My Nonprofit Reviews

I was first introduced to CIEL through an employee who was also a former human rights accompanier in Guatemala. Our church, Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA,) has been sponsoring such accompaniers since 2007 and is committed to supporting the struggle for human rights in Guatemala. While the rights struggle for many years has been primarily about justice and accountability with respect to the genocide that occurred in the 1980s, it is now increasingly related to abuses connected to international mega projects involving resource extraction and developing hydroelectric power. As is unfortunately the case far too often, those types of projects are disastrous for the indigenous communities, and the natural, spiritual and economic environment in which they occur. CIEL has been instrumental in addressing both the environmental impacts and the human toll that result from international 'development' that focuses on profits, the needs of the few, and the so-called 'rights' of corporations at the expense of those whose lives and livelihoods are being destroyed.