Ten years ago a group of young people from San Ignacio moved to Trujillo (Peru) to collaborate in some of the projects that take place there. When they returned to the neighborhood, they decided that they had to do something to give continuity to this experience. So they got their hands on it. In the first years, actions began to be carried out to subsidize projects they knew in Trujillo, but over time they realized that awareness was their main tool. “Transforming our position and that of our environment is fundamental to achieving a just world,” they explain. Currently, most of the activities they organize are aimed at raising awareness, not forgetting the financing of the projects they are promoting in Trujillo.

The Women's Ombudsman is the main project that collaborates in Peru, located in Alto Trujillo. It is a group of professionals, volunteers and students, without institutional support, that provides free legal, psychological and social service to women who have suffered or suffer from male violence. Alto Trujillo is a neighborhood located in the department of La Libertad de Perú, in the city of Trujillo. About 75,000 people live, most of them in extreme poverty. The situation of women is even tougher, according to the members of the association, as they suffer high rates of male violence and harsher socioeconomic and cultural conditions.

Ten professional women work in the Women's Ombudsman's Office and have undergraduate trainees. In addition, the people responsible for the actions carried out in the neighborhoods are the women of the volunteer group. In 2010, when the project was created, a single office was opened and 40 cases were treated. Now, they have three offices in Upper Trujillo and are working on opening the fourth. Over 800 cases of gender-based violence were reported in the Basque Country last year.

In the area they favor the processes of empowerment “so that women can live without machismo”. The volunteers of San Ignacio collaborate in maintaining the ombudsman and support the initiatives arising from it. “We have a relationship based on reciprocity and respect for women to be protagonists of their own development,” they explain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction of bridges

All activities are carried out in San Ignacio, as they consider it essential to sensitize the people of the area. To do so, they create spaces for critical thinking and debate, such as cinefórums, lectures of experiences in impoverished countries, workshops with migrated people, lectures…

This year they have also organised a storybook competition, together with Adeco Elkartea. In October, a woman from the social service of El Salvador and a member of the Office of the Ombudsman for Women of Alto Trujillo were invited to tell her experiences. They took the opportunity and decided to work with different sectors of the neighborhood to reflect on the continuous violations of women's rights. They came up with a story contest to delve into the subject. Think and do. The proposals have already been taken up and, following the health crisis, they will be published in a book which will be distributed in the streets of the Biscayan capital.

In addition, two fairs are held each year to raise funds for the Ombudsman. At Christmas they organize a solidarity market in the Plaza de la Iglesia de San Ignacio and in May they hold a second-hand book fair on the street. In any case, the main activity that is carried out to raise funds is the festival that is held in the Salesians theatre of the capital of Navarra. They invite artists from different disciplines to sensitize people through art and allocate all the money raised to the Office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Growing and learning together”

In recent times, ties are being strengthened with the neighborhood's groups and collectives, who consider networking essential. “If we want social change, being allies is fundamental, because we will only not get to remoteness,” they say. The grandchildren work and share spaces with the Feminist Group, Errondo Civic Center, Adeco or Atece, “to grow and learn together.” Asked about how they transfer the Peruvian reality to ours, they have made it clear that behind all their activities we will find the experiences of the women there. “The transformation of people is built among us all, so the teachings we receive from Peru are reflected here. We are far away, but we are not so different and we have many things to learn from them and them from us.”