Juarez children: witnesses of violence, future of peace

Democracynow! interviews independent journalist Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, who journeyed to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico to investigate the impact of extreme violence on children. Her reports from the ground were published in Village Voice media: "Juarez children: Drugs, death, and fear."
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky witnessed immense suffering by children and their families who had experienced the violence first hand, but she also felt great hope from the people of Juarez, directed at their children. Locals are focusing peace efforts in bettering the lives of their children through giving them good daycare, education, extracurricular activities and overall emotional support.

Megan: What Calls me to Ciudad Juárez

I will be traveling to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico this fall as a member of Michigan Peace Teams to partake in non-violent human rights work.

Previous to Mexico, I have traveled throughout Latin America witnessing and accompanying everyday people in their struggle to maintain or regain sustainable, peaceful livelihoods. From what I have learned both abroad and at home in the United States of our government's 'standard operating procedure', I feel very responsible for the violent atrocities and corporate takeover throughout the Americas, and in this case, in neighboring Mexico. I believe that the roots of the drug trade, violence, poverty and mass migration in the borderlands are economic insecurity much ensured by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994.

I want to work in Mexico because I believe that Mexican citizens hold the solutions to their decades old obstacles, and that they deserve solidarity from U.S. citizens.

If we are silent now in this phase of their struggle, when Mexicans are making courageous acts of nonviolence, then we are complicit in the oppression. I believe that our presence of non-violent solidarity has the power to create the space for organizing toward peaceful alternatives, denouncing the current violence and oppression, and healing and forgiveness.

Please support the Fall 2010 Juárez Michigan Peace Team and our Mexican partners by following this blog, responding to urgent actions, and donating to Michigan Peace Teams.