The killings in border cities like Ciudad Juárez has already totaled 400 in the first two months of 2009. According to Amnesty International, more than 370 women have been murdered in the cities of Juárez and Chihuahua “without the authorities taking proper measures to investigate and address the problem.” This crisis, often called femicide, or the systematic killing of women, has been a cause for organizations and blogs to take to the internet to help raise awareness to the plight of the victims and their families.

Life in Ciudad Juárez

Organizations are calling for justice and greater action by local and national authorities. Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (May Our Daughters Return Home) is an organization based in Ciudad Juárez co-founded by the mother and the teacher of Lilia Alejandra Garcia Andrade, who was abducted and was found dead in 2001. The organization writes on its blog about the context in which many families live:

The organization has received threats for their work to put an end to the killings, according to the blog Contra el Feminicidio en México (Against Femicide in Mexico).

Documentary film “Juárez Mothers Fight Femicide”

Mexican-American filmmaker and videoblogger at Chicana Feliz, Zumla Aguiar took a special interest in this story and worked closely with the organization to produce the documentary “Juárez Mothers Fight Femicide” which is licensed under a Creative Commons license. The film’s description says:

The video does not try to pound you over the head with more information. It basically looks at the opinions of the mothers in regards to what was the final story with each case. Interviewed are mothers from all social strata but this film points out that the pain is equal and all valid emotions. The fact that the “women are poor” is pointed out by Marisela Ortiz from Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa as a reason why nobody does anything about these murders.

Media as a tool

Another organization Red Solidaria Década Contra la Impunidad (Decade Solidarity Network Against Impunity) uses its blog to share news about its activities fighting against impunity for human rights abuses including the murders of young women in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua and other parts of Mexico.

The international organization Witness has used citizen media to raise awareness and collect signatures for a petition to presented to Mexican President Felipe Calderón. In 2003, in conjunction with the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights [es] (CMDPDH), they produced a short film called Dual Injustice. The story centers on the disappearance of Neyra Cervantes in Chihuahua, who disappeared in May 2003 and her cousin, David Meza, who who was tortured until he confessed to her murder.

Even though Cervantes’ remains were recovered and Meza was released after being wrongfully imprisoned, those responsible for her death have gone unpunished. Witness is continuing its campaign through a petition drive, which will be presented to President Calderón by Witness founder Peter Gabriel, other well-known Mexican celebrities and the mother of Neyra Cervantes. Some Mexican bloggers are also writing about the presentation of the petition, such as the blog Resiste Chihuahua.

Women’s struggles

As the situation along the border towns remains dire and many crimes unresolved, the women from the organization May Our Daughters Return Home write about their struggles, but also about their hope.

A local project called Nomad Green has taken up the initiative to teach the use of citizen media tools like blogs, photos, and videos to tell the story of this country and some of its environmental problems. The project started in 2009 as partnership between various organizations and institutions, and to date several workshops have taken place in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar and other communities around Mongolia.

Photo of Nomad Green workshop by Portnoy (Working Man) and used under a Creative Commons license.

The project has already demonstrated positive steps in teaching Mongolians how to use these tools to tell their stories about environmental challenges of their country. Part of this proof is that the two bloggers previously cited in this blog post, Mandah and Ariungerel are a part of the Nomad Green project, which only adds to number of voices concerned about the environmental future of Mongolia.

Photo by Tonio94 and used under a Creative Commons license.

Mongolian nomadic families have historically depended on the vast land for their livelihood. In the past, range land for their grazing animals had been plentiful, and food and water were readily collected from their surroundings. However, all is that is changing, as climate change is having a negative impact on their way of life.

A recent article by Joshua Kucera in Eurasianet highlights some of these changes:

Global warming is having a harsh effect on Mongolia’s nomadic herders, who comprise about 40 percent of the country’s overall 3 million inhabitants. Since 1940, the mean air temperature in the country has increased 1.6 degrees Celsius. Heat waves are longer, and rain patterns have become “quite variable, decreasing at one site and increasing at a site nearby,” according to an assessment by the country’s Ministry of Nature and the Environment. The Gobi Desert, in the south of the country, is creeping northward.

