When women thrive, communities thrive: Join us at the 2011 Bioneers Conference for a day-long workshop on Leadership!

We are delighted to announce that the WEA Team, as part of the 2011 Bioneers Conference's Cultivating Women's Leadership program, will be leading a special one-day intensive workshop, "Leadership at the Nexus: When Women Thrive, Communities Thrive." On Monday, October 17th, WEA Directors Amira Diamond, Caitlin Sislin, Gemma Bulos, Maame Yelbert-Obeng, Melinda Kramer, and Rucha Chitnis will offer a day of inspiration as they share stories from around the globe of women leaders who are cultivating transformation in the face of climate change and environmental degradation.

We invite you to come along with us on this leadership journey for our 2 sessions during Bioneers—Friday, October 14 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm and Monday, October 17th 9:00 am - 5:30 pm. Bioneers is offering friends of Women's Earth Alliance a 20% discount on tickets to attend the event, which will feature extraordinary women leaders and innovators with breakthrough solutions for some of the gravest issues of our time. You can purchase your discounted tickets here by using the discount code Women20. 

Join the Women's Earth Alliance Team as we connect to the diverse and powerful movement for uplifting women's leadership and engaged activism. Clarify your own vision as a leader by drawing upon courageous stories of women who ignite and sustain environmental and social change around the world.  We'll also share some tried and true leadership tools we've used over the years.

Together, we will practice the art of collaborative leadership to discover how we can help restore the balance in the world by showing up, listening, and acting in solidarity. Join us!

When I grow up, I want to be an engineer!

Photos and Text by Beth Robertson (Research Fellow)

2011 Grassroots Training Participants and Katuuso Primary School Students during the VIP Latrine Construction

At Katuuso Primary School in Uganda—the site where the 2011 GWWI East Africa Grassroots Training built and handed over two water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) technologies—the students, especially the girls, were shocked to see women constructing rainwater harvesting (RWH) tanks and ventilated improved pits (VIP) latrines to serve the campus’ 600 students. The girls at the school never thought that women could build these technologies. Why would they, when they had been socialized to believe that this was a man’s job?

Many hands make light work: Brick assembly line during the VIP construction

During the two weeks spent in Katuuso Primary School, training participants learned practical skills to construct water technologies, and in the process began to transform into role models for the female students. Working alongside our young sisters and under the guidance of two African women facilitating the technology trainings, these students learned that women could be community change-makers and still be mothers and caretakers. As we stood in lines passing bricks to each other for construction, we began to hear the students say, I want to be an engineer when I grow up! 

Katuuso Primary School students present during the technology handover ceremony

Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest of places at the most unexpected times. The broader grassroots training crew may not have been masons, carpenters, technicians or trained engineers; but they were certainly community leaders making a difference at the school, and in the process shifting the view of women’s capabilities among the student body. When four young women representing the Katuuso student body spoke at the handing-over ceremony and shared their perceptions of the women they had seen in action, they uttered—Women can do anything. We are women, we can too!

Katuuso Priamary School students celebrate during the GWWI Technology Handover Ceremony!

Out of sight is not out of mind

As you know, the Africa Team just returned from Uganda, having worked alongside GWWI and our partners from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to address the myriad environmental challenges facing women and girls. We specifically had dialogues around the impact of climate change on women and girls and together strategized and developed skills on appropriate water, sanitation, and hygiene--WASH technologies.

We also made connections between climate change and how it severely impacts farming and food security. In addition to learning to construct solar cook kits that utilize the energy of the sun to cook and to pasteurize water, we were introduced to fireless cookers, another technology that enables women to cook without having to go collect firewood. Inevitably, issues around climate change and access to safe water link the rights of women to access and use land as farmers.


Right now in Uganda, there is concern around President Museveni's decision to "hand out part of Mabira rainforest to sugar manufacturer-SCOUL to grow sugarcane." According to this article, the impact of the President's decision will be three-fold: economic, political, and environmental. Already, "the pearl of Africa", whose potential to become an agricultural superpower depends on environmental balance, is being pounded by torrential rain that has caused severe flooding, death, and has destroyed livelihoods.

