I've had many years of association with NISGUA, as a donor, and as someone educated by their outreach programs. This is a solid organization with smarts and a lot of heart. They are doing the hard work of accompanying the indigenous people who are fighting to save their lands from resource extraction and testifying against state perpetrators of violence. The staff and the NISGUA board walk the walk of creating the change in themselves that they want to see in the world. And they do it all with very little because they are excellent stewards of the grassroots donations they receive. NISGUA is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year -- they have been doing things well for a long time!
I've attended a number of events organized by this nonprofit, and had the opportunity to collaborate with their team in Guatemala. They do incredibly important work serving communities in the region, and really prioritize getting resources to the communities and causes that need it most. I highly support and recommend them!
As a believer in mutual aid as the path to liberated humanity, I am proud to support the work that NISGUA does. Through building relationships, they are able to provide meaningful support to those on the frontlines of struggles for human rights and land defense. As an amplifier of indigenous voices, NISGUA helps keep people safe and share their knowledge with a larger audience. I am a beneficiary of these teachings, and certainly don’t want to live in a world where states can murder without consequence and the land is controlled by extractive corporations. Supporting this work financially feels like the least I can do to contribute to the world I want to live in.
I am proud to have been a human rights accompanier with NISGUA from 2017-2018, and to remain a volunteer and monthly donor to NISGUA. The whole NISGUA network, including NISGUA staff and volunteers, engages in some of the most thoughtful, adaptive, and principled solidarity that I have encountered.
Ten years ago, I spent two years working as a human rights accompanier in Guatemala with NISGUA, with the goal of using international presence to provide a measure security to human rights defenders who were daring to challenge the repressive status quo. Those were two of the hardest years of my life, learning, growing, and bearing witness to the humbling courage of people risking their lives to speak truth to power and demand justice. They were transformative years.
And when I returned to the United States, I found I couldn’t stop working with NISGUA. I couldn’t find another organization as principled and as committed to meaningful, decades-long relationships across borders.
NISGUA starts with a righteous, intersectional approach to solidarity. Then, every day it relentlessly works to create change that moves us towards collective liberation – not just in Guatemala, but everywhere. And all this work is done on a shoestring budget by badass staff and volunteers.
In short: NISGUA’s uncompromising commitment to mutual liberation makes it a model against which I measure all other work I do.