The human right to water and sanitation is now officially law in Mexico! The president of Mexico published an amendment to article 12 of the country's constitution on February 8. The amendment provides that every person in Mexico is entitled to affordable, accessible, and safe water in sufficient amounts for domestic uses. 

This is the fruit of several years of hard work by civil-society organizations that include the Habitat International Coalition of Mexico (HIC-AL), a UUSC partner and member of the Coalition of Mexican Organizations for the Right to Water. Recently, local congresses in Mexico approved the amendment and sent it to the president to for publication, the final step for constitutional recognition.

HIC-AL responded to the publication of the amendment with excitement. Maria Silvia, the legal coordinator of HIC-AL, spoke with UUSC about the victory: "We are very happy about this reform. We consider this development as an achievement of the social movement and civil-society organizations for the right to water in Mexico and the rest of the world."

However, HIC-AL is mindful of the challenges that may lie ahead in terms of implementation. Silvia captured this when she added, "Today we celebrate, but we must not forget that this right, without participation and mobilization, may be useless or even worse if it becomes a tool of corporations and the interest of the powerful." She concluded with a call to action: "For this reason, we call on the diverse groups and organizations to work together and participate in the elaboration of a new water law to be passed within 360 days from the date of the publication."

Simon Sangale Ole Nasieku is the national chairman of UUSC program partner the Kenya National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders (KENASVIT). He wrote the following post about what the referendum and the new constitution mean to the many thousands of workers throughout Kenya.

The historic win for the "yes" camp in the national referendum was a clear and resounding statement that Kenyans have been yearning for a new constitution. We in KENASVIT pay tribute to the thousands of informal traders who participated in the vote.

The referendum process was carried out in a calm and peaceful environment, and this is a plus for all Kenyans. After the post-election violence in late 2007 and early 2008, KENASVIT started a campaign of peace building, conflict resolution and reconciliation among our members countrywide. The campaign was geared toward bringing communities together and resolving not to fight again. Street vendors and hawkers had suffered loss of wares, injury, deaths, and displacement.

The government and other stakeholders undertook national peace campaigns through media public forums and road shows that created opportunities for discussions of contentious issues, thereby allaying many fears.

The campaigns targeted individuals who were encouraged to read, decide, and vote yes or no. KENASVIT played a big role in distributing over 10,000 copies of the proposed Kenyan constitution to Bodboda (bicycle transporters), hawkers, disabled persons, women, and youths.

The issues that made the Yes campaign more appealing to street traders and hawkers, resulting in its resounding victory, were the following:

• An expanded Bill of Rights, including economic, social and cultural rights alongside civil and political rights (the rights to health, food, shelter, and other basic needs are now protected by the constitution)

• Reduced powers of the president

• Better checks and balances of power (cabinet secretaries drawn from outside Parliament will now replace the ministers)

• Better representation of the people, including women

• Opportunities for marginalized and special-interest groups, youths, persons with disabilities, and other members of society

• Devolution of power to counties (counties will use resources to bring services closer to the people)

• Management of public land, crucial to street traders and hawkers, will be now administered by the National Lands Commission; urban and peri-urban (suburban) land will be accessible to street traders and hawkers

KENASVIT officials played a significant role in civic education, and during the referendum day street vendors were involved in voting, observing the polling, and serving as polling clerks. The declaration of a public holiday on the referendum day enabled most to vote, and the massive security presence helped a lot.

Street vendors, hawkers, and most of the informal traders in Kenya overwhelmingly supported the proposed constitution, and we are eagerly awaiting the president to put it into action in order for us to monitor its implementation.

Evalyne Wanyana is the national coordinator of the Kenya National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders (KENASVIT), a UUSC economic-justice partner. She wrote the following post about the days leading up to and immediately following the approval of a new constitution that promises a brighter future for the vast majority of Kenyans.

For close to two decades, Kenyans have worked toward enacting a new constitution, the closest attempt being the 2005 referendum. At that time, Kenyans rejected the proposed constitution because it failed to represent the wishes of the majority.

As the bumpy road toward achieving a new and better constitution for Kenya continued to unwind, life for common citizens got worse by the day. Government malpractice, such as corruption, abuse of power, discrimination based on ethnicity, and denial of justice for marginalized communities, thrived against the backdrop of a weak constitution and inadequate governing institutions. Kenya was quickly acquiring a second name called "impunity."

