Join us for IRTF's annual human rights banquet with our special guest from El Salvador, Lorena Araujo, president of CRIPDES (Association for Development in El Salvador).
Tickets, sponsorships and more at Commemoration24.eventbrite.com
IRTF Commemoration 2024 form: ad sponsors, group dinner tables, individual tickets here
Raffle/Auction Donation Form is here https://bit.ly/3U14Sql
Please like and share our Facebook event Facebook.com/events/s/irtf-human-rights-banquet
The Human Toll of a "State of Exception"
IRTF annual Commemoration of the Martyrs - Fiesta de Derechos Humanos
Sunday, October 27, 2024 | 4-8pm ET
Pilgrim Congregational Church, 2592 W14th St. Cleveland, Ohio 44113
SCHEDULE
Come for any/all of the event: 4pm social hour and raffle. 5:30pm interfaith ceremony and guest speaker. 7pm Central American dinner
TICKET PRICES (suggested)
Reserved seats: $44. Group dinner tables for 8 ($300 for a table). Walk-ins: $54 at the door. Online/virtual only: $15
DO NOT LET COST BE A DETRRENT FOR YOUR ATTENDANCE! We have discounts for low-income attendees (70% off ticket prices) and we have some FREE tickets available through the generosity of our sponsors and the mutual aid solidarity of several community members. Email C@irtfcleveland.org or text 8577191276 for a code.
Questions/Reservations: Call 216.961.0003 and leave a message with your name and phone
ABOUT THE EVENT
On Sunday, October 27, 2024, the InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF) will commemorate the 44th anniversary of the martyrdom of Clevelanders in El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, four women from the US doing mission work in El Salvador were brutally killed. Among the martyrs were Jean Donovan (alumna of Case Western Reserve University) and Dorothy Kazel (Ursuline Sister from Cleveland, alumna of John Carroll University). They, alongside Maryknoll sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, paid with their lives for deciding to stay in solidarity with oppressed and marginalized peoples, despite the insecurity and political turmoil in El Salvador.
Our organization, IRTF, was founded to carry forward their legacy. Since 1981, we have been promoting peace with justice from Colombia to Canada by organizing Ohioans in education, action, and mutual aid.
This event will be held at Pilgrim Congregational Church in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland. Approximately 250 IRTF friends and supporters will gather for a social hour, sit down dinner and interfaith program. Our keynote speaker will feature CRIPDES from El Salvador.
SPONSORSHIPS/RAFFLE DONATIONS
To commemorate ALL the human rights defenders and empower people to carry on their legacy, we need your help!
We respectfully request that you consider a sponsorship or a donation (gift card or product for our raffle/auction) towards our event.
We hope that you decide to support our work and use this opportunity to promote how your business or organization supports human rights across Abya Yala (aka the Americas)!
To sign up as a sponsor or contribute to our event by donating a gift card or item for the raffle/auction, please see https://bit.ly/3U14Sql or contact promotions@irtfcleveland.org. You can also call us at 216.961.0003.
ONLINE FORMS
Sponorship form here
Group dinner table reservation form here
Raffle/auction donation form here
ABOUT OUR GUEST FROM EL SALVADOR: Lorena Araujo
Lorena Araujo is the current president of the Association for the Development of El Salvador, CRIPDES (U.S- El Salvador Sister Cities’ partner organization in El Salvador). From a young age, she lived through the injustices perpetrated by the Salvadoran land-owning class, leading her to question the realities of the campesinos around her and awaken her social consciousness.
Lorena joined the people’s struggle in 1980 at only 18 years old after the Salvadoran military tortured and killed her parents and siblings. She is a survivor of the 1981 massacres in San Carlos, Cabañas, as well as the 1984 Gualsinga, Chalatenango massacre. In her fight for justice and respect for the people, she has been the victim of detentions and torture carried out by the National Gaurd and the Salvadoran military, and in peacetime, by the National Civil Police while defending water rights.
When CRIPDES was founded in 1984, Lorena played a key role in accompanying refugees returning to El Salvador. She also participated in various dialogues on the transfer of land and the return of communities to their places of origin.
Since that time, she has been part of different decision-making spaces promoting the defense of human rights, community organizing and environmental justice. In La Libertad, she was an alternate deputy for four years before becoming the Governor of the Department of La Libertad.
OTHERS FROM US-EL SALVADOR SISTER CITIES will be on the speaker tour
Zulma Tobar is one of the El Salvador staff of US-El Salvador Sister Cities. She works on issues of education, environmental justice, advocacy and community organizing with rural communities of El Salvador through USESSC and the Association for the Development of El Salvador, CRIPDES.
