sfpartners

The California/Mexico relationship is certainly one full of exciting opportunity, yet it remains a complex and delicate web of interdependency affecting the lives of millions. Perhaps without the foresight to see how important our non-profit relationship would become the members of the San Francisco/Mexico City Partners of the Americas groups, activists of the Bay Area and Mexico City, have spent 25 years developing close human and professional relationships. Today the times demand that we expand these direct relationships serving greater populations and demand for resources while preserving the health, culture and environment to help provide increasing opportunity for all. We are people from all walks of life, bonded by our dependency on this important international bond.

For Partners of the Americas, 1999 is an opportunity to foster and develop this U.S.-Mexico community like we never have before. Our organizational infrastructure provides the perfect springboard for volunteers to "think globally and act locally". The focus of much of this year's activity by staff and chapter volunteers is on the US-Mexico relationship. We will be shaping it as we go. Please volunteer your time and take the initiative to further your role in what are so frequently inhuman administrative relationships. Partners is here to help you accomplish your goals in this area. This newsletter is designed to expand the links, broader horizons, provoke thought and mobilize activists from the US/Mexico non-profit community. The web version of this documents, available at http://www.forestdata.com/sfpartners.htm is updated quarterly. If there is enough readership and support I propose creating a quarterly web journal dedicated to the US/Mexico NGO forum. Please send your articles and web references to sfpartners@forestdata.com. I look forward to hearing from you. --Tom Gaman (editor)

The Millenium Partners Convention. You are invited to Mexico City.

The Partners of the Americas Annual Convention is scheduled for Mexico City from November 18-21, 1999 and you are invited to connect with leaders and activists from the US, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The Convention is the formal annual meeting of the overall organization and its 120 local Partners groups throughout the hemisphere. Hundreds of volunteers from all over the hemisphere will celebrate the 35^th Anniversary and Millenium conference with the vision "to be the most effective education and exchange organization in the hemisphere, highly sought after as a training resource that addresses the economic and social needs of citizens, north and south."

The entire first day will be devoted to an NGO Forum. This is a valuable opportunity for active volunteers. The forum will providing training on current issues for Partners and local NGO/non-profit leaders through networking, workshops and speakers. This year's theme is Citizen Participation. Besides receptions, panels of meetings, breakfasts, Partners elections, highlights of the Convention will be ceremonies at Mexico City's famous Museo de Antropologia, a meeting at Chapultepec Castle, and an excursion to the Pyramids. Low cost hotel accomodations are being arranged by Mexico City Partners. See you there.

The US/Mexico Partners Regional Process

In recognition of Partners of the Americas expanding role in the region, a number of US/Mexico regional meetings have been held, mostly in Mexico, over the last 5 years. These foster a sense of unity among the US/Mexico Partnerships and have led Partners to become more involved in border issues. In 1996 and 1997 Mark Switzer attended regional meetings in Puebla and Guanajuato. In March 1998 Tom and Barbara Gaman, and Debbie Cotton joined 30 other Partners in a meeting in Tabasco, Mexico. The final day of the D.C. Partners Convention in November 1998 was devoted to US/Mexico Regional Issues. A Mexico regional meeting was held in January in Mexico City. The next meeting of this group, for US Partnerships partnered with Mexico, is in Dallas, April 24 and 25. That will provide an opportunity for a dialog with Norm Brown, Partners of the Americas new president. All of these meetings have helped build a regional identity and the Washington office has pledged to continue to develop its responsiveness to US/Mexico needs. Northern California Partners needs to have several representatives at each of the future meetings. We encourage interested persons are encouraged to contact Dan Cardinale (djc@partners.poa.com) or (202) 637-6208) to participate.

At the initiative of volunteers from the U.S. and Mexico Chapters, another Regional Meeting will be held on November 16-17 in Mexico City prior to the formal Convention. Recognizing the tremendous opportunity to fortify our chapters, strategically plan regional initiatives and increase Partners' role, a committee representing five Mexico chapters has formed to work with staff on the November meeting. We continue to build collaborative events among the 8 US/Mexico Partnerships as a growing part of the Partners agenda. The group envisions a western US regional office, possibly at our planned Presidio office in San Francisco.

