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By Jake Miller

At first it seems like a mirage. In thebone-dry hills of the Central Plateauthe Peasant Movement of Papaye(MPP) has conjured up a lake. Thewater, captured in the wet seasonfrom the intermittent flow of a smallseasonal creek, sits between thewalls of a narrow canyon with anearthen dam at the downstream end.

Six months into one of the driestseasons in memory, the trees andgardens surrounding the lake aresome of the only green spots in the Plateau. In addition to potablewater for the people of the nearbycommunity of Lawob, the lake alsoprovides irrigation water for morethan two-dozen communal gardenswith corn, okra, beets and eggplantall ready to be harvested.

Celina Noel, an organizer for theMPP, led a group of visitors to thelake. Celina grew up nearby andrecalled having to walk many milesto the nearest water—which wasn’teven potable—during the dry season.

“There are a few dozen familieswho benefit directly by being mem-bers of the co-op that manages thedam, growing food for themselvesand to put on the market,” Celinasays. “And there are hundreds ofpeople in the surrounding commu-

nity who have access to water forcooking, livestock and drinking.Beyond that, all of the people fromthe surrounding towns and villagesbenefit by having access to nutritiousvegetables in the market.”

The birds that have made theirhome around the lake—AntilleanPalm Swifts swooping above thewater, Green Herons wading bythe shore and a Greater AntilleanOriole in a mango tree (the first ofthese historically common speciesthe visitors have seen in Haiti)—aresigns that an even wider communityis benefiting from the water captureand reforestation efforts at the site.The MPP’s concept of agro-silvicul-ture is built on the idea that farmingmust take place in the context of ahealthy environment. The birds areone small sign that the environmentis rebounding in the neighborhood.

Bene Clerie, one of the managers of the co-op, pointed out a Smooth-Billed Ani, a long-tailed black birdwith a large beak. There were severalflocks of Anis patrolling the corn-field. “We call that one boustabac,”he says. “They eat insects that attackthe crops, so we love to have themin the garden.”

In rural Haiti, only one person infour has access to clean water. Since

the Haitian State lacks the resourcesto provide even the most basic serv-ices like clean water and sanitation,the MPP’s efforts to build self-suffi-ciency and long-term solutions arecrucial. To protect their rights toresources like water and land, theyinvest much sweat in laying pipeand holding a weak governmentaccountable. Besides the dam atLawob, the visitors also saw the

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Continued on page 2

The Lake at LawobIn arid Haiti, water is a fountain of social change

Jake

Mill

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Bene Clerie, a manager at the Lawob co-op

g r a s s r o o t s o n l i n e . o r g

InsideLetter from the Director . . . 2

Photos: Resource Rights . . . 3

Planned Giving . . . . . . . . . . . 4

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spring-fed community water systemin Papaye and wells and cisterns onremote co-ops. Each one of theselittle projects may not seem likemuch, but with perseverance, dropby drop familes can drink and cropscan grow.

Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, thefounder and director of the MPP,was recently named one of six 2005winners of the prestigious GoldmanEnvironmental Prize for his work in developing and implementingthe MPP’s sustainable developmentprograms. One of the keys to thesuccess of the MPP’s model is theiremphasis on training and education.

When the Movement builds a com-munity water project like the damat Lawob, peasant members receivetraining in masonry, irrigation, treecultivation and all the other skillsthat are necessary to make the proj-ect work. They also discuss the webof social, political and environmentalroots of problems like deforestationand malnutrition so technical solu-tions have political meaning. Thenthey take these messages home totheir families and villages andspread the word, like ripples on a lake.

Reframing RightsWhen I joined GrassrootsInternational this spring, it felt likecoming home. After having studiedand taught about the U.S. right-wingfor the last five years, I am returningto the work that I came to thiscountry to do almost 20 years ago:human rights and internationaldevelopment. Coming to Grassrootsat this moment is especially invigor-ating because of our conscious moveto focus our work around the themeof Resource Rights: the human rightsto land, water and other resources,at the core of the struggle of socialmovements like the National Allianceof People’s Movements (NAPM) inIndia, with which I have worked.

Social movements and their alliedorganizations, like the NAPM andmany of our partners in Brazil,Mexico, Haiti and Palestine are,borrowing a term from Indian scholar-activist Gail Omvedt, “reinventingrevolution.” These movements recog-nize the failure of the independentnation-state to guarantee their eco-nomic, social, and political rights,especially within the context ofglobalization. And they see the Stateitself, along with multinational cor-porations, as an agent of exploitationthat threatens what the NAPM calls “livelihood security” and we at Grassroots call Resource Rights.At the same time, these movementsalso recognize the potential of theState as a bulwark against whatscholar Richard Falk and others havecalled “Globalization from Above.”

Reinventing revolution, Indianscholar-activist Bharat Patankar rea-sons, means finding alternative waysof organizing and managing produc-tion processes, developing new con-cepts of agriculture/industry/ecologyand defining new relationshipsbetween men and women andbetween people of different castesand nationalities (and, I would add,races, classes and sexualities).

Not every movement that we workwith is involved in all of this, buteach of them is involved in what the NAPM calls a dual politics ofsangharsh (resistance struggle) andnirmaan (constructive action).One of our Brazilian partners, theLandless Workers Movement (MST),for instance, is engaged in a militantstruggle for land rights for rural land-less workers and, simultaneously, increating alternative economic, socialand political communities for thoselandless workers who have been settled on the land.