Even though the first phase of the 2011 East African Women and Water Training has ended and the Africa Team is back from Uganda, we continue to stand in solidarity with our Ugandan partners.

Meet the Summer Interns!

It's hard to believe it's already the end of August. What a productive summer at Women's Earth Alliance, and what a talented group of Summer Interns. They contributed so much to WEA, and we are grateful for all their hard work. Take a moment to meet them!

KAHEA PACHECO - Legal Research Intern for the North America Program

1. Where are you from? I’m from Honomu, HI – a little plantation village on the rainy, Hamakua coast of the Big Island.

2. What brings you to Berkeley for the summer? I’ve actually been living in Oakland for the past 5 years.  I moved to the Bay for law school in 2006, graduated with my JD in 2009, and have been living and working in the area ever since!

3. What drew you to apply to be an intern at WEA?  I found WEA through a posting on the University of San Francisco School of Law career opportunities board.  I remember thinking that WEA seemed like such a great organization; it would be an opportunity for me to do the type of research I loved with indigenous communities.  So I contacted Caitlin Sislin (North America Program Director) to ask more about the NAP – as I had specialized in Federal Indian law and had focused a lot on environmental law in law school – and here I am now!

4. And what is your role at WEA? I am the summer legal research intern for the North America Program.

5. What do you like most about your work with WEA?  I think there really is something to be said about doing what you love.  And I love doing research on environmental issues and working with (and for) indigenous communities.  Aside from that, however, I think what I love most about being an intern at WEA is the work environment that WEA fosters.  It’s such a positive, supportive place to be, where your health and happiness are just as important as the work you do.

6. Has anything surprised you about your internship?  I came from a work environment that was very different from WEA’s, so I think what pleasantly surprised me most was that supportive aspect I spoke of before.  I think I’m also just learning so much more about the environmental issues facing indigenous communities, things I didn’t think of before, and that’s been surprising and rewarding.

7. What do you do in the Bay Area when you aren’t in the office?  I like to have BBQ’s with friends, get out of the city into wide open spaces, take day trips to places I’ve never been before, go on hikes with my dog…

8. Any advice for future WEA interns?  Really take advantage of this opportunity to work with amazing women, in an amazing office, doing really meaningful work.  Try to be a sponge – just take in as much as you can at all times, because every second is a chance to learn more about the issues WEA works on, your coworkers, or the kind of career that celebrates the work/life balance.

9. What is one thing your WEA coworkers don’t know about you?  I have a crazy addiction to Diet Coke that I’ve been trying to kick for months now.  Some months are better than others. 

SOPHIE FRIED - North America Program Intern

1. Where are you from? Washington DC.

2. How did you end up over here on the best coast? I graduated from Pitzer College in May 2010, and moved up to San Francisco shortly thereafter. I have been working at WEA since last November. I'm currently studying for the LSAT,and hope to be going to law school or continuing to work on issues of environmental justice in the next couple of years.

3. Sounds like you have it all planned out! What drew you to apply to be an intern in the first place? I heard about WEA through a former professor. My values align so closely with WEA's mission and development model that I knew I had to be involved in this work in any capacity.

4. What is your role at WEA? I am a Jane of all Trades! I did social media for a while--managing our Twitter and Facebook accounts, and now I support our North America program director, Caitlin Sislin, in her work on the upcoming Advocacy Training this November.

5. What is your favorite thing about being an intern at WEA? I feel like I am doing good work. This is the way development should be done--WEA takes a holistic approach and invests not only in projects, but in the lives of women. We are continuously building a web of powerful relationships the world over in an effort to uplift women and in turn, protect the earth. So, yea, I guess you could say I enjoy being a part of that ;)

6. Has anything surprised you about your internship? I could not have anticipated how I would grow to love the people I work with at WEA. It is not fair to call them "co-workers" They are friends, allies, mentors, and sisters. I am constantly inspired by the spirits of my sisters. 

