Red Wind Councils Announces Holiday Fund Drive

BOSTON - Nov. 19, 2013 - PRLog -- Red Wind Councils begins its annual holiday fund drive this week to support its work with the indigenous Maya people of Chiapas, Mexico.

Based on work begun 30 years ago in Chiapas, Mexico by native spiritual teacher, Ohki Siminé Forest (www.ohkisimineforest.com), Red Wind Councils became a U.S. charitable non-profit organization in 2005 to support the spiritual renewal and social justice struggle of Maya indigenous people.

In their recent 2013 Holiday Newsletter, now available at www.redwindcouncils.org, Red Wind recounted these details from Chiapas:

Christmas in rural Chiapas is primarily a religious holiday.  Christmas Eve is celebrated as “La Noche Buena,” the Good Night. Late into the night in the hills, indigenous pilgrims walk singing and drumming to visit the local manger scene. Christmas Day is a time of family celebration, and while the comparatively wealthier Mexican mestizos feast on chicken mole and chile rellenos, for the majority of indigenous their feast is a simple chicken soup, if they have chicken. In the majority of families, they share the same bean and tortilla meals they eat all year long, perhaps with a little twist of simple corn tamales.

Yet, all the indigenous children are excited by the festival atmosphere though they’re unaware that for many in the world it’s a time of giving and receiving presents. This year, Red Wind Councils wants to give them what they wish for Christmas:

* Ten year old Carlos asks for shoes for himself and his eight siblings.

* Little Angelita is a bright-eyed three year old who wants a new chicken “so there will be eggs for mamá.”

* Juan is a sturdy four year old boy who shyly requests a machete so “he can help in the fields.”

* Six year old Maria wants notebooks for herself and her three older sisters, who are fortunate to go to the indigenous legacy-respecting local community alternative school. She also asks for “some extra tortillas for everyone.”

These impoverished children all want something that impacts those they love – thinking first about their family and community, not just themselves. Helping fulfill their dreams of a better tomorrow for all is the purpose of Red Wind Councils’ annual fundraising newsletter available online at www.redwindcouncils.org.

Red Wind accepts tax-deductible, secure online donations via PayPal.

Red Wind fundraising supports their entirely volunteer efforts to create essential stabilization and restore dignity through sustainable programs in rural Maya communities, impacting hundreds of families. Red Wind has also contributed to the building of two Medicine Centers in Chiapas for assisting the renewal of native spirituality in the face of 520 years of repression. For three decades, Red Wind has been building alliances with the Maya, creating a core of strength and sanity despite their extreme poverty and oppression. Based on the ancient indigenous councils of the Medicine Wheel ways, Red Wind strives to model the restoration of the Maya spiritual and cultural legacy before it disappears. Despite the spiritual and cultural devastation of the indigenous who have been marginalized and impoverished for centuries, the Maya legacy is one of the most profound on this continent. To preserve and restore Council ways, Red Wind works at many levels in assisting the Maya, always respecting the decisions and direction that they indicate, independently of any political or religious affiliation. Red Wind Councils does not impose directions on the people, but consults with them on what they wish to implement in their lives and with their families. Red Wind provides support, advice, ideas and funds to the indigenous for sustainable development, spiritual renewal and cultural projects.

In recent years, their funding partners have included the Rudolf Steiner Foundation, the Levinson Foundation, the James H. Woods Foundation, the Sayler-Hawkins Foundation, One Heart Many Rhythms, and thousands of individual donors.

Their 2013 Holiday Newsletter is available at www.redwindcouncils.org.

Red Wind Councils is a 501(c)(3) organization which fosters spiritual consciousness and a restoration of social justice through indigenous Council Ways. For 30 years their efforts have supported the spiritual renewal and social justice struggle of the Maya people in Chiapas, Mexico.