The organization Center for Experimentation for Tzeltal Community (CEDECOT) will commence their third year of funding from the Martín-Baró Fund. Through various workshops and co-ed meetings held throughout the 2017-2018 grant year, 60 Tzeltal indigenous women within three different municipalities in the state of Chiapas, Mexico were provided with various tools to combat gender inequality, strengthen their own voice as leaders, and exercise decision-making power within their families, community and municipalities. The workshops were created and designed to educate and develop knowledge within the women on issues of human rights of indigenous women, mental health, and gender equality. The workshops created an overall awareness of the consequences of violence against women and therefore lead to a greater openness and understanding about the importance of women participation in the process of family development. CEDECOT adapted the phrase “Lekilkuxlejalil” which means “if you do not suffer from any type of violence and your rights are respected, you will have a good life.” The meetings that were held by the organization served as a space for the 60 participant women to share successful experiences around violence prevention and the promotion of mental health; this generated collaborative links and actions among the women of the group and were shared with those women from other communities who were not a part of the project for the year. 

In this third year of funding, CEDECOT will be expanding their workshops and meetings including women and men with hopes of having 100 participants within the Tseltal Norte Selva and Altos region located in the municipalities of San Juan Cancuc, Chilón, and Sitalá. The overall objective will now be shifted to training and raising awareness of gender-based violence, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual and reproductive health which will thereby prevent gender-based violence against women that affect their mental health and the violate their human rights. Eight different workshops are expected to be carried out throughout the year that will sensitize Tseltal women who suffer gender violence and decreased mental health on the issue.