Kenyans were rife with frustration and disappointment with the state of affairs in the country, and the disastrous consequences of the 2007 national elections crushed our hopes of bringing about the desired change through a democratic process. The post-election violence that followed the presidential election of December 2007 made us realize as a nation that the stability of our country and our future rested in having a new constitution, and thus we had to do all that it takes to put it in place.

The Committee of Experts on the constitution, with support from the citizens, civil-society groups, and faith-based organizations, worked around the clock to give Kenyans the proposed new constitution. When the final copy was released to the country on May 6, 2010, I obtained several copies for me, my friends, and my neighbors so that we could read it and be able to make informed decisions come August 4, the day of the referendum.

Although I have a very tight work schedule, I squeezed in time to read the proposed constitution. On many occasions I engaged in debates with my friends and neighbors, particularly on contentious clauses, such as abortion, the Kadhi courts, devolution, and land ownership.

This helped me learn more about my fellow Kenyans' views on these issues, and sometimes I ended up convincing some of my friends and neighbors who would have opposed the draft to support it during the referendum. I encouraged anyone who was in doubt due to distortions made by the opponents of the proposed constitution to get a copy and read it for themselves. The Yes campaign's civic-education program through the electronic media, print media, and public forums enlightened many Kenyans on the proposed constitution.

A few days before the national referendum, I took leave from work to travel to my home district where I am a registered voter. The day before voting, I went to confirm my polling station. On the morning of August 4, I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and set off to the polling station. On my arrival there, I found a short queue. At 6:35 a.m., I cast my vote and left the station, feeling happy with myself that I have done my duty as a citizen in this very important event that might change our country forever.

I went home and waited until the afternoon when results from the polling stations by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission began to be televised from  the Jomo Kenyatta International Conference Center. I retired to bed at 10:30 p.m. with poll results indicating that the Yes side was leading. By mid-morning the next day, it was clear Yes had won with 67 percent of the votes and that Kenya finally had a new constitution. I was happy that Kenyans came out with courage and in large numbers to give themselves and their country a new constitution — and that I was one of them.

Although I may not live to enjoy the full benefits of this constitution, I know that my children and grandchildren and the children of my fellow Kenyans will live in a better Kenya. The new constitution is a step in the right direction and its implementation calls for total commitment from our leaders and citizens, and I have decided that I will play my part in shaping the Kenya I want for me and the future generations.

God bless us all.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Morrison

This election season sure has been an interesting one. Between having the first African American presidential candidate, our nation being at war, and the current crisis in the money markets, it would be hard for anyone not to realize the importance of November 4, 2008.

Although I know there is the will and the desire for people to get involved in the election and make our voices be heard, this can be a scary proposition for anyone who is employed by, or works with, a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status, like UUSC.

There are many laws that control how these organizations and their staff conduct themselves during an election cycle. But I would argue that it is a moral imperative that we get involved in all the ways that can this election season.

Although 501(c)(3) staff CAN NOT tell people who to vote for, we can talk about the issues that we care about. Working for a nonprofit organization and knowing many people on a personal basis means we have a good idea of what community members care about and what is affecting them on a day-to-day basis.

There are national issues such as the war in Iraq, the inadequate attention paid to Gulf Coast recovery, and the genocide in Darfur.

These are issues that can galvanize people to make their voices heard.

In addition, there are many local ballot initiatives that 501(c)(3) staff can lobby the public on. For instance, I live in Massachusetts, born and bred, and we are in the midst of a fight of a lifetime on Ballot Question 1. This is a move to repeal the state income tax, which provides 40 percent of the Massachusetts state budget.

When I think of all the people I have worked with in the social service sector and how many organizations would be crippled by the passage of Ballot Question 1, I am frightened about what might happen.

Similarly, many states have ballot initiatives promoting “the protection of marriage,” a movement to limit the rights of gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual citizens.

Make no mistake, people are being galvanized on both sides of these issues.0 (They call them “wedge issues” for a reason!)

As employees and volunteers in the nonprofit sector who have dedicated our time and passion to the issues and people we care about, we have a responsibility to help our constituents make their voices heard.

DON’T name a candidate of your liking.

DO make sure your elderly neighbor can get to the polls.

DO take voter registration forms to your local homeless shelter.

DO organize members of your congregation to register voters.

A lot is at stake on November 4, no matter what your political affiliation. Voting is one of our rights. For those of us committed to human rights, it is our responsibility to help make voting possible for all the people we work for.

