Interview with a donor: Viviana Diaz

“If I donate it is because I have trust, because I am involving myself, because donating out of charity bores me and seems to me like a lack of respect.”

With these words Viviana defines what it means to her to be a donor of the Women Supporting Women network of Fondo Alquimia. She joined our organization in April of 2010 as a way of putting into action her connection to feminist activism.

What motivated you to become part of the Women Supporting Women network?

First of all, a need to participate; I think it has to do more with walking with open eyes. I couldn’t just be angry, I needed to mobilize. It seems to me that it is also important from the financial side to put money on the table. Donating is political gesture as important as any other, above all coming from women, historically confined o the domestic economy and away from important financial decisions. If I donate it is because I have trust, because I am involving myself, because donating out of charity bores me and seems to me like a lack of respect.

What is the importance of Fondo Alquimia’s work within the women’s movement?

I love Fondo Alquimia. I love the way that the organization is thought out, as a fund that enables the continuity of the movement in a way that organizations can dedicate themselves to political work rather than fundraising, which can be time consuming and has been a plague for activism in general – Alquimia’s work is like the work of a martyr. Money is necessary and should be available so that our minds and hands can be dedicated to other things. Money transforms into movement, and donations into political acts. It is meaningful that the money for Alquimia’s projects comes from a network of donors, and it is also a beautiful vision that allows a certain independence at the time of deciding where these resources will be directed. This gives hope to minority groups and dissident groups, of being able to access financial support. One of the reasons that the fund interested me was because I saw the types of organizations that are supported like Cuds and lesbian and transgender organizations in Chile. The fund promotes ties between many organizations, as a network, because one of the biggest problems of the women’s movement is the tendency to self separate. In that context it is necessary to have a common link that allows organizations and independents like myself to come together, look at ourselves, and support each other.

What would you tell other people to encourage them to join Alquimia’s donor network?

That you can’t wait for things to change by staying on the side of the road. It’s also not enough just to be angry. I believe that all women: workers, students, lesbians, transvestites, transgender, all of the minority groups, have felt this kind of discomfort that doesn’t quite have a name. The struggle for our own spaces continues and the only way to help is to join this fight. In this case, we are doing that by joining the Women Supporting Women network. We have achieved some spaces, but it hasn’t been free and by joining this network you are honoring the work that others have done before you. To be a donor of Fondo Alquimia is a wonderful opportunity to be thankful, to join together and to make a movement out of these meetings between women. The best part is that we can then mobilize and move forward with each others’ support, just like the name of the organization “Women Supporting Women.”