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The Christopher Reynolds Foundation may also fund some particpants!!!!! https://creynolds.org/ Please let them know Maria Whittaker of the Cuba-USA Agroecology Solidarity Group referred you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CubanSustainableAgriculture
To support the "Cuba-USA Agroecology Solidarity Group" and/or Ms. Whittaker's nonprofit initiative, "Spiritual Agroecology," www.fssg.blogspot.com please send a check or money order made out to Family Farm Defenders, https://familyfarmers.org/, the US 501 (c) 3 nonprofit which acts as her nonprofit's fiduciary, to Maria Whittaker, 143A Marshall Street, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387. For more information about "Spiritual Agroecology," http://fssg.blogspot.com/2021/01/about-spiritual-agroecology-human_18.html. For a longer description of "Spiritual Agroecology" click http://fssg.blogspot.com/p/about-local-to-global-advocates-for.html
US-CUBA FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN XXXI 2021 – organized by IFCO/Pastors for Peace Address during COVID - IFCO, P.O. Box 1368, Orange, NJ 07051-1368 (P) 212-926.5757 |
Website: www.ifconews.org.
Email: friendshipmentcaravan@ifconews.org
Dear Potential Caravan Applicant,
THE POLITICAL CONTEXT OF THE 31ST FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN TO CUBA
On June 23, for the 29th consecutive time, the vast majority of the members of the United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the US government’s 60-year-old economic blockade of Cuba. Keeping in synch with the world community we are organizing our 31st Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba as a way for people in the US to visibly demonstrate their opposition to this policy of attempted genocide against the Cuban people.
After a brief period under President Obama, when some long overdue steps towards normalizing relations with Cuba took place, we witnessed four years of President Trump taking the economic war against Cuba to unprecedented levels. The 248 separate measures introduced under the Trump administration included:
Numerous restrictions on travel to Cuba from the US.
Blocking Cuban Americans from sending cash remittances to their families.
Heightened threats and multi-million-dollar fines on foreign banks that engage in transactions with Cuba.
Harassment of shipping companies that transport oil from Venezuela to Cuba.
The first ever implementation of Title 3 of the 1996 Helms Burton Act enabling US companies and Cuban Americans to sue foreign companies operating in Cuba.
As a presidential candidate Joe Biden promised a new Cuba policy and indicated some level of return to President Obama’s approach to Cuba. At the time that we are preparing this application, President Biden continues to fully implement every single one of Trump’s measures, and instructed his UN ambassador to vote against Cuba’s annual motion at the UN.
And on top of all this there is COVID-19, which has economically damaged every country – particularly poorer nations. The deadly virus has obliged Cuba to temporarily introduce its own stringent restrictions on visitation from elsewhere in the world to keep the spread of the virus under control. This has deprived the island of crucial income from the four million plus tourists who have annually visited Cuba in recent years.
Cuba is currently experiencing an intense economic crisis, similar in scale to 1992/1993 when it lost 90% of its foreign trade due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Food is in short supply; medicines are in short supply. Cuba actually has the capacity to produce most of these medicines but it needs to buy the raw materials from abroad and the blockade is severely restricting its ability to do this. People who visited Cuba in the early 1990s will understand what it is like. Those who have visited Cuba in recent years may be surprised by the widespread shortages.
Remarkably, despite the blockade, Cuba’s biotechnology sector has produced five vaccine candidates and begun a process of vaccinating its entire population against COVID-19. Cuba anticipates completing this process before the end of the year. Only then can Cuba start to take major steps to resolve its economic crisis and in particular relax its own restrictions on visitors from abroad.
This is the context in which we at IFCO/Pastors for Peace are announcing and planning our 31st Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba. We feel it is crucial that we and others in solidarity with Cuba organize groups and brigades to visit Cuba as soon as it is feasible. We hope you will join us as we plan to bring as many caravanistas as possible this year. And we will bring with us much needed medical aid but more importantly we will bring a powerful message to the Cuban people that they are not alone, that they have allies in the United States, and that their US allies will be doing everything possible to lift this inhuman blockade.
We are announcing a provisional plan for our caravan to be in Cuba from November 1st to November 12th. We are hopeful that the timeline is realistic but we recognize that there is a chance this may have to be postponed by perhaps 1 or 2 months. Prior to departure we will organize at least one Zoom orientation and Q+A session which we expect all caravanistas to attend.