7. That is amazing. So when you aren’t in the office, what do you do with your spare time? The Bay Area has a rich and vibrant culture which I try to enjoy as much as I can. I attend lots of art walks, festivals, concerts and the like. I also love being outdoors, and I live right next to Tilden Park, so I feel very blessed!

8. Advice for future WEA interns? You should feel encouraged to bring your unique gifts to WEA's work. Share your ideas and voice your opinions, you will be heard!

9. What is one thing your WEA coworkers don’t know about you? I share so much with them! But I bet they don't know that I'm terrified of clowns. Really, really not amused by them at all.

KAITLIN SWARTS - Research and Social Media Intern

1. Where are you from? Austin, Texas.

2. How did you make it all the way to Berkeley for the summer? I graduated from Pomona College in southern California two years ago.  A lot of Pomona alumni end up in the Bay Area, so it was only natural for me to migrate back to the west coast eventually. 

3. How did you hear about WEA? I was living in Peru and knew I wanted to move to the Bay Area when I got back to the states.  While searching for sustainable development organizations, I came across WEA.  I couldn’t believe how my beliefs were completely aligned with WEA’s mission and methodology.  The more I read about WEA, the more I knew I wanted to work for an organization that goes about sustainable development in the right way: by listening to communities and empowering local women leaders.  Even though I was still going to be in Peru for another several months, I felt immediately compelled to write WEA a love letter.  

4. And what do you do at WEA? I am the Research and Social Media Intern, but as the other interns have expressed, I feel very lucky that I get to touch projects in lots of different areas.  Every day is different.  It ranges from sending out weekly news briefs to our three programs, to doing preliminary research for future projects, to managing the WEA blog and working on WEA’s social media outreach.  

5. What is your favorite thing about being a WEA intern? I love getting to come to work and feel good about the work I am doing—I leave the office in an even better mood than I come in with!  As an intern, you tend to get handed a random assortment of tasks, but at WEA, I have never felt disconnected from our mission.  Every day, I know that the work I am doing is in some way helping to empower women to unlock their own solutions to food, land, and water issues around the world.  What could be better than that? 

6. Has anything surprised you about your internship or WEA in general? Before WEA, I worked for a year in the corporate world, so where do I even start? Hugs on my first day of work, coworkers asking me how my weekend was and genuinely being interested in my answer, it being ok to take off my shoes in the office, 2pm stretch breaks, getting to interact with the Co-Directors on a daily basis…the list goes on. 

7. When you aren’t at WEA, where can we find you? I am new to the Bay Area, so I am still busy exploring my new home. The Bay is truly a hub of dynamic people and places—I am constantly amazed by what this area has to offer. So if you are looking for me, I’m probably either trying to figure out MUNI in the city or hiking in the East Bay. I am always open to suggestions for new things to try! Oh, and I attempt to maintain my soccer skills by playing in an adult league.  

8. Do you have any advice for future WEA interns? Rather than trying to formulate expectations for what your internship will be, remain open to supporting the WEA team on a wide range of projects. You will be surprised by what you will learn.  Before my internship, I had never even been on Twitter. Now I spend my free time reading up on social media strategy and looking for interesting things to retweet.

9. What is one thing your WEA coworkers don’t know about you? I've sang and played piano my whole life, so I was so excited to learn on my first day that my new coworkers like to celebrate and sing at events, at work—really, any time! I am very shy at first, but hopefully one day I will be able to bust out into song with everyone! 

CODY DUNITZ - General Intern

1. Where are you from? Santa Monica, California.

2. What brings you to Berkeley for the summer? I’m a third year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, and have been working and taking classes over the summer.

3. What drew you to apply to be an intern at WEA? I heard about WEA from Ariana Katovich, one of the directors at Earth Island.  I took a tour of the Brower Center with her, and when I saw WEA and heard about the awesome things the organization was doing and what it stood for, I knew right away I wanted to get involved somehow!

4. And what exactly do you do as an intern? I do social media, Salesforce (donor tracking), school outreach, and any other projects or tasks the WEA team needs help with.

