Alicia Ruiz, Trickle Up technical team, native Tztozil-speaker: I have been working for 10 months. We started working in September 2022.
My name is Alicia Gabriela Hernandez Ruiz. I’m from San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.
My native language is Tzotzil. This is a great opportunity because it has allowed me to work with Trickle Up.
Patricia Velasco, Trickle Up technical team, native Tzeltal-speaker: We monitor women’s participation in savings groups.
My name is Patricia Gomez-Velasco. I’m from San Cristobal de las Casas, but my family comes from Chanal. I learned the Tzeltal language from my grandmother.
Magdalena Gutierrez, Trickle Up technical team, native Tzotzil-speaker: Participating in this project has helped me strengthen my native language.
My name is Magdalena Natividad Gutierrez Gomez. I am originally from Yabteclum in the municipality of Chenalho, and I speak Tzotzil, which I have developed more in this job.
Aurelio Diaz Lopez, Trickle Up technical team, native Tzotzil-speaker: Spanish is my second language and I am learning it little by little. Right now, I don’t speak 100% like a native speaker, but I am making an effort.
My name is Aurelio Diaz Lopez. I am from Chamula, and my native language is Tzotzil.
Gabriela: When we arrive in a community, we begin the targeting process. It is important for us to speak with the men [in the community] to understand how their wives can participate.
Aurelio: From there, there are leaders who do not give you permission to speak to people, especially women.
That’s how strict they can be in some Indigenous communities.
Patricia: And in these communities, what we see is that women don’t have the agency to say, “I will participate in this.”
Usually, they emphasize the agency of the men, and women get left in the background.
Gabriela: There has always been this gender issue, where ‘the weaker sex’ are women, and sometimes they underestimate us.
But coming to and being in front of women’s groups, and forming women’s groups has been something very interesting. very important, and has, personally helped me a lot.
Indigenous women who hail from our project areas in Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico, support Trickle Up in facilitating projects and connecting with target communities across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. This region is known for having some of the highest levels of poverty in Mexico, and Trickle Up works closely with community leaders to best deliver programs that maximize impact and sustainable solutions.
Indigenous women from Trickle Up’s savings groups in Chiapas discuss how they feel, what they anticipate with saving and building their businesses, and their hopes for the future.
Indigenous women from Trickle Up’s project areas in Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico, recount how the FUERTE project has affected their lives and their observations on how their relationships and communities are transforming.