Note, this year we will be flying to Cuba from Miami. On the previous 30 occasions we have travelled to Cuba we have done so via Mexico or Canada. This was because we refused, on the basis of profound principle, to apply for or accept a US government license to visit our sisters and brothers in Cuba. As we have repeatedly stated – Love is our License. However, the extra-territorial tentacles of the US blockade now extend so far that every single airline that flies to Cuba from Mexico or Canada will not accept a US citizen or resident on its flight without evidence of having accepted a license. So, distasteful though it is to do so, this year we will be flying under a license category – support for the Cuban people - because we believe that in the current circumstance the very act of traveling to Cuba from the US is striking a blow against the blockade. Our Cuban partners tell us the most important thing we can do at this time to express our solidarity Is to travel to Cuba.
All caravanistas will first travel at their own expense to Miami. There you will participate in an obligatory two-day orientation and a solidarity event with local caravan partners before going on to visit Havana and most likely the province of Matanzas. You will be joined in Cuba by a few participants from other countries. In Cuba you can expect a rich program where you will learn from the Cuban people themselves
PROVISIONAL CARAVAN SCHEDULE
October 30---------- Travel from home to Miami for orientation
October 30-31------ Orientation and solidarity activities in Miami
November 1--------- Travel to Havana
November 1-11 ---- Caravan program in Havana and (provisionally) Matanzas
November 12------- Return to Miami and onward return to your home
APPLYING TO JOIN THE CARAVAN
If you wish to participate in this 31st Caravan please review this information carefully and then do two things.
Complete an online application to IFCO/Pastors for Peace by no later than September 1st 2021. The application can be accessed at https://fs24.formsite.com/IFCO7120/lbxejrnvri/index.html
While the application deadline is September 1 2021, you should fill in your application as soon as possible. Your application will not be considered until the deposit payment referred to below is also received.
If you would prefer to receive a paper application form, please request it by writing to friendshipmentcaravan@ifconews.org
Pay a $300 deposit, online at https://fs24.formsite.com/IFCO7120/form6/index.html , or make a check out to IFCO and send to
IFCO, P.O. Box 1368, Orange, NJ 07051-1368. Write Caravan deposit in the memo line. Please do not write the word Cuba anywhere on the check.
If for any reason we don’t accept you on the Caravan we will refund your deposit in full.
If the dates of the caravan have to change, we will offer you participation in the new dates or refund your deposit in full.
SELECTION PROCESS
Potential caravan participants will be screened in conjunction with any sponsoring group. References may be taken up. Racial diversity and gender balance will be considered in the selection of participants. Applications will be processed on a first come basis. Getting your application in early greatly improves your chances of acceptance. Please notify any local and/or national sponsoring group or congregation of your participation in the caravan.
IMPORTANT DATES
September 1 Scholarship application deadline (see scholarship process section below)
September 1 Deadline for completed application and release form and $300 deposit
October 1 Deadline for receipt of full participant fees
Deposits and participant fees cannot be refunded for cancellations after October 1st without a doctor's statement. Refunds are subject to a 10% surcharge.
PARTICIPANT FEES
Full trip, including Cuba Program, joining in Miami: US $1,800
(Deduct any deposit you pay from the above fee)
Once you receive your caravan acceptance letter you should send in the balance of the participation fee.
The $1,800 cost of the Caravan this year is regrettably an increase from recent years made necessary because of the increased costs in Cuba of supplying us with the food we will need plus the fuel for transporting us to places.
The participant fee covers the return flight to Havana, a 44lb bag, Cuban visa, medical insurance in Cuba, all accommodation, all food and group transportation from joining us in Miami to returning to Miami airport, Cuban guides and interpreters. It does not cover your travel to and from Miami, personal expenses in Cuba, and your contribution to the collective gratuity we provide to all the Cubans who provide services for us in our places of accommodation.
SCHOLARSHIP PROCESS
Partial scholarships may be available for a limited number of first time caravanistas who are women, students, people with low income and people of color who: (1) would not otherwise be able to go on the caravan; (2) would benefit from the caravan experience; (3) would use the experience in constructive ways upon their return to the US; and (4) would be a positive influence on the overall caravan. Scholarship applications must be requested from our office. The scholarship application deadline is September 1st 2021. Granted scholarships will be between $50 and $300. We can also offer advice on other ways to raise money that previous caravanistas have recommended.
PROGRAM IN CUBA
Our program in Cuba is under discussion with our Cuban partners. Cuba is currently operating under many restrictions because of the spread of COVID-19 which makes planning for what can happen in November especially difficult. That said we are certain that a significant part of our visit will include:
Learning about all the exemplary ways that Cuba has responded to COVID-19 including its health care screening, contact tracing and treatment responses, its international medical brigades, its social safety net, and its mass vaccination campaign using its own vaccines.
Learning about and observing the brutal current effects of the blockade, and Cuba’s economic strategy for moving forward
Learning about the role of religion in Cuba
Exploring other aspects of Cuba such as organic farming, and how policing in Cuba is very different from what we experience in the US.