5. What is your favorite thing about interning at WEA? I have learned so much over the course of the last few months working at WEA, it’s hard to narrow it down.  One thing I have really enjoyed is that I have felt such an awesome sense of community and love both in the office and in every project that WEA takes on outside the office.  I have also enjoyed the various projects I've done, and getting to collaborate with others on some of them.

6. Has anything surprised you about WEA? The first thing that comes to mind is how much emphasis WEA places on personal relationship and individual care--in every aspect that I've experienced while working here, whether it's with fellow WEA team members or anyone outside the office, the WEA team demonstrates diligence and care.  This is not surprising given how WEA is as an organization, but rather because I've never worked with an organization that placed such importance on this aspect before.

7. What do you do in the Bay Area when you aren’t interning? Spend time with friends and family, hike and spend time outdoors, play guitar and sing, read, check out fun restaurants and cook.

8. Any advice for future WEA interns? Ask for support when you need it (because you will get it!) but don’t be afraid to take on challenges head first and make projects your own. Take time to appreciate the great, personal work environment WEA has created.  One thing that was discussed in the 2011 GWWI Uganda pre-departure meeting that really stuck with me was how important it is to work from the heart; service work is only meaningful if you are doing it with honest and loving intentions, and I think what’s so special about the way WEA works.

9. What is one thing your WEA coworkers don’t know about you? I’m a total geography nerd.  

SUSAN MA - Operations Intern, North America Program Intern

1. Where are you from? Los Angeles, CA.

2. What brings you up north? I live and go to school in Oakland, so Berkeley is not too far away.

3. How did you hear about WEA? I heard about WEA through Idealist.org. I looked at their intern openings, red their "about" section, and thought to myself, "who wouldn't want to work with strong, empowered women that are trying to create change in the world?"

4. Agreed. And what do you do at WEA? I mainly work with WEA's finances, but I also support the North America Program.

5. What do you like most about interning at WEA? The work and the environment.

6. Has anything surprised you about your internship or WEA in general? Every time I attend a WEA event or meet a WEA supporter, I get surprised in a good way.

7. What do you do in the Bay Area when you aren't interning? Study...or craft or play a sport, but mostly study.

8. Any advice for future WEA interns? Enjoy the ride, and make sure you really get to know the people around you! They're pretty amazing.

9. What is one thing your WEA coworkers don't know about you? I don't have an answer to that question.

*Emily Robbins, not pictured here, was our Media Production Intern. You can view some of her beautiful work here

small tools, BIG transformation.

By Maame Yelbert-Obeng (Africa Program Director) with support from Kaitlin Swarts (2011 Intern)

The Africa Team is back from Uganda!

This month, we welcomed back the Africa Team from the 2011 East African Women and Water Training in Uganda.  This was our third Global Women and Water Initiative (GWWI) Training, following the 2008 and 2010 Trainings in Kenya and Ghana.  GWWI began in 2008 as a collaborative venture between Women's Earth Alliance, A Single Drop, and Crabgrass and is currently a program of Women's Earth Alliance in partnership with Crabgrass. In line with our values of recognizing the importance of home grown and locally-led solutions, GWWI builds partnerships with Africa-based organizations and African women trainers to undertake its training programs. In Uganda, we worked alongside a Uganda-based organization, iCon Women and Young People’s Leadership Academy, to amplify the voices and inclusion of grassroots women in the WASH sector.  Furthermore, GWWI knows the power of building alliances with men, and our training programs invite men to support this vision.  The GWWI Trainings create a space for women to connect, engage in dialogues around leadership and climate change, and develop specific technology skills to address issues of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

In 2011, GWWI featured two complementary trainings—the Advanced and Grassroots Trainings—over a two-week period from July 4-18.  We were thrilled to have some former graduates from 2008 participate in the 2011 East Africa Training as trainers-in-training.  We also welcomed 10 Fellows—four East African women and six international women—to offer peer support and in the process, enhance their knowledge and understanding of WASH-related issues. The Advanced Training laid the foundation for the strategies that were explored in the Grassroots Training.