A water crisis

The desertification of the Gobi Desert is reducing available land for their animals to graze, which are important sources of food. This population is also facing a freshwater crisis, as described by blogger Mandah, who writes about the the water issues facing these communities:

Mongolian high mountain peak’s snowcap and glaciers have been melting and thinning because of the Global Warming. The thickness of the snow melting will become 131 centimeters by 2039. According to the scientist, the whole world will start to face fresh water shortage by 2020 and 108 million people actually have to deal with the fresh water shortage by 2025. Since 1996, Mongolian groundwater level has been decreasing constantly. Some of the biggest lakes in Gobi region such as: Taatsiin tsagaan, Adgiin tsagaan, Ulaan, Orog lakes as well as many other rivers dried up.

Water is treasure

Blogger and local botanist Ariungerel adds information about these changes:

Nowadays, the meaning of the phrase “water is treasure” is becoming clearer. Our country is situated far from nearest sea and has less water sources on the ground and underground compared with countries that has enough water sources. Our people range their life in line with water sources, for example: remote area can be utilized only in winter times because running water source is scarce there, only snow is available there. Elders said that they used to use mouthful water to wash their faces and hands, but in the contemporary world, we use many more litters of water for the same reason.

“Once upon a time my island was a tropical paradise. It is a tropical paradise no more.”

That is how Ursula Rakova described the state of her homeland during a recent panel discussion during Climate Week in New York City. She has been a vocal and tireless activist to raise awareness and attract support to lead the relocation of the residents of the Cataret Islands in Papua New Guinea. These islands are gradually being flooded due to the rising sea levels attributed to climate change, and it is predicted that the islands will be completely submerged by the year 2015.

Higher levels of seawater has destroyed crops and harmed supplies of drinking water. As a result, as seen in this video produced by the United Nations University, the residents on the islands have been going hungry.

Local solutions on a sinking paradise, Carterets Islands, Papua New Guinea from UNUChannel on Vimeo.

As a result, the residents, which are being considered the first climate refugees, must be relocated to the larger Bougainville Island. This complex task is being led by Rakova, who was given this enormous responsibility by the elders and the rest of her community. She has been spanning the globe to raise awareness, but more importantly, raise funds to physically relocate the approximately 120 families.

Some of the relocation has already taken place, but not without difficulties. Journalist Dan Box has been documenting the process and has been in touch with Rakova and other groups on the island, who provide updates on the situation. Box writes on his blog Journey to the Sinking Lands:

The initial evacuation (of five men, who were the fathers of five families) to the mainland has hit understandable troubles: Of the five who formed the first wave of migrants leaving the islands to build new homes on the mainland, three have returned to the islands. Apparently, they were finding it too hard living in a new place and being apart from their families. Three men have been chosen to replace them and are expected to make the journey soon. The gardens that have been planted by the original five men, however, have begun to bear fruit and veg and with this food available, the remaining two men can send for their families to join them.

In this video, Rakova describes why this campaign is necessary:

I want to make sure that my people have a future life for the generations to come. I would say to people that believe climate change is not happening, if you have the heart to feel that you are flesh and blood? To you it is a choice of lifestyle. For us, who are already suffering the impact of climate change and rising sea levels, it is a choice of life and death, because if we do not move, we are going to be drowned. And we are already losing our homelands. I think you do not need to question whether this is climate change or not. You should be able to put yourself in our shoes, and maybe travel to our islands; we invite you to travel to our islands and see it for yourself.

(…)

if they do not come up with a good solution in the Copenhagen meeting, my people will drown. Islands in the Pacific and elsewhere in the world will disappear, within the next twenty years. We will all lose our homeland, and this is my fear, that we are going to lose our ancestral homes and this is human rights, it is abusing our right to live in our ancestral homeland.

The money needed to evacuate the residents has not been coming in as had been hoped writes Rakova in an email to Box. These funds are important to help purchase land and to build homes for the residents. She will continue her campaign, when she will participate in when she will participate in activities during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7-18.

Invisible Women Melting is the title of a play written by a graduate student in the United States that seeks to draw the comparison between the negative effects of climate change felt by African American and African women.

A play written by Jessica Ann Mitchell called “Invisible Women Melting,” aims to draw the comparison between the negative effects of climate change by African American women and African women. She draws upon the experiences of women living in Atlanta, Georgia and in Imbaseni, Tanzania to show how this sector of society is more likely to suffer the consequences of climate change, and how it affects them personally.

One common theme shared by both sets of women is the high percentage who are living in poverty. According to a study called Gender and Climate Change produced by the World Conservation Union, women are more affected because of their social roles, as well as factors such as discrimination and poverty.

