News from our partners

The exclusion of women has a very real cost. Even so they are the people who suffer most from poverty in today’s world. They endure many injustices and their voices are too rarely heard. In Africa, women are the backbone of societies and represent the strength of the continent. 

The organization LABOR, which is one of our partners in Peru, focuses on initiatives related to gender, family, ecology and culture, as well as on ensuring that the activities of mining companies respect the rights of communities. For nearly 35 years, LABOR has actively contributed to improving the living conditions of the residents of Cerro de Pasco, a high-altitude mining commmunity.

From July 30th to August 1st, the International People’s Conference on Mining (www.peoplesminingconf.net) took place in Quezon City, the Philippines. Development and Peace’s Filipino partner Center for Environmental Concern was part of the organizing committee of the conference.

There comes a time in most journeys when the mind and heart make the switch over from focussing on the travel and adventure to thinking about returning home. Yesterday was that day for us. For our last full day in the Philippines, we put ourselves in the hands of our partner, PETA (Philippines Educational Theatre Association). They led us through a morning of evaluation, an afternoon of preparing for our return home and an evening of celebration.

On Canada Day, we drove to the mining town of Mufilira with Development and Peace’s partner JCTR Kitwe. We shared some of our national pride with our Zambian friends by singing them Oh Canada. The pride that I held onto was challenged many times throughout our very eye-opening visit that day. The site of the copper mine we visited was very similar to the mines that are headquartered back in Canada.

Today, we travelled to Caisawan in the province of Eastern Samar to actively participate in the Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda) Shelter Recovery Program. The money for this program has come from Canadians who donated to Development and Peace’s emergency appeal to help those who experienced the devastating impacts of Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the central part of the Philippines on November 8, 2013.