Northern California Partners has a number of Volunteer Opportunites:

Grant writer for NGO Forum Project
Teleconference coordinator
Board members
Partners Business Project Coordinator
Subcommittee Activists
Coordinator of 9/99 SF NGO Forum

For further information please call Tom Gaman at 415 669 7426 or email
sfpartners@forestdata.com

Mexico/California NGO Forum

The relationship between California and Mexico is so enormous it must also be considered in a class by itself. At the February 6^th meeting of the Northern California Chapter established the goal of identifying and recruiting 25 key NGO organizations from Northern California which are interested in collaborating with counterpart organizations in Mexico. We are identifying these groups via an ongoing series of bi-monthly meetings held in San Francisco. Representatives will be invited to the September NGO Forum to be held Saturday, September 18th at the San Francisco Presidio. This Forum will include delegates from Mexico to help begin the dialog in advance of the Mexico City NGO Forum to be held in November 1999.

The Chapter will subsidize the travel of representatives from selected participant groups to and from Mexico so that we can nurture a network of Bay Area organizations who will cooperate to provide increased visibility of US/Mexico issues. We expect that Mexico groups will respond in kind and the expanded Bay Area network can provide key resources for greatly magnified California/Mexico collaboration, serving a greater constituency in the areas of environmental, cultural, business, civic education and educational exchange.

Academic institutions are available to participate and share programs and resources. The Packard Foundation has announced increased grant opportunities for environmental and cultural issues. One of our Partnership's most immediate volunteer opportunities is to write grant application to further this collaborative effort (see volunteer opportunities in this issue).

Election Project 2000

U. S. and Mexico elections are
happening in 2000. We are
mounting the Elections Project
2000 as part of the Citizen
Participation theme for the 1999
Convention. The goals are to
educate new voters in the civil
process in the promotion of
participatory democracy, possibly
via a mock election process. The
theme will coalesce the
US/Mexico region of Partners,
and is open to educators, civic
groups and political organizers
both north and south of the
border. Please contact Mark
Switzer, Lupe Rosas or Rodolfo
Carvajal to participate.

Adult/Family Literacy
Program Proposed

Family Literacy refers to the
concept of providing low literate
adults with direct instruction while
providing also for the emerging or
developing literacy needs of their
children. The philosophy of
family literacy involves
developing the literacy and
parenting skills of the adult
caregiver so that person then
becomes the positive reading and
learning role model to their
children. In California the
leadership and infrastructure for
family literacy programs has come
about through the volunteer efforts
of literacy tutors and the
community public library system.

Rick Angulo and the Bibiloteca
Hispanica of San Jose propose
to send a small team of (U.S.)
bilingual family literacy volunteers
to Mexico City. There they would
train "on site" adult volunteers
who want to become family
literacy tutors. Once trained these
"family literacy tutors" will work
with institutional and material
support of neighborhood
community public libraries or
churches. The family literacy
project would tap local,
neighborhood resources as well as
professional volunteer support in
order to become self-sustaining.

Recent Norcal / DF-Estado de Mexico Partners Activities:

Our Partnership area has expanded. Our official partnership areas now include Estado de Mexico in the south, and all of Northern California. This expansion reflects the reality that our many Partners initiatives both north and south have evolved regionally.

New Mexico City Committee Officers. "Maricu" Maria Refugio Soto is the new president and Guadalupe Arellano Rosas ("Lupe") has become the new Mexico City Partners Vice President! Bien venidos. Lupe can be reached at civica@infosel.net.mx.

Networking in Estado de Mexico. In May 1998 Mark Switzer and Tom Gaman visited Mexico City and Estado de Mexico. We visited the Valle de Bravo project, and old friends at Biocenosis (now in Valle de Bravo). Partners members Alejandro Jayo and Elisa Adler have worked for many years with the community to restore tributaries of the Rio Bravo, now a major contributor to the Mexico City water supply. We learned about the enormous and apparently environmentally unfriendly water development projects about to get underway there. We visited forestry and
\Polo getting to know Port Orford Cedar

watershed projects with Don Leopoldo, an activist from Valle. During summer 1998 Don Leopoldo, a community organizer and watershed specialist from Valle de Bravo, Estado de Mexico, spent a month visiting the Northern California Partnership networking with the Marin Conservation Corps., the California Conservation Corps., the National Park Service, the US Forest Service and other agencies.