Scholar Leslie Calman categorizedthe Indian women’s movement intodistinct but complementary wings—Human Rights/Equality andEmpowerment/Liberation. I believemany of our partners, includinginternational coalitions like the ViaCampesina, defy such categories. Forthem empowerment and liberationis inseparable from equality andsecuring universal human rights.These movements represent a“Globalization from Below” throughthe increasing transnational linkagesbeing formed around strugglesagainst water privatization, corporateagriculture and the patenting andextraction of natural resources,among others. GrassrootsInternational, our partners and ourprograms are a vital part of thisworldwide effort to ensure that“another world is possible.” As one of the songs sung by the NAPMgoes, “That which does not stop,that does not submit, that is not suppressed, that does not die; We are that revolution, the answer tooppression, we are the dream of theoppressed and the marginalized.”

Nikhil Aziz

The Lake at Lawob continued from page 1 From the Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In rural Haiti only

one person in four has

access to clean drinking

water. The Peasant

Movement of Papaye

is finding creative

solutions to the crisis .

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Resource Rights for AllAccess to clean water and land for food production are fundamentalhuman rights. Yet, access to and control of these essential resourcesare diminishing in communities around the world. Our partnersadvocate to stop policies that threaten their livelihoods, the environ-ment and social justice. They work for food sovereignty, sustainablelivelihoods and resource rights for all in Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, Palestineand around the world.

Our Resource Rights ini-tiative links our partnersin a global network tostrengthen their advocacyefforts and unite strugglesfor land, water and food.These photos are just asmall sample of the exciting Resource Rightswork that GrassrootsInternational supports.

Jake

Mill

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The spring-fed Bassin Zim waterfall is deceptively beautiful. One of the few year-round sources ofpotable water in the region, in recent years the flow has decreased dangerously and eroded silt from the hillside has threatened to strangle the river. The MPP has conducted extensive reforestation work toslow erosion and developed the spring that feeds the river as a source of drinking water for hundreds ofpeople in the area. The MPP is dedicated to leading a full-scale effort to protect this vital watershed.

Lemia and Maha Zoreb are sisters-in-law whoparticipate in the Palestinian AgriculturalRelief Committees (PARC) Urban AgricultureProject. With limited space to grow food in oneof the most densely populated communitieson earth, PARC has pioneered techniques likeintensive rooftop gardens. Gardeners producecrops like these peppers and olives for personaluse and for sale on the local market.

Haiti’s Peasant Movement of Papaye aims to increaselocal self-reliance. Rather than hire drillers from the out-side, they trained a team of local members to drill waterwells for MPP co-ops, combining local know-how with thelatest technology to develop wells for dry-season irriga-tion and year-round drinking water.

To become one of the largest social changemovements in the world, Brazil’s LandlessWorkers Movement (MST) has combineddirect action and political organizing. Whileland settlements, new schools and produc-tive agricultural co-ops make a huge differ-ence in the daily lives of the hundreds ofthousands of people active in the movement,national marches like this one in May, 2005keep the needs of all of Brazil’s most vulner-able rural families in the national and inter-national political spotlight.

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Jake

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For more photos and more information visit us on the web at:

www.grassrootsonline.org/resourcerights.htmlor call Corrina Steward at 617.524.1400.

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G R A S S R O O T S I N T E R N A T I O N A L P L A N N E D G I V I N G

Planned GivingA Spring That Never Runs Dry

TO TRANSFORM A TERRIBLY UNEQUAL WORLD, Grassroots International

works side by side with dynamic social change organizations to advance basic

human rights like the right to food and water. We envision a world where women

don’t walk for miles for a bucket of water and where imported corn doesn’t drive

small farmers off their land. But profound changes are long in coming. Through

our planned giving program, we invite you to walk with Grassroots International

and its partners for the long haul.

What is planned giving?It is a substantial gift to Grassroots International that allows you to reap the taxbenefits of a charitable contribution. Here are a few examples:

◆ Will or Bequest

◆ Donor Advised Fund

◆ Stock gift

◆ Gift of Retirement or Life Insurance

Join Grassroots International’s Planned Giving ProgramMaking a planned gift to Grassroots International can help you provide for your

family and yourself while leaving a legacy of global justice. We will be glad to

answer questions, review your unique circumstances and offer suggestions con-

fidentially. For further information, please contact Daniel Moss at 617.524.1400

or send an email to dmoss@grassrootsonline.org.

179 Boylston St. 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02130-4520, USA

Grassroots International promotes globaljustice through partnerships with social

change organizations. We work to advancepolitical, economic and social rights and

support development alternatives throughgrantmaking, education and advocacy.Grassroots International is supported

entirely by private donations,which are tax-deductible.

Grassroots International179 Boylston Street, 4th fl. • Boston, MA 02130

617.524.1400 • fax: 617.524.5525e-mail: info@grassrootsonline.org

Board of DirectorsShalini Nataraj, ChairAlejandro Amezcua

Dan Connell, EmeritusKimberley A. FreemanJudith Lockhart-Radtke

Rev. Devin S. McLachlanLuis Prado

Charlotte RyanClark Taylor

Katherine YihNikhil Aziz, Executive Director, GRI

StaffMaria Aguiar, Director of Global Programs

Nikhil Aziz, Executive DirectorNisrin Elamin, Advocacy CoordinatorJennifer Lemire, Program Assistant

Jake Miller, Communications CoordinatorOrson Moon, Administrative Coordinator

Daniel Moss, Director of DevelopmentStephanie Sluka Brauer, Development

CoordinatorMelony Swasey, Administrative Assistant

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