Social
Organization in the Service of Improving Living Standards: The
Valle del Yaqui Project |
| The Yaqui of the Valle del Yaqui (Valley of the Yaqui) in the Sonoran Desert, in the State of Sonora Mexico, are one of the more culturally isolated groups in all of Mexico. Living in the midst of one of the economic “boom’ states of the country, and only a few hours drive from the US states of Arizona and California, their economic and social situation nonetheless has deteriorated as consequence of the economic growth of the rest of the surrounding region. Deprived of their traditional hunter/gatherer migratory patterns by the growth of large-scale agriculture for the US marketplace, the Yaqui Indians have for the most part seen their standard of living and their social situation dramatically deteriorate. In response, a highly innovative Sonora wide public/private initiative has emerged, that, though founded in the act of providing appropriate housing to the Yaqui, is also addressing their economic and social situation. PROVAY, the Comite de Promocion Social del Valle del Yaqui (the Committee for the Promotion of the Social Development of the Valley of the Yaqui), has created a populist campaign of the Yaqui, and non-Yaqui population, in collaboration from business, industries, and social organization working in the valley. Using models developed in Asia of community based social banks, and some of the most innovative technologies currently being proposed for strawbale building. The project has been able to help the Yaqui build their own economic and social capacity while attracting significant international funding (e.g. Inter-American Bank) that is acting in service of the projects priorities. This paper will explore, from the perspective of the foundation and development work, the ways in which this model was implemented and has successfully allowed the Yaqui to maintain their cultural/social values while developing their capacity to survive in this economically and socially rapidly transforming region. |