Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group, with the help of Glasgow Zapatista solidarity Group, is in the process of sending £3245 to Chiapas. £2600 of this will go towards the construction of a much needed health clinic in our twinned municipality '16 de Febrero'. The remaining £645 was raised in response to the appeal from the Zapatistas for aid to help rebuild those communities in resistance devastated by Hurricane Stan in October.

PHOTOS:

Top - Solidarity stall distributing zapatista coffee and info outside Starbucks in Edinburgh's High Street.

Centre - Women from Zapatista autonomous municipality "16 de Febrero" : some of their beautiful craftwork is available from Edinburgh-Chiapas Solidarity Group

Bottom - Ceremony in "16 de Febrero" where members of Scottish solidarity groups joined hundreds of zapatista villagers to inaugurate the twinning of the groups.

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Over the course of the past year Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group has been fundraising by holding stalls selling coffee, t-shirts, books plus textiles and jewellery made in Chiapas. We have also organised a number of events including a talk by veteran activist and writer John Ross, a joint anti-G8 fundraiser with Edinburgh Reshape and a counter celebration to the Oct 12th 'Colombus Day'.

The main focus of our fundraising efforts is the autonomous municipality '16 de Febrero' with which we twinned in Spring 2004. The municipality consists of around 40 villages in the Chiapan highlands. They have asked us to raise funds to help build a small health clinic in their area as, at present, villagers requiring healthcare have to travel for many hours, sometimes days to reach the nearest clinic. We have now raised £4000 towards the £13000 total that the project was costed at.

As well as supporting 16 de Febrero it is important to our group that we are able to respond to other needs and requests from the Zapatista communities. In October hurricanes Wilma and Stan brought massive devastation to Central and North America. In Southern Chiapas heavy rainfall and landslides destroyed city districts, devastated coastal villages and ruined harvests.

Thanks to the generous donations of individuals, added to the group's contribution, we are able to send £645 to help these communities to survive, rebuild their lives and continue their rebellion.

If you wish to get involved or donate to the group you can contact us at edinchiapas@yahoo.co.uk (website; www.edinchiapas.org.uk). We hold meetings every second Tuesday at the Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh, 17 West Montgomery Place EH7 5HA(between Leith Walk and London Road). All are welcome.