For more information about the Dos and Don’ts of 501(c)(3) organizations, in particular churches, read the UUA’s The Real Rules: Congregations and the IRS Guidelines On Advocacy, Lobbying, and Elections.

Yesterday, participants gained skills for taking effective action against the Iraq war at Countdown 2008: An Activist Training to Responsibly End the War, an activist training jointly held by UUSC and the UUA. Although participants came from different parts of the country and their experience with activism ranged widely, they were unified in their motivation to end the war.

A highlight of the training was a role-play with Tom Andrews, former congressman from Maine and director of the Win Without War Coalition. Andrews pretended to be a candidate at a candidates' forum, while participants crafted questions for him, framing their opposition to the war. The participants asked really great questions, giving details of the cost of the war and the impact on local communities. I hope their confidence in asking the questions will carry through to real-life scenarios in the coming months. Andrews got the crowd laughing as he responded with typical "politico" messaging. Then he would take off his candidate's hat and explain how the question could have been framed to be more effective.

One of the goals of the training was to end the day with participants feeling equipped to take on specific actions and committing themselves to doing them.

Here are some of the things participants committed to:

"I'm going to go to candidates' forums and ask tough questions about their position on the war."

"I commit to talking to my minister and social justice committee about doing voter work."

"I commit to registering people to vote at my congregation."

"I plan on working with the a local community organization to help their efforts to outreach to marginalized communities."

The wide range of commitments was impressive for a group with many first-time activists!

"Where are you from?" has always been a tough question for me.

I was born and raised in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. However, due to citizenship laws that prevail in most Persian Gulf countries, I inherited the citizenship of my parents. They are Tanzanians of Indian descent. Thus, I was considered a Tanzanian citizen although I never lived there. My language and culture is dominantly that of my ancestors from Gujarat, India. I moved to Minnesota when I was 17 and strongly began to identify myself as a Minnesotan and to this day am very proud of the state's culture and progressive politics. As a Muslim, the tragedy of 9/11 and President Bush's policies that followed inevitably affected me and that is how I began my life in American politics. To top that, since I am a Shia Muslim, the war in Iraq has had a profound effect on me and my community as we see our beliefs and history displayed on all the major media outlets around the world.

Why am I sharing this with you? Well, on Friday, after living in the United States for eight and a half years, I was sworn in as a citizen of this country. It was one of the most important days of my life. Many of my family members and friends wonder why I would want to be an American citizen when the United States has violated the civil liberties of law-abiding Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Americans, has engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has supported policies, including torture, that adversely affect Arabs and Muslims around the world.

My answer to them is that despite the destructive policies of the Bush administration, I have faith in the rights that are guaranteed to me by the Constitution. I strongly believe in the rights that have been enshrined in the Bill of Rights, especially those guaranteed by the First Amendment. These are the very rights that I exercise every day when I practice my religion freely as a Muslim American and express disagreement with the government on issues such as torture and the war in Iraq. The fact that I can write this blog entry is a testament to those rights. It is why I have chosen to work with the Civil Liberties Program at UUSC. Our program's goals are to restore and protect civil liberties that have been eroded under this administration for people like me.

As I was being sworn in as a citizen during my naturalization ceremony, I was humbled to be amongst 1,100 people from 85 countries who had chosen to take this step. I feel very strongly American and don't want anyone to ever question my patriotism or question my "American-ness" because of the way I look or the religion I follow or my political inclinations. For me, I finally feel I have found a place I can belong to and call home. It is here that all my identities merge and make it possible to be part of the American fabric that has been enriched by immigrants since the founding of this country. As Barack Obama has aptly said, "...for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible."

The following post was written by Carolyn Purcell, UUSC board member and participant in our recent Election Monitoring JustJourney in Guatemala.

November 6, 2007

Polling for the national presidential elections in the rural town of Rabinal was marked by calm and a sense of hope. It was also run very efficiently. Poll workers arrived at the schools and city hall to set up their tables by 5 a.m. and began to receive voters at 7 a.m. They would be at their tables until 6 p.m. and work on the vote count until 8 p.m.

Many poll workers were public school teachers. We asked them why they volunteered for this post. They told us that it is their duty as teachers to prepare children to be full citizens and participate in the decisions of their country; facilitating voting is the necessary continuation of this duty and a statement of hope for Guatemalan democracy.

