Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Mato Grosso do Sul
7- INDIANS IN URBAN CENTERS: The intense and constant
pressures upon indigenous cultures and territories result in
constant migrations of indigenous families or even entire peoples.
This situation puts forth a new challenge for action by Cimi. And
with it, the need to better understand this reality: determine the
motives that push some indigenous families out of their traditional
areas and initiate a systematic dialog with them, with the view of
guaranteeing their rights and articulating their struggles to the
broader indigenous issue.
Approximately 350 missionaries, forming 120 teams, live on a day
to day basis with indigenous people throughout the entire country.
They are laymen and religious people who seek with their presence
of solidarity, commitment and testimony to place themselves at
the service of these people's lives. To articulate, assist and guide
these missionaries and to support the fight of indigenous people to
guarantee their rights, Cimi is organized into 11 Regional Offices
distributed throughout the country plus a National Secretariat
located in the federal capital BrasÃlia. Cimi's maximum authority is
the General Assembly which meets every two years. Its directorship
is composed of a Presidency (President, Vice-President and two
Secretaries) and 11 regional Coordinators. Through its National
Secretariat and Regionals, Cimi offers the missionaries, indigenous
peoples and their organizations support and assistance with legal,
theological, and anthropological matters and with communication,
training, education, health and documentation. Cimi maintains a
corporate website and publishes on a monthly basis "the Porantim"
newspaper, specialized in the indigenous cause.
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