Community Center for Sex Workers in Mexico
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Updates from the Field:
Updates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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Index of Updates from the Field
Casa Xochiquetzal Update (2008)
By Paula Sanchez Mejorada - Development Jr Officer, August 07, 2008 06:36 PM
Thanks to the generosity of individual and institutional donors, Casa Xochiquetzal (the Community center for Sex Workers in Mexico) has continued to grow over the past months. The spaces (kitchen, dormitories and hall) have been furnished and improved, allowing the women to have adequate spaces to carry out their daily activities.
Today 30 women live in the house, while others come on a periodic basis to participate in workshops and other activities.
Currently, Casa Xochiquetzal provides permanent services, such as:
- Regular medical attention (the house now has a space fitted out as a medical office).
- Psychological attention
- Workshops about human rights & gender violence
- Age-appropriate diets
- Workshops on handicraft production; self-esteem, conflict resolution; and communication skills.
All these achievements have been really important, but the fundraising efforts remain a challenge in order to assure the continuity of these activities. In this regard, the support of individual donors through Global Giving has been an important element for the stability of the project. The following months, the priority will be to continue with the process to register and legally establish the Community Center as a Civil Association, which will be a major step towards its independence and sustainability.
Attachments:
Progress report 2007
By Paula Sánchez Mejorada - Development Assistant, August 15, 2007 05:21 PM
In November 2006, the restoration of the Casa Xochiquetzal building was completed. The house now has the adequate space to accommodate a group of 25 senior citizen sex-workers. These women, together with a further 20, who will live in the house in the near future, have actively participated in a series of workshops on themes such as: handicraft production; self-esteem, conflict resolution; and communication skills.
The 45 sex-workers have also received legal, psychological and medical services provided by local governmental entities, with the support of Mexico City’s Women’s Institute. Thanks to these efforts, today 45 women have a personal identity card; 32 have a senior citizen card; and 36 were submitted to a general medical checkup.
The house also organizes initiatives for the wider community. One example has been the hosting of a day offering free eye sight checkups for 360 people from the local community.
Despite the progress made, the house still needs furniture and equipment for different spaces. They also need resources to provide further training for the women to become self-sufficient in running the house, to instruct them in human rights, and to train them in other skills so that they might earn a living and make the place self-sustaining financially.
Current Activities
By Paula Sánchez Mejorada Ibarra, - Executive Assistant, September 21, 2006 03:39 PM
The initial objective of the project was to restore the building and make it a habitable home-cum-hostel, providing accommodation for 45 senior citizen sex-workers. Repair work on the building was started in 2005, with funding from the Government of the Federal District, GlobalGiving, the United Nation’s Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Eugenia León, the Women of the New Millennium Symphony Orchestra, Semillas, and with donations from individuals. The general repair work will end on October 2006; however, the house still needs furniture and equipment for different spaces.
The project also aims to support the workers to enable them to become self-sufficient in running the house, to instruct them in human rights, and to train them in other skills so that they might earn a living and make the place self-sustaining financially. Thus, the house offers a series of services such as: medical and psychological attention, handcrafts classes, human rights workshops, legal assistance, etc.
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