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page last updated 10-10-2013
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About IF
IF is a nonprofit humanitarian, educational and social change organization located in the Santa Cruz, CA, area. We are a community of friends seeking hopeful alternatives to the violence, greed and destructiveness of our world. more about IF's history and mission
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IF Fiscal Sponsorships
IF offers Fiscal Sponsorships to qualified groups to facilitate their fundraising.
more information about Fiscal Sponsorships |
Upcoming Events
Winter Solstice/Light and Darkness Celebration
Sunday, December 8
Potluck, share your favorite dish, starts at 4 pm.
160 Sunflower Lane, Watsonville, CA
hosted by Bill and Karen Cane at IF.
RSVP very much appreciated. Cal 831-724-4108 or email to if.integrities@gmail.com
Sunday, December 8
Potluck, share your favorite dish, starts at 4 pm.
160 Sunflower Lane, Watsonville, CA
hosted by Bill and Karen Cane at IF.
RSVP very much appreciated. Cal 831-724-4108 or email to if.integrities@gmail.com
Information on some of IF's supported projects
Supporting Active Nonviolence in Mexico:
On the Frontlines with Pietro Ameglio
IF is raising funds to support the crucial work of Pietro Ameglio, who for decades has promoted active nonviolence in Mexico and across Latin America. An activist, popular educator, university lecturer, and author, Pietro is a co-founder and leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD) that emerged in 2011 to challenge drug-war violence, increasing militarization, and human rights violations in Mexico. His nonviolence education programs are in constant demand across Mexico, and he has helped organize and lead numerous nonviolent direct action campaigns.
He is a co-founder (1987) and leader of Servicio Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice Service/SERPAJ) in Mexico. SERPAJ is a Latin American network working in 13 countries to promote human rights, social justice and nonviolent culture and struggle. Your contributions make possible the modest stipend that allows Pietro to dedicate himself to the nonviolence education and organizing work. more information on Pietro
On the Frontlines with Pietro Ameglio
IF is raising funds to support the crucial work of Pietro Ameglio, who for decades has promoted active nonviolence in Mexico and across Latin America. An activist, popular educator, university lecturer, and author, Pietro is a co-founder and leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD) that emerged in 2011 to challenge drug-war violence, increasing militarization, and human rights violations in Mexico. His nonviolence education programs are in constant demand across Mexico, and he has helped organize and lead numerous nonviolent direct action campaigns.
He is a co-founder (1987) and leader of Servicio Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice Service/SERPAJ) in Mexico. SERPAJ is a Latin American network working in 13 countries to promote human rights, social justice and nonviolent culture and struggle. Your contributions make possible the modest stipend that allows Pietro to dedicate himself to the nonviolence education and organizing work. more information on Pietro
Update letter from Pietro Ameglio and the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (August 15, 2013) Pietro's most recent letter thanks IF and its donors for all the assistance we have provided for his group's nonviolence education and organizing work. In his letter he highlights some of the current issues MPJD is addressing, and the sometimes small, but significant, successes the MPJD is achieving.
“Between cowardice and violence I choose violence a thousand times…but there is another and better path, which is nonviolence.” M. Gandhi
Dear Friends of IF,
I send a warm and grateful greeting, together with my best wishes for yourselves, for your families, personal and family paths, and for the work for peace with justice and dignity that the spirit has enabled us to undertake together. It is a privilege to share this commitment, you in your land and we in ours. I speak of “we” because we always work collectively as much as possible, a lesson we have learned from our experiences of faith communities, of the practice of active nonviolence, and of peace education.
To be sure, in the last few years Mexico has not been a country that has produced a lot of good news in the field of peace building, although the force of hope and peaceful resistance is always present in every corner of the country, especially in the indigenous and peasant communities, which struggle to defend their territories in the face of unchecked destructive threats to their way of life and the future of their children from mines, deforestation, contamination of water, etc.
In response to the new initiative of the government to privatize the oil industry, we can expect to see the beginning of strong nonviolent resistence across the country. We also wait to see what comes from the new initiatives of the Zapatistas and from efforts to reactivate the National Indigenous Congress . This PRI government, just like the two PAN governments that preceded it, has unleashed an enormous, aggressive effort, backed by police, army, paramilitaries, and hired killers, to strip the people of their natural resources for the benefit of transnational corporations.
continue Pietro's update letter on Mexico Nonviolence Movement
“Between cowardice and violence I choose violence a thousand times…but there is another and better path, which is nonviolence.” M. Gandhi
Dear Friends of IF,
I send a warm and grateful greeting, together with my best wishes for yourselves, for your families, personal and family paths, and for the work for peace with justice and dignity that the spirit has enabled us to undertake together. It is a privilege to share this commitment, you in your land and we in ours. I speak of “we” because we always work collectively as much as possible, a lesson we have learned from our experiences of faith communities, of the practice of active nonviolence, and of peace education.