During our week in Guatemala, we were told that the changes underway in Guatemala are "creating space for democracy in Guatemala." We were moved by the courageous election observers, human right leaders, and activists who daily confront injustice and build democracy in Guatemala.

The following post was written by Linda McKim-Bell, a UUSC regional coordinator and participant in our recent Election Monitoring JustJourney in Guatemala.

I just returned from a JustJourney delegation that visited Guatemala to monitor the national elections as international observers, and to visit UUSC's human rights partners. Winds of change were blowing there. Last Sunday about six million Guatemalans went to the polls to elect Alvaro Colom as president. He ran on the slogan "Fight crime with intelligence." He ran against former general Otto Perez-Molina, a military man who was one of the masterminds of the genocides in Guatemala in the 1980s. He ran on the slogan: "A strong hand," to deal with rising crime. It was satisfying to know that Guatemalans rejected the rule of the military.

We were official election observers in the Guatemalan highlands in the farming town of Rabinal, in the region of Alta Verapaz. This region suffered greatly in the massacres of the 1980s. The army killed 400 people here in six massacres perpetrated as part of a scorched earth policy to rid Guatemala of guerrillas and sympathizers. When the villagers of Rio Negro demanded just compensation for lands flooded by the World Bank-funded Chixoy Dam project, many were murdered. The perpetrators have never been brought to justice.

We visited our human rights partners. We met with Juan de Dios, director of the Association for the Integral Development of the Victims of Violence in the Verapaces, Maya Achi (ADIVIMA). Our partners have been struggling for justice for 25 years. They are asking for fair compensation for their lands flooded by the dam, recognition of their cultural rights, economic development, and education for their children. When their land was flooded by the dam, they were relocated to slums where they had no means of making a living.

I saw the fruits of UUSC's work here when I sensed a new confidence in Juan de Dios. He was a stronger protagonist. UUSC had put him in touch with the Holland Knight law firm, which helped him prepare a case against the World Bank. This leveraged him into negotiations that will bring compensation. This case has world-wide significance. There are 500 World Bank-funded dams around the world and many people have been displaced without just compensation. It was gratifying to see big changes for ADIVIMA and the local community.

Indeed, I could feel a new spirit growing in Guatemala and the state of Alta Verapaz. Evidence of greater democracy in this region was seen in our visit to the mayor-elect of Rabinal, Jose Solano. His supporters gathered around us in the lovely courtyard of his party headquarters. The fresh paint and hanging baskets of flowers were hopeful signs of what Solano plans to do in Rabinal.

Solano's agenda includes health care, access to clean water, irrigation projects, an agricultural cooperative, development of womens' businesses through microcredit, a program for seniors, and a planning department for Rabinal. It was gratifying to see that the long-term work of UUSC and its partners in Alta Verapaz has helped create empowerment so that people would have the hope and political power to elect a leader like Solano.

A big surprise at the end of our delegation was that Rafael Espada, the vice president-elect of Guatemala, was aboard the plane to Miami. Wayne Smith of UUSC and I greeted him and congratulated him. He graciously allowed us to take a picture with him. Wayne told him that we had been international election observers and about UUSC having projects in Rabinal. Wayne added that he and UUSC President Charlie Clements might be at the inauguration. Espada said he had been an admirer of John Kennedy and that he had inspired him to go into politics. This unexpected and enjoyable meeting suggested that something new was stirring in Guatemala.

This post was written by the Rev. Carlton Elliott Smith, assistant minister at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Mass. Rev. Smith is on a JustJourney Election Observance Delegation with UUSC in Guatemala.

November 1, 2007
9:00 p.m.

We are at the end of our first day here at Hotel Los Pasos in the city of Antigua, once the colonial capital of Central America. We have 21 in our delegation, and are a combination of UUSC staff members, lay leaders, ministers, students, and one congressional staff member. After breakfast, Dr. Charlie Clements, UUSC’s president and CEO, gave highlights of the history of UUSC, going back to a few years before WWII and the work of Rev. Waitstill Sharp and his wife Martha, who were instrumental in helping more than 2,000 people escape interment and extermination at the hands of the Nazis.

In the early afternoon, our presenter, Miguel Angel Albizures, spoke to us about his experience as a journalist, union organizer, and activist working on behalf of families of the displaced and the disappeared. He was in exile himself for at time, and took on leadership of one of the unions in the 1980s, when assuming such a position was to invite assassination.