For example, in Atlanta, 21% of its residents fall below the poverty line, and nearly 80% of these families are “female, with no husband present.” In the village of Imbaseni, poverty has been an obstacle for many years, especially with the lack of safe drinking water.

In this YouTube video, Mitchell states that “Climate Change is a Black Woman’s Issue,” and continues by listing statistics such as the fact that global food prices have risen 83% over the past years partly because of the fluctuation in precipitation and temperature that affects the food supply and demand.

The following is an excerpt of the play provided on YouTube by the Educational Performing Arts Company “Wrong is Not our Name,” which produced the play.

For her work, Mitchell was honored with the 2009 Master’s Prize in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University.

350.org activists climb to the Chacaltaya glacier in Bolivia in preparation for a major event on October 24. Photo used under a Creative Commons license.

The Chacaltaya mountain range contains some of the most symbolic peaks in Bolivia’s Andes Mountains. As it once was one of the only places to snow ski in this mountainous country, these mountains are well-known to those in the Department of La Paz, as well as foreign adventurers. The mountains have also hosted charity football matches in which Bolivian President Evo Morales participated, seeking to prove that the sport can be played at high altitudes.

A worrisome pace

However, Chacaltaya’s glacier has been receding at a worrisome and rapid pace. The effects of climate change on this glacier and others in the region have been part of the investigation by Higher University of San Andrés professor Edson Ramírez, who concludes a direct connection [Spanish] between global warming and the disappearance of the glacier.

Ramírez and his team have also been studying another nearby glacier that is undergoing similar changes and about the effect on the local population. The Tuni Condoriri glacier is melting at a rapid pace, affecting alpine enthusiasts, but also affecting a vulnerable migrant population that depends on it for drinking water and agricultural activities.

The reservoir that collects the water from the glacier provides 80% of the drinking water to the city of El Alto and the outskirts of La Paz. According to the most recent census, El Alto has a population of 827,000 people [Spanish], which is increasing every year at a rate of 5.1% per year. According to journalist and blogger Mónica Oblitas, this rate is more than double the national average [Spanish].

Predicting climate change

Experts are predicting water shortages and a premium for water, with some people predicting that water rationing is imminent [Spanish]. The team from Observador Global (Global Observer) created a 6-part video series about the effects of future water shortages in this region.

The city is home to migrants from the Aymara indigenous communities on the Bolivian Altiplano, who settle in El Alto, often in impoverished conditions. Bolivian blogger Cristina Quisbert of the blogIndigenous Bolivia describes the situation that many residents face in terms of suitable drinking water:

Additional conditions difficult access to water. A lot of people arrive from rural area to El Alto and establish wherever they can. Because of lack of money, they live in neighborhoods where there is neither drinkable water nor sewer system. Some of them dig a hole which should be about three metres deep until they find water. More or less in November, it starts rainy time and it is other possibility for neighbors to collect water. At the end, lack of water added to existent levels of poverty many times result in illnesses.

There is an heterogeneity of situations. I have water at home but some of my neighbors don’t. This is a serious problem for the families. In my case, I share water with other family. Basilio and Juana have four children. They are renters. The house where they live doesn’t have drinkable water. Whenever they need, they use a hose to collect water from my house and at end of the month we divide the cost of water invoice to pay.

However, the Tuni Condoriri, not only provides drinking water to the city, but it also provides valuable water for agricultural activities on the Altiplano. If sustainable agricultural activities decrease because of the lack of water, many more rural residents may seek opportunities in El Alto, where they may face similar water shortages, while raising demand.

A climate change event

It is the high-profile image of the Chacaltaya glacier that is drawing attention from local government official and other activist groups to the problem of climate change in the Bolivian Occident. A recent local event associated with the 350.org campaign was advertised on Facebook [Spanish], inviting Bolivians to take an excursion to the Chacaltaya glacier to see for themselves the effects.

Finally, Oblitas concludes with the following questions [Spanish] (translated text):

Chacaltaya is no longer around and soon, other glaciers will cease to exist. Is the country prepared for these losses? Are we aware of the importance of taking an active and immediate role against global warming? For many, climate change is not a global phenomenon and do not feel affected, but truely, everyone is at risk and not everyone can face it in the same conditions. The struggle continues, even though it is too late for places like Chacaltaya.