I'm in association with a group called "Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology" here in Northwest Arkansas and thought I'd pass along the latest correspondence with them, in particular the nonviolent accompanier's in Honduras' message below.
Thank you for taking the time to read...
Peace,
thepoetryman
Patty Adams is a nonviolent accompanier right now heading for Honduras. We'll be getting on-the-ground reports from her in the next week as she checks out the situation behind the news black-out. Hope you'll want to hear her first person accounts. As she sends reports I'll be passing them along. Contact with American activists is part of the protection system for accompaniers in areas of violent conflict. Accompaniment means they'll be hanging out with the Honduran civil society people who are targeted by the coup-government. It's protection for Honduran activists that Americans are present. Especially Americans with contacts... like us. The more people listening, the better.
Dear Friends,
This weekend my partner Syd and I will be taking a bus from Managua to Tegucigalpa to join a one-week human rights delegation in Honduras. Those of you who have been following the news know that the military coup regime in Honduras has been repressing human rights defenders and those trying to resist the coup.
We're traveling with a group organized by the Quixote Center, SOAW and Rights Action. The organizers of the delegation describe it thus:
"Accompaniment, Solidarity and Information gathering and dissemination. We will meet with a variety of organizations, probably the US Embassy, as well as human rights and other organizations, and travel as suggested by our hosts to places where we might be able to help prevent violence from happening by the police or military. We will be compiling information and attempting to put out a synopsis daily or nearly daily of information we gather about what is happening where we are and in different parts of the country (in Spanish and English). In this way, we hope to contribute to the efforts towards breaking the curtain of silence that has existed in international media about what is happening in Honduras."
I am writing to ask for your support in this work. It will be a challenging undertaking, and I/we will need your support in the face of the things we are likely to see and experience. Anything you can offer -- prayers/meditations , spreading the info that we send from the ground in Honduras, your willingness to talk and debrief with me/us upon our return, or anything else you can think of -- would be most welcome.
We could also use some financial support in making our participation in this human rights delegation possible. We expect to spend about $500 each between transportation, in-country expenses, and other miscellanea. To defray costs, both Syd and I have volunteered to help interpret for the members of the delegation who don't speak Spanish, and we're pitching in however else we can to make the delegation successful and to earn our keep.
If you're willing to help us, here's a little guideline:
A donation of $10 would pay for my food for a day,
A donation of $30 would pay for one night in the hotel (which, for security purposes, is a bit nicer/safer than your average solidarity guesthouse),
A donation of $75 would pay for travel between Managua and Tegucigalpa.
A donation of $100 would cover all costs for one day of the trip.
Anything you offer would go towards a commitment to nonviolence, international solidarity, and the defense of democracy and freedom of information.
If you are able to make a donation, please send me an email (mspatriciaadams( a)yahoo.com), and I'll email you the bank information for sending a check. Sorry to be so old-fashioned.
Thank you so much. Keep the people of Honduras in your thoughts!
