Here is a look back at some of our favorite blog posts and stories from 2012.

Walter Turner, Global Exchange President of the Board of Directors, explains recent changes in policy regarding legal travel to Cuba and calls for unencumbered travel to Cuba, while Global Exchange co-founder Kevin Danaher reminds us that Cuba needs us to see its reality.

Lea Murray shares about how her trip to Venezuela has left lasting impressions, while Costa Rica program officer Marta Sanchez explains how she first became involved with Global Exchange.

The amazing “serial tripper” Jane Stillwater went on her 6th Reality Tour, this time to Uganda, while Global Exchange’s “What About Peace?” program went to Haiti to spread the message of peace with Haitian schoolchildren.

Burmese Temples

We said Aloha to Malia Everette, our Reality Tours Director for over 15 years, and wish her well in her transition.

We announced Reality Tours’ newest destination, to Burma, in 2013!

Every year is an eventful year for Reality Tours, and 2012 has been no exception.

We wish you all a peaceful New Years, and we’ll see you in 2013!

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Kevin Danaher, Co-Founder of Global Exchange

The following post was written by Global Exchange Co-founder Kevin Danaher.

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There is a broad range of opinion about Cuba here in the United States. Some people think it is one big prison. Others think Cuba is further down the road to sustainability than the United States. That range of opinion is also present in Cuba: there are people who love their system, people who hate it, and many in between.
 
This is not to say that Cuba is not a threat. It is. But it is not a threat against the United States per se; it is a threat to the elites who run our country. If millions of people from the U.S. were to visit Cuba and see free neighborhood medical clinics where the nurse and doctor live in apartments above the clinic and go out on house visits every afternoon, the visitors might think, “why don’t we do that?”
 
Cuba has many problems as a poor nation under the thumb of the most powerful country in the world. But Cuba also has things we can learn that have application at home. For example, the first time I visited one of the many elder centers where neighborhood elders hang out with each other, playing checkers, exercising, and getting regular checkups by the doctor and nurse on the staff,  I noticed an abundance of young children playing with the elders. When asked the director of the center who organized these children to be there he said, “These are just neighborhood children who come in and out as they please.” Try to find an elder center in the United States where that happens.
 
The Cubans may be recycling everything and promoting urban agriculture because they are poor and have to conserve resources. But when you are on a huge farm in the middle of the capital city, Havana, and see crops spreading out toward the horizon, you are convinced of the rightness policies that promote sustainability.
 
Global Exchange has been organizing group tours to Cuba for 24 years, so we are well acquainted with the pluses and minuses of Cuban socialism. The best way for you to cut through the debate over US policy toward Cuba is to go there and see for yourself.
 
What I learned the first time I went to Cuba in 1979—and many, many times since then—is that our role is NOT to tell Cubans how to run their society. No, it would be much more appropriate for us to focus on changing our own society, especially the economic embargo our country has imposed for over 50 years against a small Caribbean nation that NEVER harmed the United States.

Malia in Oahu

Update 11/28/12: A few photos of our bon voyage Malia staff lunch are now posted on Facebook.

“If you come here to help me, you’re wasting your time. If you come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” —Lilla Watson

In 1991 as a graduate student of International Relations, I signed up for a Global Exchange Reality Tour to Cuba. I wanted to learn about the impacts of the U.S. embargo on Cuba and understand what the current socioeconomic realities of the Special Period were on the nation. That trip dramatically expanded my understanding of the power of travel.

While I had backpacked to over 30 countries before that Reality Tour, I had never experienced that type of life sharing journey before. I engaged with grandparents, doctors, teachers, artists, musicians and politicians. In effect Reality Tours changed my life.  I experienced connection and insights, and returned to the United States committed to advocate for sane U.S. foreign policy. Once home, I promptly cut out and placed Lilla’s quote (see above) on my fridge. Little did I know that six years later I’d start working at Global Exchange, where Lilla’s quote found a new home on the Global Exchange office wall.

Visiting Art and Hope in Cuba, with Ethical Traveler

Today it is my bittersweet honor to announce that after almost 16 vibrant years I am transitioning out of Reality Tours. Being the Director has been a true vocation. I’ve had the unique opportunity to combine my skills as an educator, social justice activist and alternative travel business woman to build up Reality Tours’ travel destinations, themes and reach.