The 1998 D.C. Convention. Mark Switzer and
Tom Gaman of San Francisco Partners were joined by Maria Eugenia Vera de Alcocer, President of Mexico City Partners, in Washington DC for the 1998 Partners of the Americas International Convention.

Advocacy. The Convention process included an interesting day of advocacy. The Partners were greeted in the House Foreign Relations Committee Chambers by its Chair Representative Gilman from Rockland County, New York. Washington politicians were particularly welcoming to Partners as they searched for reasons to avoid the Ken Starr hearings which were underway next door. Partners branched out throughout Capitol Hill to visit with their congressional representatives and senators. We delivered Partners information to Senator Diane Fienstein and our Representatives Lynn Woolsey and Nancy Pelozi.

Networking. The convention was an opportunity to network with regional partners and to meet with Norm Brown, Partners of the Americas new President. A great partners buffet in the grand ballroom of the OAS Hall of the Americas on the Capitol Mall next to the Van Gogh exhibit. José Rodolfo Carvajal of Puebla, Puebla-Oklahoma Partners, was elected to the Partners of the Americas international board of directors as the Mexico regional representative. The meeting was addressed by the lead administrators of the Peace Corps and USAID. Hands on concurrent breakfast sessions allowed Partners in the various subcommittee areas to exchange contacts and ideas. The Convention was attended by representatives from a hundred partnership organizations.

Mexico Partners in and DC Rep in Bay Area. In early December Maria Eugenia, Mexico City Partners President, and her husband Raul came to San Francisco. We held a round of meetings and discussions with NorCal Partners, including a review of our soon-to-be Partners office at the Presidio in San Francisco. On December 10 we were joined in San Francisco by Partners representative Dan Cardenelli for a series of meetings at the San Francisco Presidio on December 11 and 12. These were 2 of an ongoing series of meetings designed to build the Partnership infrastructure. and linkages with other Bay Area non-profits seeking to collaborate more closely with Mexico. The meeting was planned and facilitated by Debbie Cotton, our Fellow from Oakland. The Mission of Partners is "to work together as citizen volunteers from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States to improve the lives of people across the hemisphere." Therefore we centered about development of our Partnership direction surrounding that mission in the areas as set forth in recent Partners literature--Citizen Participation, Strengthening NGO's, Mobilizing Hemispheric Collaboration and Training Community Leaders.

The Citizen Participation subcommittee of our Partnership is addressing Literacy Projects, community organizing both north and south, and voter education. These efforts are being spearheaded by Rick Angulo, Frances Elliott, Mony,and Mark Switzer.

In the area of strengthening NGOs' we are establishing a Partners office at the Presidio in San Francisco, developing newsletters, building a website (www.forestdata.com/sfpartners.htm), communicating through an email directory and further programs which lead to collaboration among Northern California NGO's and Mexico City Partners. This newsletter is an effort to communicate these development and part of the NGO strengthening process. We need to reach all members of this great community.

As part of this expanded effort a committee was formed to reconstitute SF Partners Board of Directors with the help of Dawn Huntwork, Mark Switzer and Debbie Cotton.

Partners Presidio Office Planned. A concept is emerging amid San Francisco notprofits to enable networking within local NGOs to advocate for a "Thoreau Center III" for international NGOs. We support that notion and have joined the Presidio Alliance as an organizational member. NorCal Partners, in conjunction with board member Tom Gaman's company, East-West Forestry Associates, has applied for office space at the San Francisco Presidio. This should mobilize the Partnership's visibility and ability to lead collaborative efforts to motivate and utilize volunteers who wish to participate in mainstream NGO activity. Working with Scott Stauffer we are planning to bring together NGOs and businesses in Bay Area doing work in Mexico. Partners is sponsoring an NGO forum to be held both in San Francisco and Mexico City this year--our goal is to have 25 Bay Area NGO/Business participants. This will be a continuing dialog facilitated by meetings in the Bay Area and in Mexico. We will use teleconferencing technology to further communications and project development (see Partners volunteer opportunities below).

