Dear supporters: 

We wish to invite you all to the third annual dinner to support the displaced women from Chocó, Colombia, October 24, 2009, from 4 to 8 PM at the Davis Community Church. After Sudan, Colombia is the country with the most internally displaced people. Nearly ten percent of the population has been forced from their homes. These displaced are disproportionately women and children because the men are selectively killed. We have the opportunity to continue helping these women to reclaim a dignified life. The women’s bank, initiated with the funds from the first dinner, is growing and continues to give these women micro-loans which allow them to start small businesses. This year we are celebrating the successes of 105 women and their businesses. We want to continue giving more women a solid reason to dream of a better world. Please join us in this endeavor. 

We invite you to join us for an enjoyable and entertaining evening. We will serve a dinner prepared by the Mexican chef Javier Pinzón. We will show a 50 minute documentary by Juan Mejía, called “UPROOTED” which highlights the predicament faced today by these women. This documentary has won many awards, including, the Audience Choice Award at the Jackson Heights Film Festival, the Best Documentary Nominee in the Angelus Student Film Festival, and it was the Official Selection in the Boston International Latino Film Festival. We will offer music from the Pacific region and a slide show featuring this diverse region, the women, and their businesses. We will delight you with the poetry of Professor Francisco Alarcón and the Grupo Son del Centro featuring the Jarocho music, and the musician from Colombia, Tina Castillo and Jose Becerra featuring music from the Pacific Coast of Colombia. We invite you to join in dancing the typical music from this region.

***In all of Colombia the people of Chocó have the highest index, 79.1%, of unsatisfied basic human needs, such as potable water, sanitation and adequate housing. The percentage of illiteracy in Chocó, 23.3%, is also significantly higher than any other state. At 89 deaths per 1000 live births, infant mortality in Chocó is nearly four times the national average. Between 1999 and 2005 60,874 people have been violently forced to leave their homes and take refuge in the urban centers of Chocó, 34,163 of them in the
 state capital of Quibdó (www.codhes.org).