Thirty-two women from communities across Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, joined the 24 women from the Advanced Training in the Grassroots Training. Over the course of the week, the women learned hands-on WASH technologies, engaged in group sessions, and upon completion of the Training, received seed grants to support the implementation of water projects in their communities. The teams of women representing their communities came to the Training having conducted a basic needs assessment to determine the appropriate technologies to address WASH needs in their communities.

Building on past trainings, participants focused on various aspects of WASH, including sanitation, water access, water quality, and alternative energy.  In addition to studying the theory behind these technologies, women learned to construct a ventilated improved pit latrine (or a VIP latrine), a rainwater harvesting system, a biosand filter, and solar cook kits. They also learned games designed for community sensitization and to improve hygiene and sanitation habits. The VIP latrine helps to improve sanitation by providing alternatives to open defecation and poor disposal of human waste, while the rainwater harvesting system allows for the collection and storage of large quantities of rainwater that can be accessed year-round. Biosand filters remove harmful bacteria from water, and the solar cook kits can be used for a variety of purposes, including cooking and pasteurizing water for drinking. The African continent is blessed with incredible natural resources like the sun.  Our hope is that the solar cook kits will optimize the abundance of this resource, and in the process, promote the well-being of women and girls who otherwise would be spending their time out of school and walking long distances to collect water and fuel facing the risk of violence.

Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine

Rainwater Harvesting Tank

Biosand Filter

Solar Cook Kits

Investing in women transcends beyond hands-on skills and access to resources, to creating spaces for women to re-define gender roles and build their confidence and self-esteem as whole women leaders. The steps to building the water technologies enable women to break the stereotypes of women's capabilities and allow women to identify with roles beyond that of mothers and caretakers, to non-traditional ones such as carpenters, masons, and technicians.

Our time together in Uganda also allowed for dialogue around the direct impacts of climate change on women and girls, as well as the access to and quality of water. Out of this dialogue came ways in which women can draw upon their leadership, knowledge of technology, and support networks to respond to the environmental challenges they face. 

As women remain at the helm of collecting and allocating water for various uses, it becomes even more critical to listen to their voices and apply their wisdom to designing efficient and effective solutions to water-related issues. 

As the participants of the 2011 East Africa Training continue on this year-long program, they will implement two WASH projects with their target communities and with support from GWWI, the Trainers, and the Fellows. The Women and Water Trainings is one of several strategies in the larger response to the varying impacts of climate change on women and girls. We cannot wait to see how our partners in East Africa will build alliances with more women, girls, and men to begin a process to transform their communities!

Take Action Today!

Support the protection of a Northern Arizona holy mountain

Northern Arizona ski resort Arizona Snowbowl has begun the construction of a 14.8 mile pipeline that will trasnport up to 180 million gallons of treated sewage water from the City of Flagstaff to the ski area, for artificial snowmaking.

Not only will the proposed 10 million gallon wastewater pool harm the environment and public health (the treated sewage water has been proven to contain contaminants), but it will destroy land that is holy to more than 13 Indigenous Nations.  The peaks are their place of worship, where deities reside, and where they go to collect medicine and herbs.

Klee Benally, who was arrested on Saturday August 13 for disorderly conduct and trespassing, explains: "How can I be 'trespassing' on this site that is so sacred to me?  This is my church.  It is the Forest Service and Snowbowl who are violating human rights and religious freedom by desecrating this holy Mountain."

With just a few minutes, you can take meaningful action to protect the Peaks.  Call the USDA, which oversees the Forest Service, and let them know you support the preservation of this sacred mountain.


Take Action:

1. TODAY: take 5 minutes to call Tom Vilsack of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to urge the USDA to place an administrative hold on all development of the SF Peaks. Phone: (202) 720-3632
2. THURSDAY: show your support by participating in the Protect the San Francisco Peaks Protests in Vallejo, CA 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm.  Meet at the Pacific Southwest Regional Forest Service Office: 1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, CA
3. Contact Flagstaff City Officials and urge them to respect the environment, Indigenous culture, and protect public health by finding a way out of their contract to sell Snowbowl wastewater.  Phone: (928) 779-7699 Email: council@flagstaffaz.gov

A Trainer-in-Training shares her story from the 2011 East African Women and Water Advanced Training

The following blog post was written by Advanced Training Participant Nansubuga Immaculate.  Immaculate is a Trainer-In-Training at the 2011 East African Women and Water Advanced Training in Kampala, Uganda, where she is training to become a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) practitioner. She has come to the training from Katosi, Uganda, along with two other women from her organization, Rose and Mastuula, who participated in the Grassroots Women and Water training.  You can read Immaculate's inspiring story below.

