Valuing Partnership

Perspective on Partnership – A Message from SiKanda in Mexico

EMpower partners with more than 100 local grantee organizations in 15 emerging market countries. Solidaridad Internacional Kanda, A.C. (SiKanda) in Mexico is one example. Through our 5-year partnership, they have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of young people living in and around Oaxaca’s largest garbage dump.

Here is a personal note from SiKanda that reflects the power of partnership.

Dear EMpower and EMpower supporters,

Thank you.

We have found an ally in EMpower. You have enabled us to work with youth more effectively—particularly young women—and to focus on positively impacting young people, their families and communities.

We have found a committed partner in EMpower. You listen to us carefully and you focus on nurturing a long-term collaboration. Your support enables us to focus on the deepest and most complex social problems, like violence prevention. Your funding allows us to be flexible and to attend to the changing conditions of the context in which we work.

But, you give us much more than financial support.

You bring EMpower partners together, along with young people, to collaborate. Together, we find a space to reflect on how to improve our programs, exchange ideas with other EMpower partner organizations, and share our work, successes and challenges. We can put innovative work to the test, to open new possibilities of transformation. This space for dialogue—with other partner organizations and the girls and young people who are invited to share their experiences—allows us to learn.

EMpower, you have allowed us to experiment, and to test a new methodology to strengthen protections against sexual violence with children and adolescents, through storytelling and recreational activities. This pilot was very successful, and we have integrated it into the core work of our organization.

With the possibility of having recurring and long-term grants, you enable us to plan initiatives over several years, reducing the stress and volatility of projects that are only financed once and done. This long-term collaboration has allowed us to strengthen our institutional and operational capabilities.

Your feedback and ideas motivate us to continue our (often difficult, but rewarding) work with the young people who live around the garbage dumps of Oaxaca.

We sincerely thank you for all of the support and thought partnership you give us. Abrazos del equipo de SiKanda (Hugs from the SiKanda team)!

Bárbara Lazcano

Directora de Vinculación y Desarrollo

Sikanda (Solidaridad Internacional Kanda, A.C.)

Oaxaca, Mexico