In the area of Training Community Leaders Debbie Cotton and Dan Cardenelli plan to recruit and involve present and past Fellows in the US/Mexico region. Our friend Renaldo Cortez, an solar developer from Richmond, is going to engage our Partnership in development of appropriate technologies.

As part of this effort, our Partnership during February was able to raise funds to provide a Student Exchange Scholarship. This spring Frances Frazier is proud to be able to offer the sixth Shoreline/Mexico Student Exchange since our Partnership began this valuable program in 1994. Our first exchange students are now graduating from high schools in California and Mexico, and we know that these programs have changed many lives.

The program has been a successful spinoff. This year the Shoreline/Mexico Student Exchange program is with Jalostotitlan, a medium sized town (about the size of Petaluma) which is 2 hours northeast of Guadalajara. This exchange is particularly exciting because it is the native birthplace of many from the Mexican-American community here in Point Reyes. This years Shoreline Exchange Students are Claudia Gonzalez, Eli Jayson, Rosie Hardeman, Ramon Ramirez, Rosie Stoneham, Kim Ventresca, Will White and Shannon Shaffer--all students from West Marin School and Tomales Elementary schools in West Marin. In April ten Mexican students will spend 10 days here. They will all stay with host families and attend school in their hosting community.

US/Mexico Economics, Political Issues, and the BiNational Commission

by Tom Gaman

California's Proposition 187, a cornerstone of the Wilson administration, did not help build a positive California/Mexico relationship. Watching the Border Patrol buses rumble around the southern San Diego County countryside or stopping at inland checkpoints in Los Angeles is enough to discourage even the most ardent supporter of enhanced US/Mexico relations. However, Gray Davis' trip to Mexico City during his first 30 days in office underscores the vitality of the time. Bill Clinton has highlighted US/Mexico issues by visiting with leaders in Mexico. To further highlight the regional issues Clinton just last week visited the Central American countries recently so devastated by Hurricane Mitch. California's new Lieutenant Governor Bustamente is of hispanic descent. Jeffrey Davidow, the new US Ambassador to Mexico visited San Francisco and took some time here to discuss Partners activity. These are encouraging developments as they indicate high level support for direct human relationships such as are nurtured by non-profit groups like the Northern California/Mexico City Partners.

The overall economic relationship is huge. In 1996 Mexico's 93 million people purchased 67 billion dollars worth of US Exports and exported $80 billion to the US. Total Mexican exports were $93 billion. The overall Mexico economy was $333 billion. Our Partners, Estado de Mexico and Districto Federale together have over 22% of the total Mexico population, which increases at 1.8% yearly. There are 30 other states in Mexico.

Political decisions guide this relationship. Mexico is governed by a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) held 49% of the Seats in the Senate in 1994, followed by the Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) with 25% and Partido del la Revolucion Democratica (PRD) with 16%. The parties held similar proportions of the the Chamber of Deputies. President Ernesto Zedillo will be replaced following Mexico national elections in summer 2000.

Recognizing the importance of an often fragile insensitive relationship the US/Mexico BiNational Commission was established in 1981 to work on the issues of mutual concern. Today the Commission deals with border issues, migration, economic affairs, housing, environment, energy, business, trade, agriculture, transportation, labor, education and cultural affairs, health, science and legal affairs. The last meeting of this council, in 1998 was the 15th meeting of its kind.

Current issues. At the top of the list of US/Mexico Issues on the bi-lateral agenda is the war against drugs. A Binational Drug Control Stategy has been developed and cooperation is continuing. Migration is high on the list. While Mexico respects US laws, Mexico wants to protect the rights of Mexican nationals in the US. Border cooperation consists of Joint Declarations, BiNational Studies, Memoranda of understanding, a Border Safety Campaign, A Boundary and Waters Commission, and liaison mechanisms. Trade relations today are governed by NAFTA.

Policies on environmental cooperation have been established. Extensive information exchange is underway. Programs are in place to work on forest fire protection, migratory bird protection, climate change and boundary waters. The US-Mexico Border Environmental Cooperation Commission, The North American Environmental Commission, the North American Development Bank and other US-Mexico Commissions are implementing positive transborder environmental conservation programs.