Nansubuga Immaculate (in pink hat) at the 2011 GWWI Training in Uganda.

While at work, my boss sent me a link to the 2011 Global Women’s Water Initiative (GWWI) East African Women and Water Training in Kampala, Uganda and encouraged me to look it up and apply. Honestly, it took me a whole week to visit the link. But when I did, I just knew I could not miss out on this opportunity. Prior to the training, I believed that I was not a whole woman leader, even though my profession required good leadership traits. Despite this, I wanted to attend the GWWI training because I considered it a great opportunity to elevate my Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) skills and bring positive change to the Mukono community, especially among the women from Katosi Women Development Trust (KWDT).  The action-planning component of the Training appealed to me. I have always wanted to know how to make an action plan and be able to implement the strategies from start to finish. Despite my keen interest, I questioned my ability to contribute to and qualify for the 2011 GWWI Training. After all, I had never attended a GLOBAL conference before.

Despite my fear, I was selected to be a participant (Trainer-in-Training) of the first annual GWWI Advanced Training Program, where I joined an amazing group of women leaders from around the world to discuss water and sanitation issues that threaten East Africa. During the training, I yearned to be a loud and strong speaker, but I realized that I am soft-voiced. Thank God for the Personal SWOT  [Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats] analysis. Through this exercise, my leadership style was realized, and I gradually understood that my weaknesses are another’s strengths and that working together makes our impact stronger. I am now content with my communication skills. I am soft-voiced, but firm and eloquent, which is an added advantage while facilitating trainings, interviews, and the one-on-one conservations that I facilitated during the Grassroots Training. Using my new-found strengths, I discovered that though quiet of voice, I can still be a strong lobby for rural communities to achieve equal development.

Katosi Women Development Trust (KWDT) selected Rose and Mastuula to attend the 2011 Grassroots Training in Kampala. Mastuula and Rose saw the training as a great opportunity to learn to construct a Biosand Water Filter (BSF) to increase access to clean water in women-run households throughout the Katosi District. At the training they stood beside their East African sisters, affirming that women are the water stewards in their communities and have to stand up and act for themselves--especially widows. Women should stop self-pitying themselves because it is a strong contributing factor to under-development in rural communities. Through the training, they embraced the power of collective sharing, working in sisterhood with participants from communities throughout East Africa to change attitudes and negative behaviors of communities towards water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

At the training, we learned that it is crucial to consider and integrate all community stakeholders and their needs when establishing any new water project. We covered sessions on climate change, leadership, WASH and appropriate technologies. The climate change sessions really resonated with me. In my community, climate change and its impacts are gradually affecting the livelihoods of the rural people. Their economies, health and environment are dwindling. The last long dry spells early this year affected agricultural productions and contributed to scarcity of water. Three KWDT women’s cows died and over ten were infected with diseases. The reduction in food productivity led to malnutrition, and scarcity of water increased poor sanitation--especially in schools and communal centers. My team identified the need for our community to be sensitized and made aware of the climate change impacts, mitigation, and adaptation techniques.

And to achieve my team’s WASH vision of “increased accessibility to clean safe drinking water in rural households,” we have to use an inclusive and participatory approach.  My team wants to achieve this big vision of all rural women living healthy lives and empowered to participate in economic, social, and political development processes. We also want to be free from dependency and achieve self-supply of not only WASH facilities, but also what the world offers for a better change among rural women.

So, this training is a big step to achieving our goal. Though this is a big challenge ahead of Katosi Women, we have to put the fears aside and stand strongly to achieve this.

