New York City Fundraiser

This week I am preparing for the Fundraising party we will be holding in New york City on Monday March 16th at 6.30pm in Brooklyn. For details on the location, please email me! 

This is a hard year for many, we are all in the wheel and less money is coming in and therefore less is available to go out. However the good thing is that its really really easy to support Luna Maya. Our annual budget is only around US$60,000 and with the peso currently at 15 pesos to the dollar I believe we can achieve this goal. 

Funding agencies that have previously supported us, such as Kellogg, Seva and MacArthur Foundation have incurred budget cuts this year and are unable to provide full support. Which is why we are asking the people who believe that natural birth and humanized care for all is a right, even in Chiapas. This morning I read in the Newspaper- Quarto Poder- that 96% of indigenous people in Chiapas lack access to healthcare. We can, and must lower that figure and expect not just healthcare, but excellent, safe, intimate, loving care. 

It is really important to keep in mind that 20% of our clients cannot pay for fees and 40% pay partial fees. Our fees are low- US$10 a consultation or prenatal and US$400 a birth but in Chiapas this is to much for some women. We work with the local women's shelter that houses women expelled from their communities and families because of their pregnancy and provide them with loving care and beautiful births ending long cycles of violence. 

Another important aspect about our fundraiser is that it will be a Lot of Fun! We will have a raffle, the Luna Maya movie- Nacer Renacer will be showing as well as a presentation and printed photographs of our work. More than anything I am really excited about meeting the Luna Maya community in the North and bridging women's lives and stories. 

I really enjoy working with the women of Luna Maya, I learn so much from their kindness, generosity and strength. Each woman that opens her heart to trust us and invites us into her birth is opening a secret door to healing and consciousness. Jenny Blythe, in her book "Birthwork" writes: "Experience being lovingly present opens us to the possibility that working with love is something within our control. Rather than an expendable commodity for a select few, it is the force of attraction and connection that builds and sustains all relationships. At any moment we can choose to close ourselves to love, or open to love- giving and recieving love consciously". In exchange for the support that New Yorkers will provide, we offer this equal commodity of loving care to all mothers and babies- and their papas of course!