good government councils, etc ) try to promote women's participation at all levels " we need compañeras involved in production, to be on the radio , that on education there are educators so that they hold closer relationships with the girls there are subjects specific to women. They are in charge of carrying out the work so that there is equality on each work area. If we don't do it, Who will? One of the compañeras from the la garrucha caracol, talking in the name of single women said: " Even when we dont know how to read and write, we have knowledge to share. The courage and our contribution as single women, we don't want to continue to be exploited and we are going to fight for our rights as women "