Calendars benefit Indigenous people

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An Alberta-based group, peppered with members from across the country, is reaching out to help Indigenous people, this year, a Mam-Maya village in Guatemala.

Transgenus International is hoping to raise $9,000 through the sale of calendars that are graced with images of the people who dwell in the village of Comitancillo, located in the western highlands of Guatemala.

"Internationally, when it comes to development, governments have to work with other governments," said Sybille Manneschmidt, a Pincher Creek woman who had her eyes opened when she was doing research for her doctorate in Nepal.

Transgenus International is a small organization that, through the sale of calendars every two years, gives money to Indigenous people to help them develop such things as cultural identity or start income generating projects.

"I liked working with the grassroots organization and bypassing the intermediaries that don't have a sympathy or willingness to follow local groups," said David McNeill, also of Pincher Creek, who's been a member of Transgenus International for the past year.

For McNeill, Transgenus offers him something that organizations like the Red Cross don't: an awareness of where the money needs to be spent and the ability to ensure that the Indigenous people of developing countries also benefit from fundraising.

"I get a far more personal relationship," said McNeill.

But the work can be frustrating.

After raising close to $9,000 for the Kham Magar in Napal through 1995 calendar sales, practically all that money still sits in a Canadian bank account. Political and social changes that have come about over the past few years in Nepal have made it impossible to transfer funds to an account opened in the country and that, said Manneschmidt, is frustrating. Transgenous International has made the decision to freeze funding until such time it can be determined that the money is able to reach the people it is intended for.

"It's sad, because I know how [the money] can be used really beneficially, but the circumstances [in the country] are so complicated," she said.

From this experience, Transgenus International made the decision to work in partnership with existing organizations in Indigenous communities.

The second calendar, which came out in 1997, raised close to $9,000 for the Peigan Nation, in southern Alberta. The decision to go with the Piikani-Blackfoot tipi calendar, in part, was due to Manneschmidt's strong connections on the reserve after 15 years of counseling there and the influence of Transgenus International vice-president Reg Crow Shoe, a member of the Peigan Nation. But instead of working with the band council, Transgenus International worked with the ceremonialists who formed their own non-profit organization and determined how best to spend the funds. Half of the money went towards the purchase of a large tipi to be used for educational and cultural purposes and the other half towards a scholarship to be given to students who excelled in the Blackfoot language.

The 1999 calendar focuses on the Mam-Mayas and came about through contact with the Canadian non-profit organization Pueblo Partisans, out of Edmonton, who approached Transgenus International. With the difficulties encountered in getting funds to the Kham Magar village, Transgenus International jumped at the opportunity to work with the existing infrastructure in the remote Comitancillo. It is hoped that $9,000 can be raised through this calendar with funds going towards creating incoming generating projects for women, basic health education, and sustainable resource education.

But the marketing of this calendar has proven to be more of a challenge than the previous two. With the Nepal calendar focusing on the people and the Himalayas and the Piikani tipi calendars showing painted tipis of the Blackfoot people, these calendars presented something Canadians could find a personal connection with. But the Mam-Mayans don't present that personalconnection.

All three calendars are graced with photographs taken by both professionals and amateurs, who donated their services. Manneschmidt is particularly proud of the look of the calendars, with all photographs used having received permission from the subjects.

"We're not into taking in romanticized notions of Indigenous groups," she said. "We want to show what's really happening in the village. We don't go into cultural exploitation.

To date, about 500 of the 2,000 1999 Mam-Maya of Guatemala calendars have been sold.

Manneschmidt and McNeill encourage those who want to help Indigenous people to look at supporting the effort. With only a small percentage of the money raised going towards the production of the calendars, the rest goes to supporting the people themselves. Administrative costs are picked up through memberships or donated services. And, as McNeill points out, it's a grassroots effort that reaches and benefits the almost unreachable.

Anyone interested in purchasing calendars or finding out more about Transgenus International can do so by contacting the web site at www.canuck.com/transgenus or writing to Transgenus, Box 2154, Pincher Creek, Alberta, T0K 1W0.