Meeting many extraordinary Cubans, including some who hold high positions in Cuban society.
Approximately two thirds of our time will be in Havana and one third in a neighboring province which in part will be an opportunity to visit rural Cuba. Provisionally we anticipate this will be Matanzas province.
In Havana many of us will as always be staying in bunk bed accommodation at the Martin Luther King Center in the workers district of Marianao. We say many because we anticipate this will be a large Caravan and some people will need to be housed in another church or other facility.
Travel in large groups is not for everyone. If it is not for you, please consider traveling to Cuba with an IFCO delegation in the spring of 2022. These are typically 15 -20 people and each delegation has its own theme. To find out more about our upcoming delegations write to ifco@ifconews.org.
Some our program will certainly be conducted in one large group but we hope that parts will be in smaller groups.
We will have with us Cuban guides and interpreters. No knowledge of Spanish is required for participation. That said Spanish fluency or even some level of understanding will undoubtedly improve the quality of your experience.
The Caravan is not a work brigade. We go to Cuba to learn. The work we do is when we come back. The primary goal of the 31st Friendshipment Caravan is to educate people in the US about the economic blockade against Cuba imposed by our government. Through our actions on return we must educate the public about the inhumane nature of the blockade and demonstrate to our policymakers and legislators that there is a broad-based coalition of people of conscience who demand an end to this genocidal policy. We must campaign to end this blockade once and for all.
Please remember that the trip will be stressful. Our schedule will be tight, with some early mornings and late nights. IF YOU HAVE SIGNIFICANT HEALTH PROBLEMS, PLEASE GIVE CAREFUL CONSIDERATION BEFORE APPLYING. WE OPERATE WITHIN SAFE PARAMETERS, BUT YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR A PHYSICALLY DEMANDING TRIP. THIS IS NOT A TRIP FOR PEOPLE IN POOR HEALTH. In particular you should note that the temperature will be in the high 70s Fahrenheit and it will be humid.
Be prepared to help with practical tasks on some days, though we naturally take into account age, disability and medical conditions when allocating tasks. There will be little time for sightseeing or shopping. Accommodations may sometimes be crowded.
FOOD
All meals will be provided at the orientation in Miami and during the program in Cuba.
* A note for vegetarians and vegans and those with a gluten allergy. There will be vegetarian and gluten-free food available during the orientation. However, purely gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan food is uncommon in Cuba. We suggest that you bring some non-perishable items to supplement what will be available. For vegans breakfast items may be most essential.
PASSPORT
You will need a passport that is valid for at least six months after the date of your return to the US. Cuban-Americans born in Cuba should consult the IFCO office about specific visa requirements.
MEDICAL NEEDS
Regarding COVID-19, all caravanistas will need to produce proof, with your application, of full vaccination against COVID, and to accept whatever conditions the US airline we will travel on, or Cuban authorities, insist upon regarding PCR tests and wearing of masks. On this there is no room for discussion. Currently PCR tests are required within 72 hours prior to flights to Cuba
IFCO/Pastors for Peace does not make specific medical recommendations regarding other vaccinations. Before traveling, consult with your doctor about special medical needs. There is an acute shortage of medicine in Cuba. If you need any type of medication on a regular basis, be sure to take enough with you because you will not be able to get it in Cuba. At some point during the trip, you may get a case of "turista” so be prepared with anti-diarrhea medication. Also bring medication for any allergy you have, and to treat simple headaches, colds etc.
RETURN TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
It is expected that all US participants on the caravan will return to the US with the caravan. At the end of the caravan participants are responsible for their return travel arrangements back from Miami to their home.
GROUNDS FOR EXPULSION FROM THE CARAVAN
We welcome the participation of people from all ethnic backgrounds, religions, genders and sexual orientations on the caravans. Caravanistas are expected to treat one another with respect and consideration at all times.
For your own protection, and so there is no question, we state now that: inebriation, possession of illegal drugs, solicitation of prostitution,
participation in the “underground market”, possession of firearms or weapons of any sort, or activity which violates the laws of Cuba, will not be permitted on the Caravan. Failure to abide by these rules will result in immediate expulsion. Any caravanista who attempts to degrade or insult anyone involved with the caravan with respect to their ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability will be immediately expelled.
We work from the assumption that these issues will not be a problem.
CONCLUSION
The Caravan is a challenge. It is a challenge to the blockade but it can also be a challenging experience for participants. It is not for everybody. But if you choose to come with us, you can expect a rewarding, empowering and potentially life changing experience.
We are committed to continuing the Friendshipment Caravans as a challenge to the US blockade of Cuba until the blockade is lifted and we will continue to educate the US public about Cuba and to combat the US government’s campaign of disinformation. And we will win!
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