Seven young San Francisco community organizers, representing the Filipino Community Center's ALAY program and Y-MAC (Youth Making a Change) in the Excelsior district, and the nonprofit POWER in the Bayview and Mission districts, will be traveling to the Philippines to take part in World Bridges' first ever delegation to the Philippines.
Delegates will have the opportunity to experience the rich heritage of Filipinos' struggle for social justice, by living and working alongside members of grassroots organizations, by taking part in political education events, and by collaborating on unique art and cultural works in Manila and in more rural parts of the country. The participants aim to bring back their experiences and lessons learned to share with their own communities back home, so that they can raise awareness of the Philippines' struggle, to forge solidarity between young leaders here in the Bay and in the Philippines, and to build bridges between grassroots efforts in both countries.
World Bridges delegates will be hosted by two community groups in the Philippines: Anakbayan and Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA). Anakbayan has, for over a decade, focused on organizing youth and students in the urban poor communities of Manila, to fight for their basic human rights. They use popular culture strategies - such as art and hip hop - to engage youth politically and culturally. Many of the Bay Area World Bridges delegates have deep experience in using such methods to engage youth in their home communities, and are looking forward to the opportunity of transnational collaborations using art and music to empower youth.
Since the 1980s, CPA has been fighting for the defense of ancestal domain and self-determination for and with the indigenous people of the Cordilleras (rural highlands) in the Philippines. CPA has engaged in various strategies including mediating tribal wars, stopping multinational companies frmo building treacherous super-dams or extracting valuable natural resources from the land, and teaching peasant farmers to work collectively and to break free from exploitative landlords. The World Bridges delegates will gain firsthand insight into how indigenous people in the Philippines can gain power through collective action, and how their struggles are connected to other indigenous' groups' struggles throughout the world.
Stay tuned for report backs from the Bay Area delegates' journey this fall, and for a celebration of their accomplishments at our annual benefit event in November. To learn more about the World Bridges delegates to the Philippines, click here.
World Bridges Travelers Are Back
Year-End Celebration
Saturday January 2, 2010
On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, World Bridges alumni, staff, volunteers, and supporters gathered at the historic Women's Building in San Francisco to celebrate the accomplishments of our 2009 program participants. Seven of the young, local activists who traveled to Guatemala gave a report back on what they did, who they met, and how their experiences are promoting social change in Guatemala and here, in their home communities.
Attendees had the opportunity to bid on incredible art, wine, and other fun and interesting items during the silent auction. Incredible food and drinks were on tap as well. World Bridges alumni turned out to honor the most recent program graduates, and to help with all aspects of running the event. Inspiring music and words were offered by members of a Filipino youth organizing group that will hopefully be part of a new international exchange with the Philippines next year.
Thank you to all who made this event and 2009 programming so successful - in particular, we give great thanks to our Advisory Board members, Board Chair Petra Loer, event organizer Nancy Hernandez, Program Coordinator Vicente Garcia, HOMEY staff, and Administrative Coordinator Carol Pacheco. And we couldn't do any of this without our loyal individual donors and foundation partners (especially the Germanacos Foundation and Brickyard-Berridge Fund of the East Bay Community Foundation). Peace and Blessings in 2010!