In the area of education the Mexico-U.S. Commission on Educational and Cultural Exchange has signed an agreement to incrase bilateral cultural exchange programs in art, film and theatre. The Binational Commission is working to broaden Scientific and Technical Exchanges in the area of forest fire detection, smoke control, disaster preparedness and biomedical research.

Further information on the BiNational Commission and specific projects is available on the web links noted below.

Networking:

INSTITUTO INDIGENISTA INTERAMERICANO

INTER-AMERICAN INDIAN INSTITUTE

The Inter-American Indian Institute is an Organizacion that among other functions and attrubutions consults in technical scientific information. They also do research in scientific information that has applications that can be used immediately to solve the problems indigenous people are having. They share this information with local indigenous villages. They also publish newsletters " La Revist American Indigena" and an annual report "Annuario Indigenista."

For further information please contact:

Evangelina Mendizabal

Coordinadora Ejecutiva.

Apartado Posta 20315

C.P. 01001, Mexico, D.F.

Tel: 011 568-08-19, 652-11-33

Fax: 011- 652-12-74

*******************

Instituto de Ecologia

The Instituto de Ecologia (Ecology Institute) was founded in 1975, and has been located in Mexico City since 1989. The Institute has helped to form regional centers in the states of Michoacan and Durango, as well as smaller centers which offer facilities for field research. The enormously rich biology of the state of Veracruz is the primary focus of research in the Institute.

The basic purpose of the Institute is to contribute to the strengthening of scientific and technical culture on a regional, state, and national level in the fields of Biology and Ecology. This is achieved through research projects, as well as through the master's and doctoral programs in Ecology and the Management of Natural Resources. The Institute works to support the establishment of effective politics and mechanisms which encourage and maintain the development of the country, without affecting the ecological equilibrium and the rich biology of the country's ecosystems.

The mission of the Instituto de Ecologia is to generate scientific and technical knowledge in the areas of ecology, biosystems, and the use and conservation of natural resources, linking their activities to environmental problems within the nations limits.

For further information, please contact:

Instituto de Ecologia,

A.C. Km 2.5 Antigua carretera a Coatepec

Xalapa 91000, Veracruz, Mexico

Telefono: 011+(28) 186000

E-mail: ieco@sun.ieco.conacyt.mx

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THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND AND VOLUNTEERMATCH TEAM UP TO INCREASE VOLUNTEERISM!

The Environmental Defense Fund is now partnering with ImpactOnline's VolunteerMatch to make it easy (and free!) for you to recruit volunteers!

VolunteerMatch (http://www.volunteermatch.org) is an online matching service for volunteers and nonprofits. To date, more than 20,000 volunteers have been matched with nonprofits via the VolunteerMatch website. The service is free to both volunteers and nonprofits.

Environmental nonprofits can register their organization and post volunteer

opportunities simply by visiting http://www.volunteermatch.org/scorecard/.

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3/2/99

The Drucker Foundation announced today its support of social sector leaders engaged in community innovation. They are seeking applications for leaders to gain experience, wisdom and tools necessary to move to greater levels of performance. We have no more information. For information please research the Drucker Foundation on the web and send information to sfpartners@forestdata.com

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CENTRO CULTURAL MEXICANO DEL NORTE DE CALIFORNIA

quiknet.com/mexico

El Centro Cultural Mexicano del Norte de California (CCMNC) es una organización no lucrativa, orientada a promover el conocimiento de la cultura y los valores de México. El CCMNC no forma parte del Consulado General de México; sin embargo, ambas agencias mantienen una amplia relación de trabajo y cooperación. Entre las principal es funciones del Centro Cultural destacan:

Promover las buenas relaciones y un mejor entendimiento cultural entre México y Estados Unidos, mediante una labor de acercamiento con las comunidades de origen mexicano residentes en el Norte de California.

Promover entre la comunidad de origen hispano actividades educativas, deportivas, recreativas, culturales y de salud; y propiciar el intercambio con sus contrapartes en México.

Servir como foro para contribuir a mejorar el diálogo social, economico y cultural entre México y Estados Unidos.

Fomentar entre la comunidad y las escuelas de la región, el Programa de Educacion para Adultos y el de Bibliotecas escolares.

