About the proyect

In 2007, Jane Barry and Jelena Đorđević wrote “What’s the Point of Revolution if We Can’t Dance?” which offered us an in-depth overview of the situation of human rights defenders and how they confronted the risks they were exposed to in their work.

Our intentions with this investigation are to:

Strengthen solidarity networks among activists by collecting and making visible their experiences so that their movements may be increasingly sustainable.

During these years, as UAF-LAC, we have cultivated an understanding of care as the root that sustains life.

Gallery of Gatherings

Self-care and collective care | The Spirit | Power | Politics of care

The municipality of Palomino, located in La Guajira, Colombia, welcomed us for our first meeting, from which the preliminary axes of this investigation emerged:

● Self-care and collective care
● The Spirit
● Power
● Politics of care

During this meeting, key questions also emerged that formed the basis for interviews:

● What does it mean to think about self-care in our current contexts, in light of our multiple identities?
● How do we practice self-care and collective care internally in our organizations?
● What are the practices and forms of self-care of young activists (online and offline)?
● How do we understand the political meaning of care?

How do donors understand care and what is their responsibility in relation to the sustainability of movements? How to keep the fire going, so that activism doesn’t burn us. | How do we decolonize memories of wellbeing?

This time we were received by Islas del Rosario, Colombia where we resumed the work carried out in the first meeting and new questions arose, among them:

● How do donors understand care and what is their responsibility in relation to the sustainability of movements?
● How to keep the fire going, so that activism doesn’t burn us?
● How do we decolonize memories of wellbeing?

We proposed that the research should have an emphasis on the collective dimension of care and power. We also validated the objectives and built the ethical and methodological criteria, as well as the first outline of assumptions.

Holding the Fire and the Roots

“Holding the Fire and the Roots” was the invitation to meet in Tepoztlán, Mexico. After conducting interviews and a preliminary analysis by region, we convened to share, analyze and provide feedback on the preliminary findings of the process, including donors’ perspectives regarding their role in the field and the methodological, conceptual and practical challenges of the global, multilingual process.

This meeting was an opportunity to celebrate our own stories and to honor those who paved the way twelve years ago and who have guided us on the journey of care and protection.

Meet the interviewers

Tania Correa | Colombia

Eden Wondmeneh | USA

Maya El Elhou | Líbano

Nancy Raoof | Egipto

Gistam Sakaeva | Chechenia

Adela Nieves | USA

Codou Bop | Senegal

Rudo Chigudu | Zimbabue

Paola Mosso | Chile

Meet the advisory team

Ruby Johnson | Australia

Jelena Dordevic | Servia-Brasil

Rudo Chigudu | Zimbabue

Sandra Ljubinkovic | Serbia

Shawna Wakefield | USA

Carmen Sánchez | España

Daniela Fonkatz | Argentina

Flor de Maria Álvarez Medrano | Guatemala

The activists interviewed

Thank you to our constellation of activists who shared about care and protection in women’s, feminist and trans feminist movements

Marusia López Cruz.
JASS/IM-Defensoras.
Mexico/Spanish State

Flor Alvarez Medrano.
Guatemala.

Maureen Kademaunga.
Zimbabue.

Lakshmi N. Moore. Member,
Liberia Feminist Forum.
Country Director, ActionAid.
Liberia.

Fahima Hashim. Salmmah
Women’s Centre.
Based in Canada.

Yuli Rustinawati, Arus Pelangi.
Indonesia.