Mission: Empowerment
Noted on January 27, 2009 by Natanya in
Casa de la Mujer (House of the Woman) is a new IE3 internship site in Oaxaca, Mexico. A position description will be posted soon. The first IE3 intern, Katie Hulse, is working at Casa de la Mujer this term (winter 2009).
by Lisa Anderson | Pulse reporter PUBLISHED ON 1/26/09 Oregon Daily Emerald - The Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Oregon
In Oaxaca City, Mexico, female activists stood at the forefront of a rioting teachers' movement. It was August of 2006 and a tumultuous time for University representatives to pay a visit. Still, they came to collaborate on research for two weeks, spurred by their common interest in Latin American gender studies.
Stephanie Wood, Gabriela Martinez, Lynn Stephen, Analisa Taylor, Hannah Dillon and Judith Musick - all members of the Americas Research Interest Group within the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University - departed having built ties with a grassroots feminist organization called "La Casa de la Mujer," or the House of the Woman.
La Casa provides vital services to Oaxacan women, including a scholarship fund called Fondo de Becas that ensures that girls native to indigenous communities can complete high school. Additionally, La Casa pairs the girls with tutors and hosts weekend workshops once a month that have ranged from feminist discussions about Cinderella to cultural city excursions.
Since the initial summer visit, CSWS has forged a sister institutional relationship between La Casa and the University. After meeting a former scholarship recipient in 2007 and conferring with Wood, alumna Elke Richers became the first University student to intern at La Casa last spring. In early January, junior Katie Hulse began a three-month IE3 internship there.
