PSYDEH is a non-profit organization that works with rural and Indigenous women from the Otomi-Tepehua region in Mexico. Empowering women socially and economically through personal and professional development, and helping them to understand their rights, PSYDEH is unconventional in bringing the history of feminism into all their program, and valuing the progress made against patriarchal oppression worldwide. We spoke to Hannah to get to know the organization a little more intimately.
Q: Tell me a bit about you and your journey to PSYDEH? (Why do you work on these topics, how has your personal journey influenced you to do this?) A: During the pandemic, I started a mutual aid project with others in Mexico City to create a network of aid, support, and allies. Through that work, I was miraculously connected to PSYDEH and invited aboard. In college, I studied community & justice studies and documentary film. Feminism, community organizing, and storytelling have always been through lines in my life. Over the last 2.5 years with PSYDEH all of these threads have been woven together in entirely new ways.
Q: What are the principles that PSYDEH stands for and why? A: PHDYDEH believes that it is necessary and urgent to build spaces that are constructed for women and by women. We don’t come from the ou
tside with solutions but we co-create solutions through active feedback loops. Also, all of our programming is led by a mighty group of women from and based in the region where we work. This is critical to our success. We see storytelling, creativity, and innovation as essential tools to create sustainable impact. PSYDEH’s community-driven model prioritizes women's involvement to address rural Mexico's inequality. By using dynamic methodologies like Paolo Freire's education model and adrienne maree brown's emergent strategy, the organization empowers women in co-creating sustainable social and economic opportunities, fostering paradigm change and lasting impact.
Q: I see you cover really a lot of areas from tech access to women empowerment, how does this comprehensive approach work?
A: Our approach is comprehensive, it understands that gender inequality stems from systemic imbalances and so we tackle our work through a dynamic and multi disciplinary approach. We prioritize active listening, feedback loops, and adaptability, as opposed to being rigid, bloated bureaucratic systems that miss the mark and don’t effectively respond to real human needs, our team has become very nimble, collaborative, and creative in order to foster meaningful, sustainable impact that honors the contexts of the communities where we work. I truly learn so much and the work is always beautiful, challenging, and activating.
Q: If you could describe your vision for PSYDEH in one word what would it be and why? A: Proceso. Our team always uses the expression "es un procesooooooo", dragged out as long as we have breath, to honor that our individual and collaborative visions are always a work in progress. There is no destination. We are humans and it is messy, beautiful, and non-linear. My vision is that PSYDEH continues to embrace our work as an ongoing, unfolding process towards increased alignment with our shared values - with justice, with love, with stewardship, with equality, with peace. This vision, centered on learning and growth, is one I hold for myself, for our team, for our women partners, for the communities where we work, for the country we share, and beyond.
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