To be sure, in the last few years Mexico has not been a country that has produced a lot of good news in the field of peace building, although the force of hope and peaceful resistance is always present in every corner of the country, especially in the indigenous and peasant communities, which struggle to defend their territories in the face of unchecked destructive threats to their way of life and the future of their children from mines, deforestation, contamination of water, etc.
In response to the new initiative of the government to privatize the oil industry, we can expect to see the beginning of strong nonviolent resistence across the country. We also wait to see what comes from the new initiatives of the Zapatistas and from efforts to reactivate the National Indigenous Congress . This PRI government, just like the two PAN governments that preceded it, has unleashed an enormous, aggressive effort, backed by police, army, paramilitaries, and hired killers, to strip the people of their natural resources for the benefit of transnational corporations.
continue Pietro's update letter on Mexico Nonviolence Movement
Update on Sergio Castro/Yok Chij
(New York Time article August 2013)
Sergio and his work in Chiapas was the focus of a New York Times article on August 14. The online article also includes a short video and slide show. To access the article click on this link "In Mexico, a Healer Who Asks Nothing in Return".
(June 2013)
For over 45 years Sergio Castro (Yok Chij) has been working within the indigenous Mayan communities of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, one of the poorest states of Mexico. Sergio spends most of his time providing medical and wound care to burn victims, and this work is the subject of an inspiring documentary film, El Andalon.
(See Trailer http://veremosproductions.com/el-andalon-2/)
Sergio Castro has also built schools and water catchment and filtration systems for the indigenous villages and poor neighborhoods in the San Cristóbal area. Sergio wants to build new classrooms for a large elementary school near San Cristóbal. The classrooms that had been used in the past were poorly constructed out of adobe and the supports for the walls are inadequate. Because of the danger to the children, the school director has closed the rooms and they are meeting in a space that is not large enough for separate classes to be conducted very easily. A grant he has received from the Rotary Club in Whidbey Island, Washington, will assist him in this project.
We recently received a new update on Don Sergio's activities from Mary Murrel, Yok Chij's finance person in Mexico. http://sergiocastrosc.blogspot.mx
She emphasized the importance of the funds that Sergio has recently received through IF for some of Sergio's clients who are most in need.
(New York Time article August 2013)
Sergio and his work in Chiapas was the focus of a New York Times article on August 14. The online article also includes a short video and slide show. To access the article click on this link "In Mexico, a Healer Who Asks Nothing in Return".
(June 2013)
For over 45 years Sergio Castro (Yok Chij) has been working within the indigenous Mayan communities of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, one of the poorest states of Mexico. Sergio spends most of his time providing medical and wound care to burn victims, and this work is the subject of an inspiring documentary film, El Andalon.
(See Trailer http://veremosproductions.com/el-andalon-2/)
Sergio Castro has also built schools and water catchment and filtration systems for the indigenous villages and poor neighborhoods in the San Cristóbal area. Sergio wants to build new classrooms for a large elementary school near San Cristóbal. The classrooms that had been used in the past were poorly constructed out of adobe and the supports for the walls are inadequate. Because of the danger to the children, the school director has closed the rooms and they are meeting in a space that is not large enough for separate classes to be conducted very easily. A grant he has received from the Rotary Club in Whidbey Island, Washington, will assist him in this project.
We recently received a new update on Don Sergio's activities from Mary Murrel, Yok Chij's finance person in Mexico. http://sergiocastrosc.blogspot.mx
She emphasized the importance of the funds that Sergio has recently received through IF for some of Sergio's clients who are most in need.
Sergio at the school in Cruz Quemada
With the assistance of funds donated through IF Sergio is building a school room at Cruz Quemada, a village in San Juan Chamula municipio. He hopes to finish the school room before the start of the school year. That way the community can request a teacher from the education authorities for the 5th and 6th grade. They will only send a teacher when there is a classroom with windows, a door, lights, blackboards and furniture.
Accompanying photos show how engaged Don Sergio is in every single aspect of the construction.
read more about Don Sergio's work in Chiapas, Mexico
Accompanying photos show how engaged Don Sergio is in every single aspect of the construction.
read more about Don Sergio's work in Chiapas, Mexico
Crucible: Timor Leste Rising from Crisis (May 2013)
 Pam at a meeting of groups to strengthen civil society.
IF is supporting a project focusing on Grassroots Capacity Building and Science Education in Timor Leste.
Community organizer and parent educator Pam Sexton has been a committed human rights advocate, speaking to US groups about East Timor for 15 years. Pam is an executive committee member of the US-based organization, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (www.etan.org). |
 Curt at one of his math teaching seminars.
Science educator Curt Gabrielson of Watsonville has spent several years developing a way to use local materials and cultural knowledge as a basis for hands-on science education in Timor Leste. Collaborating with local science teachers (whom he trained) he has produced two breakthrough educational resources written in the local language.
read more about the Timor Leste project activities for updates, access Pam and Curt's blog at http://timorrising.wordpress.com |
