ICF establishes a binational partnership with the Oaxaca Community Foundation to launch the OAXACA FUND INITIATIVE campaign
In September, the International Community Foundation (ICF) and the Fundacion Comunitaria Oaxaca (FCO—Oaxaca Community Foundation) launched a two-year binational fundraising campaign, The Oaxaca Fund Initiative to support FCO’s programmatic initiatives and the work of other Oaxaca-based nonprofits addressing the needs of indigenous communities in five of the most marginalized areas of the state. The initiative is being supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation.
Thanks to the support of various funders from both the United States and Mexico, including the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, Fundemex, Indesol, and other individual donors, $135,460 dollars has been raised to date, all of which will be matched on a 1:1 basis by the Ford Foundation.
Oaxaca is Mexico’s second poorest state after Chiapas. As such, migration to other parts of Mexico and the United States has increased drastically over the last ten years and continues to increase, and with no surprise. A quick review of Oaxaca’s availability—or lack of, basic services in healthcare, education and employment opportunities is enough to understand why migration continues to increase and why people are easily influenced to take part in political upheavals as the one Oaxaca experienced in 2006 thru 2007:
Oaxaca is Mexico’s second poorest state after Chiapas. As such, migration to other parts of Mexico and the United States has increased drastically over the last ten years and continues to increase, and with no surprise. A quick review of Oaxaca’s availability—or lack of, of basic services in healthcare, education and employment opportunities is enough to understand why migration continues to increase and why people are easily influenced to take part in political upheavals as the one Oaxaca experienced in2006 thru 2007:
- Over 76% of its residents live in extreme poverty, lacking basic necessities such as food, water, education and healthcare (national average: 42-45%).
- 22%of the population is illiterateand 45%have not completed a high school education.
- Approximately 90% of all indigenous teachers do not meet the requirements of an essential academic background.
- Compared to a national average of 26%, only 5% of Oaxaca’s indigenous population reaches a middle or higher education, with a ratio of 15 women to 1 being men.
- One woman dies every 48 hours of cervical-uterine cancer.
- There is only one hospital bed per 1,000 residents.
- While Mexico City registers 18 deaths for every 1,000 infants under one year of age, the municipality of Amoltepec in Oaxaca’s Sierra Sur reports 103 deaths for every 1,000 infants under one year of age.
It is estimated that an average of 1 million Oaxaqueños (25% of the state’s total population) has now migrated north, with the majority living in California, otherwise known as “Oaxacalifornia” by Oaxacans living in the golden state.
As with other migrant communities residing in the U.S., Oaxacans have strong linkages to their communities of origins. A drive thru Korea Town in downtown Los Angeles and a walk thru the Zocalo (town square) in Oaxaca City, demonstrates how several Oaxacans have established successful binational businesses promoting Oaxacan products, thriving both in Southern California and in Oaxaca, the “mercado de la nostalgia” (nostalgia market) as it is known. Unfortunately, unlike other migrant sending states such as Zacatecas and Michoacan who hold such close working relationships with their state governments to channel their funds effectively for infrastructure development projects in their home states, the people of Oaxaca do not have this advantage. The majority of Oaxacans are skeptical of their government, which is one reason why the famous “3x1 Program” that has been very successful in Zacatecas, for example, has not thrived in Oaxaca.
As such, ICF and FCO are committed to developing joint strategies aimed at encouraging Oaxacan migrants in the U.S. to support community development and productive employment opportunities in their communities of origin through non-government alternatives. Together, ICF and FCO secured the support of the Ford Foundation to provide matching funding to help spur the The Oaxaca Fund Initiative. We believe that the only way to cultivate productive and healthy communities, curtail out-migration, and build democracy in regions like Oaxaca is by fostering grassroots economic development opportunities in the most marginalized and remote areas of the state. We hope that you will join us in our effort to build healthier communities for Mexico’s most marginalized peoples.
To learn more about the Oaxaca Fund Initiative, please visit our website at http://oaxaca.icf-xchange.org/. Or to learn about other philanthropic opportunities in Oaxaca, please contact Julieta Mendez, Program Officer at Julieta@icfdn.org