Zulma is the youngest of six daughters, raised by a single mother who survived the massacre in Guadalupe, Suchitoto in 1983. Zulma was born at the end of the armed conflict and grew up in Cinquera, an organized rural community repopulated by campesinos who had been in shelters and others who came from the mountains.
Zulma learned about processes of community organization, historical memory and solidarity through catechesis used by the ecclesiastic community in grassroots organizing. She has experienced at first hand the importance of being organized for the development of a community. Zulma was a university scholarship recipient supported by the sister committee of Chicago, IL. through USESSC.
Kelly Calles is one of the El Salvador staff of US-El Salvador Sister Cities. She started to work with Sister Cities in April 2024. She has an International Affairs degree, and has participated in several training courses on human rights, governance and democracy. In 2022 she joined civil society organizations to promote democracy JUVENTUD LAC. She has participated in several electoral observation volunteer programs at national and international level as in Peru´s 2022 elections.
She has participated in international youth forums as one from Young American Business Trust, a program from OAS and she has been an intern at the observatory of public policies of Francisco Gavidia University (UFG) in El Salvador. In 2024 she participated in a political program for young people of the Netherlands cooperation.
Emma Folkerts is the U.S Coordinator of US–El Salvador Sister Cities. She first learned about transnational grassroots organizing through Sister Cities’ archives at Montana State University’s (MSU) Public History Lab with Dr. Molly Todd. At MSU, Emma earned an interdisciplinary Bachelor's Degree in political science, economics, and sociology. She started volunteering at Sister Cities after attending the organization’s week-long popular education workshop in Cinquera, Cabañas in 2019. After graduating from college, she worked at an immigration legal services nonprofit in Austin, Texas, that works with low-income immigrants and asylum seekers. Emma became US Coordinator in 2022 and focuses on administrative and financial tasks. This is the first US Tour with Sister Cities that she is participating in. In 2023, Emma had the opportunity to study in Chiapas, Mexico with the Zapatistas, indigenous revolutionaries who govern themselves autonomously. In addition to her work with Sister Cities, she recently co-founded a plumbing worker cooperative and became a nationally certified emergency medical technician (EMT). She lives in Denver, Colorado and is passionate about solidarity work, political education, and exploring mountains.
Maren Walsh is the U.S Grassroots organizer US-El Salvador Sister Cities, and began working with Sister Cities in June, 2024. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in International and Global Studies from Middlebury College in Vermont, as well as a Master’s Degree in Migration Studies from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.
Maren is particularly passionate about the intersection of migration and healthcare. She began volunteering as a medical interpreter for Spanish speaking migrant farmworkers while in college in Vermont, and conducted her Master’s research on access to healthcare for migrant women in California and Texas. She continued to work with migrant farmworkers as a Community Health Worker with Maine Mobile Health Program.
In addition to her work with US- El Salvador Sister Cities, Maren currently works at a migrant shelter in Tapachula, Mexico, where she provides accompaniment to migrants arriving at Mexico’s southern border.
OTHER INFO ABOUT THE EVENT
How can I attend the event virtually?
Register for the event and make sure you include your email! We will send the link to all attendees in case anyone has to stay home for any reason. The log on for our program from 5:30-7pm ET.
Are children allowed to attend the in-person event?
Yes! We will have some kids activities provided so you can relax and have one less thing to worry about.
Accessibility: What is the event venue like?
The faith community hosting us has a fully accessible historic building. There is a spacious elevator to get to every floor, or the option of steps or ramps. Our food offering will include gluten free, dairy free, vegan and vegetarian options. Please alert us to life threatening allergies.
COVID precautions?
Masks are strongly encouraged. If you're feeling sick, please stay home. Cannot guarantee masks will be worn while food is served. We will miss our immunocompromised friends in-person, but would love for you to join us online from 5:30-7pm ET!
Do I need to speak / understand Spanish to participate?
No. Our guest speaker from El Salvador will be presenting in Spanish with English interpretation. Interpreters will volunteer their time both in-person and online for those who are attending virtually. If you know someone whose primary language is Spanish and they are concerned about not understanding the English, please alert us so that we can accommodate them as well.
Other questions? contact promotions@irtfcleveland.org or call 216 961 0003.
We hope to see you on Sunday, October 27, either on line or in person in Cleveland, Ohio!
