Addressing the Roots of the Climate Crisis By Jed Koball | Joining Hands Catalyst for Extractive industries, Human Rights, and the Environment Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all costs get gold! – King Ferdinand of Spain, 1511 First, they came for the gold. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador, stood face to face… Read more »
August 25, 2023
Standing with Atahualpa
Addressing the Roots of the Climate Crisis By Jed Koball | Joining Hands Catalyst for Extractive industries, Human Rights, and the Environment Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all costs get gold! – King Ferdinand of Spain, 1511 First, they came for the gold. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador, stood face to face… Read more »
Advances and challenges in the struggle for comprehensive care for exposed communities By Milushka Rojas Mezarino | Coordinator of the Red Uniendo Manos Peru *This article is an abridged version, the original version published in Spanish can be found on the Red Uniendo Manos Peru’s blog Peru is characterized as a country that is purely… 
By Josephine Maidjane, Guy Le Brun and Jaff Bamenjo | RELUFA, Cameroon The East Region of Cameroon has attracted local artisanal miners for decades in search of gold and diamonds, working with rudimentary tools. And since 2016, semi-mechanized mining companies, primarily from Asia and South Africa have started to flock to the zone. Semi-mechanized mining… 
The Republic of Cameroon is a participant of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. The Kimberley Process is meant to increase transparency and oversight in the diamond industry, as well as eliminate conflict diamonds. RELUFA, the Joining Hands network in Cameroon, is a member of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition (KPCSC). The KPCSC observes the… 
By Milushka Rojas | Coordinator, Red Uniendo Manos Perú Perú is a country blessed by its natural riches in which we continue to learn to value cultural, geographic, economic, and political diversity. I remember my parents were always questioning and reflecting on the problems of Perú. In 2000, when our country was experiencing the end… 
By Jed Koball | Mission Co-worker, Peru Inside the government palace, sitting at the opposite end of the conference table from Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez, Yolanda Zurita, representing communities affected by toxic metal poisoning in Peru, posed the question, ‘Why not ease our suffering by implementing our dream – a comprehensive and integrated health care… 
Joining Hands mourns the loss of a friend and a powerful advocate for change in Congo By Valery Nodem | Presbyterian Hunger Program Staff We are very saddened about the passing of our friend, colleague, and partner Jean Marie Kabanga. Jean Marie was the coordinator of the Platform of Organizations of Civil Society Intervening… 
Sojourning with Joining Hands towards Global Solidarity By Jed Koball | Mission Co-worker Peru In a shanty town on the edge of Manila, families gathered their belongings as bulldozers waited on the fringes ready to raze their homes. Preparing to receive world leaders for a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the government of… 
By Jed Koball | Mission Co-worker Peru In the midst of a pandemic lockdown in Peru, Joining Hands partners continued their advocacy work online and gained a significant victory in the fight for environmental health justice in La Oroya. By Supreme Decree 034-2020 PCM, the Prime Minister of Peru declared in July the formation of… 
By Jed and Jenny Koball | Mission Co-workers Peru Earlier this month marked the 11th anniversary of ¨El Baguazo¨ – the massacre of indigenous protesters in the Amazon at the hands of the Peruvian National Police. Of course, remembering such recent history of oppression today in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and…