CASA ATABEX ACHÉ

S I S T E R S O N G

This collective aims to facilitate equal representation, intercommunication, and mutual support among sixteen women of color organizations nationwide that are raising awareness and conducting advocacy around the issue of reproductive tract infections. SisterSong consists of four "mini-collectives" representing African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Native/Indigenous American, and Latina communities. One organization from each community serves as the anchor – first among equals – to assume administrative responsibility for the mini-collective. As the anchor organization for the Canción Latina community, Casa assumes the responsibility for facilitating its public education and policy advocacy agenda in the Latina communities of Mott Haven, New York; Oxnard and Oakland, California; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

C A N C I O N L A T I N A

Although reproductive health advocates tenaciously maintain their efforts to preserve and expand women's rights to quality health care, sexual autonomy and freedom from violence, the unique ways in which such rights elude low-income women of color remain inadequately addressed. The struggle for women's reproductive awareness and access -- from lobbies to rallies -- undoubtedly continues. However, so does its failure to secure gains that reach all women, obtaining victories enjoyed primarily by white and/or middle-class women while the numerous barriers to low-income and/or women of color persist unchecked. Thus, while the storm of reproductive health advocacy has not waned, its eye -- wherein the most vulnerable of women reside -- remains dangerously silent.

In 1998, several women's organizations in the eye of the storm formed a collective to promote the reproductive rights of women of color in the United States and Puerto Rico. The SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective consists of sixteen members: four organizations for each of four communities of women of color: Black/African American women; Hispanic/Latina women; Native American/Indigenous women; and Asian American/Pacific Islander women.

Canción Latina (Latina Song), the Latina mini-community of the SisterSong Collective, includes:

Casa Atabex Aché, a grassroots, community-based organization in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx that provides a safe, culturally-centered space for women and girls to work individually and collectively on women's health and wellness through education, counseling and referrals;

Grupo Pro Derechos Reproductivos, a coalition of 17 diverse groups in Puerto Rico -- feminist organizations, human rights groups, family planning service providers, and the women's commissions of various political parties -- that provides education in sexual health and human rights;

National Latina Health Organization, a national advocacy and education organization and resource center based in Oakland, California that promotes Latina health interests at the local and national levels as well as provides health information and referral services; and

Women's House of Learning, a grassroots, volunteer organization in Ventura County, California that offers outreach, education and support to Latinas who are incarcerated, abusing drugs or alcohol as well as conduct outreach and education to undocumented Latinas about California's health policies.

The members of Canción Latina share and support one another's efforts to increase awareness and reduce the incidence of reproductive tract infections (RTIs) among Latinas. Toward this mutual goal, Canción Latina sought to collect, add and document information on the health concerns, attitudes and behaviors of Latinas throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico. The result is a policy brief which also offers recommendations for crafting programs and policies that are responsive to Latinas' reproductive health issues. Any agenda for reproductive health advocacy that fails to incorporate them not only remains incomplete but also poses a serious threat to many of the women it claims to champion.

For more information on Canción Latina's policy brief please contact us by Email phone or mail.

V I E Q U E S

To participate in a struggle is a conscious decision. We can stand by idly watching injustice or read newspapers and discuss our outrage or we can do something. Doing something was the decision of a group of 28 women from California, New York, Puerto Rico and Vieques in response to the abuses of the US Navy against the peoples of Vieques, Puerto Rico.

The group of women healers organized and facilitated over 50 women participants in a weekend healing retreat. However, this activity did not occur spontaneously. It was the culmination of a series of events which led to the incredibly successful January 2001 retreat for women in Vieques.

On Three Kings Day, in January 2000, six women (including Esperanza Martell, Yolanda Rosado, Dona Rosa Escobar and the actress Rosie Perez) were arrested in New York City as they protested the injustices of the US Navy in Vieques.

In April of the same year, a group of 25 women from New York went to Vieques as a sign of support. The group of women (of the Evelina Antonetty Brigade) spent the better part of a week in the restricted zones. They were hosted by the Vieques Women’s Alliance and forged a strong connection with the women from Vieques organizing against the US Navy. Before returning to NY the two groups of women, Evelina Antonetty Brigade and the Vieques Women's Alliance, met to strategize ways to continue the bond of solidarity. An appeal to work with the women surviving cancer was requested. Thus the group departed with a commitment to return to fulfill the request.

In New York, California and Puerto Rico there were four organizations working together as part of a Ford Foundation funded initiative addressing the reproductive health needs of women of color. Grupo Pro Derechos, the Women’s House of Learning and Empowerment, the National Latina Health Organization and Casa Atabex Aché decided to conduct their biannual meeting in Vieques. This gathering would blossom into an incredible assembly of healers returning to Vieques to make good on the promise to work with the women cancer survivors and those at risk.

Over the course of 3 days over 50 women from Vieques took part in a healing retreat learning ancient curative and therapeutic techniques which would complement their medicine. Targeting women diagnosed with various forms of cancer, the retreat aimed at moderating the negative impact of conventional treatment for women surviving cancer in Vieques, Puerto Rico where there is a lack of adequate funding for medical care. Without this project the women are relegated to obtaining treatment through conventional medicine, which is obtained through an hour-long ferry ride (each way) to/from the main island of Puerto Rico. Chemotherapy, radiation surgeries, and the strong drugs given to the women to combat the cancer have many short and long term possible side effects which include nausea, vomiting, pain, fatigue, hair loss, anemia, constipation, diarrhea etc. Over the counter drugs are used to address the side effects.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)--also referred to as integrative medicine--includes a broad range of healing philosophies, approaches, and therapies. A therapy is generally called complementary when it is used in addition to conventional treatments. Complementary therapies in the healing retreat were used in an effort to prevent illness, reduce stress, and prevent or reduce side effects and symptoms. The methods of complementary therapy used included mind/body control interventions such as visualization or relaxation, manual healing including massage, yoga and Reiki, and emotional release which are gaining more acceptance.

The primary objective was to provide and teach the women about complementary medicine grounded in an African/Caribbean/Indigenous context. The goal was to arm the women with knowledge and skills for self and peer treatment/counseling. In this way we fostered self-confidence and counter the conditions of helplessness and isolation in being treated for cancer in seclusion with limited medical and social support services.

The secondary objective was to do something. To actively support a struggle that awakens the moral obligation to “auyudar el projimo”. There are many ways to support the Vieques struggle. The healing retreat was one way we chose to realize our support as a group. We may choose to get arrested - as the women did on Three Kings Day. We may take part in protests, we may donate money, we may write about Vieques to educate others, we may send letters or call our elected officials, etc.. As the US Navy reactivates its commitment to continue the bombing we must also commit to struggling against the injustice. What we decide to do so is our choice – the point is to do something.

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