Mexfam's three-tiered approach to sexual and reproductive health—services, education and community—gives them the critical capacity to reach those most in need. In this slideshow, you will see glimpses of the organization's community work in action, including a Mexfam Volkswagen Bug used to reach vulnerable populations, a festival for Good Samaritan Day, and a health promoter in rural Oaxaca showing off her supply of condoms, contraception, and other basic medical supplies.

To supplement our series on Mexico, we are excerpting a chapter from a newly published book, The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women's Rights, that explains why it is crucial to understand and address the violence faced by women at the Mexico-US border:

Mexico has the second largest economy in Latin America, but about 52% of the country’s total income held by the wealthiest 20% of the population, and persistent inequalities remain a major challenge to development.

On Good Samaritan Day, we visited the tiny Oaxacan town of Ciénega de Zimatlán. We were there to meet with some of Mexfam’s volunteer health educators and visit the local health care clinic, but the real action was in the town’s zocalo (town square) where plastic tubs of creamy horchata and other delicacies were being set up for the community celebration. It was there that I met Mexfam volunteer Rigoberta Sánchez León.

As the fifth largest state of Mexico, Oaxaca is characterized by extreme geographic fragmentation. Located where the Eastern Sierra Madre and the Southern Sierra Madre come together, Oaxaca shares a common border with the states of Veracruz and Puebla (on the north), Chiapas (on the east), and Guerrero (on the west). Oaxaca's rugged topography has played a significant role in giving rise to its amazing cultural diversity.

When I was growing up in California, I often felt disconnected from my extended family in Mexico. The language barrier was enough of a challenge, but the distance I felt was also the result of the drastic differences in our everyday experiences. The obstacles I encountered as a young woman in the US felt very tied to the country in which I lived. Once I became a teenager, however, I realized our experiences weren't as different as I'd assumed in my youth, especially when it came to accessing sexual and reproductive health care.

When you travel in a country where the language spoken is not your native tongue, you learn many words and phrases as a matter of necessity: “Please,” “thank you,” and “what time is it?” top the list. Then, there are the more interesting words and sayings—the ones you absorb through conversations and casualties.

This weekend, revelers throughout New York—and the country— will celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day, but rather a commemoration of Mexico’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It is also a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture.

In Arms Wide Open, Patricia Harman takes the reader on a fascinating journey of how she became a certified nurse-midwife.

NEW YORK, NY—Late Friday at the 45th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD), member states issued a bold resolution in support of young people’s sexual and reproductive health and human rights.