There are mornings in Chiapas when the fog still holds the mountains, and somewhere in that quiet, a class is already beginning.
A group of children gathers.
A woman continues learning to read and write.
A conversation opens — about dignity, about land, about how to care for one another.
These moments may seem small. But they are not.
They are part of how another world is being built — quietly, collectively, and with care.
For more than three decades, Chiapas has been a place where communities have insisted on building autonomy — organizing education, health, and collective life beyond a system that continues to serve only a few.
They did not wait. They did not ask for permission.
They organized. They built.
And they continue.
30 Years of Building
This year marks 30 years since the signing of the San Andrés Accords between the Zapatistas and the Mexican government –an agreement that sought to recognize the constitutional rights of Indigenous peoples: cultural autonomy, participation in political decisions, access to justice, and intercultural education.
Although the Mexican state never fulfilled the commitments made in San Andrés, for the peoples, these agreements became a reference for the organization of autonomous systems. Based in the millennial knowledge that lekil kuxlejal (right living) means living in balance with all of life, communities laid the foundations for a new governance, healthcare, education and collective life.
From these seeds, the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) was formed, bringing together Indigenous peoples from across Mexico to organize around these principles.
And from these spaces, defense of life and territory have taken on new meaning.
We invite you to watch this video trailer of communities in resistance in the north of Chiapas. Full version below.
Our work takes its inspiration from examples like these.
Our Work So Far in 2026
In the first months of 2026, our small team has continued advancing several initiatives that strengthen these networks of solidarity:
- Continuing our accompaniment of autonomous education processes, for the advancement of students of all ages, and the formation of community educators.
- Organizing and collaborating in two workshops on women’s holistic health with compañeras on the coast of Chiapas and from the highlands of Chiapas.
- Holding human rights observation orientations and weekly conversations at Sendas in San Cristóbal de las Casas.
- Hosting community gatherings and events that bring together local and international participants to learn, reflect, and build connections
- Planning and implementing our first educational delegation in several years, with more exchanges currently being prepared.
Each of these efforts may seem small on its own. But together they form part of a broader fabric of resistance, learning, and collective care.
Lessons for Today
So when the world feels heavy with violence, war, and injustice, we hold tightly to the certainty that another world is not only possible — it is already being built, quietly and collectively, in many corners of the earth.
Around the world we see people organizing to defend life and dignity:
In the tireless work of mothers and families of the disappeared in Mexico, who refuse to stop searching for truth and justice;
In communities defending land, water, and the commons against extraction and environmental destruction;
In neighbors across the United States organizing to protect one another from ICE raids, building networks of mutual aid and collective protection;
In the global mobilization around the world rising against the expansion of war and violence.
Each of these struggles reminds us of something fundamental:
We open spaces for shared learning and reflection.
We take care of our neighbors through networks of mutual aid.
We build processes that sustain communities through health, education, culture, and food.
We defend the Earth — our shared home — and all the life it holds.
Because we know that none of us are free until all of us are free.
Not Giving Up the Fight
Our conviction will not waver. Listening and organizing, sharing and learning together, we continue to reach across languages, borders, and oceans to build networks of solidarity that defend life.
In moments of uncertainty, it is these connections — between communities, movements, and people committed to justice — that allow hope to breathe. Your support is part of this fabric.
Somewhere in Chiapas, a class is already beginning.
It is not an idea, nor a promise of what could be.
It is something that is already taking place — quietly, collectively, every day.
It continues because communities sustain it,
because knowledge is shared,
because care is practiced,
because dignity is defended.
And it also continues because, beyond these mountains,
there are people who walk alongside it —
some who have been here for years, and others just beginning to arrive.
If these words resonate with you,
we invite you to be part of that path —
to accompany, to learn, and to help sustain what is already growing.
Ways to Walk Alongside This Work
You can support this work in different ways:
— by contributing to sustain the community-led projects that make this possible
— by supporting through solidarity purchases that carry these stories beyond Chiapas
— by sharing this work within your own communities, helping these networks grow
— or by joining a learning delegation and experiencing these processes firsthand
Together, these gestures help sustain a living network of solidarity that crosses borders and generations.
In solidarity,
The Schools for Chiapas Team