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Mexico Investment and Economic Development www.naftaworks.org

In the midst of the economic crisis in 1995, the short-term economic policy was Mexico's long term policy. Mexico experienced a severe financial and economic crisis which has been controlled. However the foundations were laid only long-lasting but also sustainable:

An unwavering commitment to stick to sound public finances. In the last few years Mexico has had a balanced budget.

A reduced total gross public debt as a percentage of GDP from 44% in 1995, to 33% in 1996, one of the lowest among OECD countries.

An improved debt profile by substituting long maturing debt for short-term debt, domestically and abroad.

A Bank of Mexico with full independence to implement monetary policy.

A floating exchange rate regime to avoid large peso over valuations

And, conditions to increase our domestic saving rate. The pension system reform, which became fully operational this past July, will help boost domestic savings and significantly increase the pool of long-term financing for productive investment.

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Call for Papers and Panels: Deadline April 2, 1999

Latin American Studies Association (LASA) International Congress

Miami, Florida, March 16-18, 2000

The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) has posted on its

website the general call for papers/panels for its next International Congress, to be held in Miami, March 16-18, 2000. LASA is a global, interdisciplinary

association of over 4000 persons, many from Latin America. The theme

of the Congress is "Hands Across the Hemisphere: Cooperation and

Connections for the Next Millennium". LASA Congresses are organized around broadly defined tracks, one of which is "Cities, Citizenship and Quality of Life". We envision a set of guiding themes including social justice, globalization, urban politics and power, sustainable development, crime, and inner city revitalization. Application forms, instructions, and information

about LASA and LASA 2000 can be found at http://www.pitt.edu/~lasa/

Join the Northern California Partners of the Americas

I want to join.

name________________________________________________ address_____________________________________________ city_____________________state_______zip____________ phone_____________________email___________________

Please send your check for $25 to:
Partners of the Americas Box 276, Inverness, CA 94937

Web Links:

Border Mapping: http://govt.ucsd.edu/mw/colef.htm

Centrol de Calidad Ambiental: http://uninet.mty.itesm.mx

Mexico Embassy in Sacramento: http://quiknet.com/Mexico

Mexico Newspapers:

http://www.georgetown.edu/LatAmerPolitical/Misc/journals.html#mex

Embassy & Mexico Information:

http://www.embassyofmexico.org/english/dhtm/frame.page.htm

US/Mexico Trade: http://www.naftaworks.org

Partnership Email Addresses:

North Bay

Elisa Adler and Alejandro Jayo: adlerjayo@thegrid.net

Tom Gaman: tg@forestdata.com

Kay Antunez: antunez@pacbell.net

Reynaldo Cortez: pottingmix@aol.com

Mo DeCoursey: 104230,2334@compuserve.com

Fred Euphrat: woodrat@igc.apc.org

Mony Flores-Bauer: bauerbandm@aol.com

Frances Frazier: ffrazier@marin.k12.ca.us

Dawn Huntwork: laleh@svn.net

Victor Reyes: vicreyes@nbn.com

Mark Switzer: mswitz@ix.netcom.com

Gary Nakamura: gmnakamura@ucdavis.edu

San Francisco

Scott Stauffer: sstauffer@coro.org

Sonia Tamez: soniatamez@aol.com

Eddie Williams: gred@sfsu.edu

Bob Wright: Bob_Wright@nps.gov

Mel Johnson: cufc@pacbell.net

South Bay

Rick Angulo: chilango52@hotmail.com

Annie Darling: annidarlin@aol.com

East Bay

Debbie Cotton: edeb@pacbell.net

Carol Rice: carollrice@aol.com

Rich Standiford: standifo@nature.berkeley.edu

Ann Witmer: 72054,224@compuserve.com

Amy Larson: ajlarson@igc.apc.org

Mexico City

Maria Eugenia: despvera@data.net.mx

José Rodolfo Carvajal: RCarvaj@sun1.pue.upaep.mx

Guadalupe Arellano Rosascivica@infosel.net.mx.

Dan Cardenelli: djc@partners.poa.com

Kate Raftery: kr@partners.poa.com

Press:

Point Reyes Light: editor@ptreyeslight.com

Paul Rogers (San Jose Mercury News): progers@sjmercury.com