Thanks to Gemma, Jan, Maame, Debbie, Beth, Women’s Earth Alliance, iCON, Crabgrass, the GWWI participants, the strong communities and NGOs for enabling us to take this step.

EEEEEE….. WOMAN EEEE…!!!

Saving the San Francisco Peaks

The San Francisco Peaks

Plans are underway to lay down 14 miles of pipeline up to the top of the San Francisco Peaks where a 10 million gallon wastewater reservoir will be created to generate artificial snow. Why? To increase the number of annual skiable days at Arizona Snowbowl.

The Peaks, which rise to 12,000 feet above Flagstaff, Arizona at the Western edge of Navajo lands, are regarded as a sacred place to thirteen indigenous tribes in the Northern Arizona region.

The Hopi believe that ancestral kachina spirits live atop the mountain, and cause the rain and snow to fall—and that natural snowmaking cycles may cease if the kachinas witness humans manufacturing snow. Yavapai-Apache Chairman Vincent Randall describes the San Francisco Peaks as one of the "sacred places where the Earth brushes up against the unseen world.” And the mountain’s traditional Navajo name is Doo'ko'oosliidd, which means "Shining On Top," and has traditionally been accessed by medicine men for the collection of herbs for healing ceremonies.

The ski area, which was originally built in the 1930’s and expanded significantly in 1979 despite protests and lawsuits, has been the site of years of struggle for tribes including the Hopi, Navajo, Havasupai, Hualapai, Yavapai Apache, and White Mountain Apache.

Opponents of the wastewater plan filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the National Environmental Protection Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. The case moved through the courts until a 12-judge 9th Circuit Court ruled that the artificial snowmaking system was innocuous because Navajo tradition is merely a “subjective spiritual experience,” thus not entitled to legislative protection.

Citizens filed a second lawsuit asserting that the federal government did not properly and adequately review the potential environmental and public health risks associated with the use of artificial snow. In December 2010, U.S. Federal Judge Mary Murguia ruled that the U.S. Forest Service did, in fact,adequately consider the safety of using reclaimed water to generate artificial snow. Murguia’s December 2010 decision is now on appeal before the 9th circuit.

The San Francisco Peaks are to the Colorado Plateau tribes what the most revered sanctuaries are to people of Western monotheistic traditions: a holy place. To contaminate the Peaks with the artificial snowmaking system would be equivalent to building a 10 million gallon sewage pool on the floors of Westminster Abbey. Can this be considered a “subjective spiritual experience”?

One activist explains her reaction: “This last court decision for us told us that our cultural belief, our spiritual belief, is not a valid religion—it’s subjective spiritual feelings. For traditional people who have grown up with our identity and who carry on these ways of life since the beginning of time and want to ensure that our children have these spiritual connections as well, to be told that your ways of life, your culture, is a spiritual subjective feeling, is one of the most painful feelings that I think anybody could ever feel. That you believe, what your ancestors have fought for, what they’ve carried on, what they’ve died for, is not valid.”

Stay tuned to www.truesnow.org for updates on the efforts to protect the Peaks from contamination.

Scenes from the 2011 East African Women and Water Training

The 2011 East African Women and Water Training in Uganda has concluded, and what a success it was!  We invite you to take a look at photos from these inspiring two weeks:



Be sure to check back in with us---we will be posting more on the Training soon.  We can't wait to share with you all of the behind-the-scenes stories!

10K and one week to go to meet our 150K match from the 2011 Gala!

Dear Friends,

The train keeps on moving at Women's Earth Alliance, but we want to take a moment to remember the previous stop: our 5-Year Anniversary Gala, Unlocking the Future. The night was a resounding success; we raised our voices, we laughed and celebrated, no one's car got towed, and thanks to the generosity of our attendees and sponsors, we came within $10,000 of reaching our $150,000 match for 2011. We have a short period of time to complete this challenge. Please jump on the train with a contribution today, either online or by check to Women's Earth Alliance, 2150 Allston Way, Suite 460, Berkeley, CA 94704. Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar!

Read more about the Gala, see photos and watch videos here.