Miguel Angel provided background for our understanding of the difficult choices facing the Guatemalans as they elect their next president -- both of the remaining candidates are allied with the military and/or the big businesses that have dominated the government and corrupted the possibility of democracy here for decades. He also acknowledged that Guatemala’s Left has not provided the voting public with a strong alternative to the run-off contenders. At the same time, he affirmed the importance of our presence and that of other international organizations that are deterring greater violence and fraud around the election process.

Late in the afternoon, we had a guided tour of Antigua, including many of its beautiful ruins – the Cathedral, the Franciscan Monastery, the pilas (a kind of ancient, open-air laundromat). We also passed through the town’s Central Park, which was teeming with people enjoying the national holiday of All Saints.

We walked across town to the general cemetery, where graves and family sepulchers were decorated with abundant varieties of flowers, wreaths, and greenery, as people honored their dead by renewing their final resting places. There were thousands of people and many vendors at the entrance to the cemetery, and many people inside, walking in, out, and around. Part of our contingent even had a close encounter with General Otto Perez Molina, one of the two run-off candidates, who caused quite a stir when he showed up to pay his respect at his father’s grave.

We gathered in the hotel’s “chapel” (the building was once a convent, like many of the hotels, homes, and ruins here), where we viewed an edited version of the documentary Discovering Dominga, the devastating story of a young Maya-Quiche’ woman who escaped at age 11 from the 1982 massacre of her village in Rabinal, the town where we will do our election observance this weekend. She ended up in the United States with a family and eventually returned to Guatemala to reconnect with aunts, uncles, and cousins she left behind: both her parents were slain, her mother among the 70 women and 107 children who were systematically led up a hill and shot. This important film was partially funded by UUSC and is a must-see for anyone seeking to understand the injustice visited upon the Maya.

Gracias a todos for your thoughts and prayers for our safety and health.

Written by John Bloom, a participant in the fourth annual Freedom Summer: A Civil Rights Journey.

This was such a transformative week, seeing civil rights history come alive. To me, the day that stands out the most was our day in Selma, although it was typical of encounters that we had throughout the week. There, Sam Walker of the National Voting Rights Museum gave us a run-down of the events that led to the Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights in Alabama, an event that was one of the greatest triumphs of the civil rights movement, and which helped to spark movements throughout the nation.

The stories we heard were local ones: middle school kids running out of school early to join in protests in front of the Dallas County Courthouse; driving by the auto dealership of the man who was the primary suspect in the killing of Rev. James Reeb after Bloody Sunday (the dealership is still owned by the suspect and in business today); local women who worked tirelessly to pay poll taxes and train African Americans how to pass the voting literacy tests; personal memories of Bloody Sunday when state police beat nonviolent protesters after they crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge; and of setting up camps along the route for the march to Montgomery.

Throughout the week we met ordinary people, like Nelson Malden of Montgomery, who cut Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s hair, and who not only recalled conversations with him, but shared his memories of the relationship of Dr. King to the Montgomery community. We watched the Spike Lee documentary, "Four Little Girls," in the presence of Chris McNair, father of Denise McNair who was killed at the age of 11 when a white supremacist ignited a bomb on September 15, 1963 in the 16th Street Baptist Church.

We experienced all of this with a group of honest, sincere, good humored people -- some Black; some white; some late into their middle age years; some in their early teens. It was an honor to spend a week with each and every one of them. What I'll take away the most is that the civil rights movement was certainly one of charismatic and brave leaders, but also of ordinary people who can inspire all of us today to take a stand against the injustices that have resurfaced with such force.

A couple of thoughts:

• At least three people who we spoke with said that they had never seen the United States more polarized either internally -- or around the world -- than ever before. These were people who had seen "Bull" Connor drive around Birmingham inside of a white tank terrorizing the African American population.
• On the last day, we all participated in service projects in Birmingham. Mine was at a social service organization serving adults obtaining a GED. We were in charge of cleaning out and reorgaizing a storage shed behind the center. The center looked to be a place that did amazing work with very few resources -- much like other similar organizations I have seen in Pennsylvania. All around the center were photocopied pictures and posters of images that we had seen all week: protesters being fire-hosed, photos of the girls killed at 16th Street Baptist Church, etc. It was a reminder of how important and alive the moment in history that we learned about this week is to the people in communities all over the South, and especially in Alabama.