Looking back I sit and smile thinking of all the talented, opinionated and solidarity minded people that ebbed and flowed through the Reality Tours department in San Francisco. And I think of the everyday heroes in the U.S. and all around the world whose  generosity of spirit welcomed us, collaborated with us and compelled us to meet them as brothers and sisters. We learned about their struggles, successes and aspirations which inspired us to seek changes in U.S. foreign and economic policies.

Princeton University in Mostar, Bosnia, 2012

I know the model of socially responsible travel to educate and inspire advocacy works. In fact, I could fill volumes based on my personal experiences and those often brilliant, joyful and incredibly painful moments of learning.

From the jungles of the Amazon and the struggle of the Sarayuku nation, to the healing and rehabilitation efforts in IDP camps of Northern Uganda; from facilitating thousands through migration in Havana and sharing the incredible tenacity of spirit of Cuban’s through the “fruits” of their Revolution and in their models of sustainability post “peak oil” to learning about how poachers become conservationists in Tanzania; from the smiles and solemn survival stories of children saved from the sex tourism industry in Cambodia, Nepal, Peru & Thailand to the important organizing efforts of elders training the next generation of leaders in Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Vietnam… I leave Reality Tours personally and professionally enriched with memories and experiences, and breathtaking vistas.

Malia with Yury, Ecuador Reality Tours program officer

To each of the program officers who so diligently work to take care of every creature comfort, airport transit, hotel reservation, and days and days of program confirmations, thank you for your solidarity!  It is such necessary work, yet it is painstaking and not so glamorous. When Reality Tours runs a 100 departures a year and 98 go off perfectly, nobody knows how much work it takes to make that happen! You are all stars.

Reality Tours would not exist without our members and supporters. Sometimes I’ve called you strangers, then associates and later friends, collaborators, teachers and alumni. I’ve shared some of my deepest human connections beside you, and cultivated some of my closest friendships.

Some of you “serial trippers” know I will miss traveling with you! Again, I could write volumes on what I have seen as humans blossom, when we disconnect from the phones, computers and to-do lists and when we truly spend time to talk, share and push our comfort zones to be and to grow. How many times have I lead a group when each person typically required 1-2 feet around them to have their “zone” of comfort, only by the end of a tour to see everyone touching arms and hugging their new friends good-bye? There are so many surprising rewards on a group travel experience.

Suffolk Univeristy group visiting an orphanage in Busia, Uganda

For those of you I giggled with trying to find a bathroom to wash my fingers after blue ink was all over my face in Tehran, or scrambled to find  “relief” in the fields of Nagpur, India or tried out bartering in crafts markets in Amman knowing but a few words in Arabic, I thank you. To those I cried with, flooded by the power of the human spirit hiking through the Cu Chi and the Sarajevo tunnels; trying to get through check points from the Occupied Territories in Palestine into Israel; and being permeated by the horrific human costs of war in the War Remembrance Museum in Ho Chi Minh City and in Pyong Yang, the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg… I thank you. To those I just held hands with as we heard the testimonies of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, and walking through the Killing Fields, I thank you. And, for those that I dragged out to teach salsa dancing to over and over, ya tu sabes, gracias.

Kevin and Reede being “Good Sports” as my sons dress up

Words cannot express my deepest appreciation to the Global Exchange founders Kevin Danaher, Kirsten Moller and Medea Benjamin to whom I  have been so blessed to work with. They each are hard working visionaries and phenomenal human beings, yet they are also friends, babysitters and cuddlers, and mentors. How I love and admire each of you!

Global Exchange has been a family to me. To all the members and staff, and especially to those that serve and have served on the Board of Directors, you are brothers and sisters and I thank you for your commitment to make this world a better place. Because of your tenacity and persistence, I know “another world is possible”.  I am who I am because of my years at Global Exchange, and I  look forward to moving forward pa’lante and continuing to using my life in service to humanity and to the planet, because its liberation is bound up with mine!

With Aloha,
Malia Everette

Lea Murray (left) with fellow Reality Tours Venezuela delegation participants

The following post was written by Global Exchange Scholarship recipient Lea Murray who participated in a Reality Tours delegation to Venezuela last month. She shares her experience with us:

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Venezuela Vision: A Tale of Remembrance

I traveled to Venezuela for two reasons:  1) my friend and ESL student Lorena was going to be there at the same time that Global Exchange (GX) scheduled the Afro Venezuelan tour and 2) I was able to receive a generous scholarship from Global Exchange.

Had it not been for those two serendipitous events my life would be completely different from what it is today. I would have remained the same middle class American who is only concerned with those issues directly impacting my life.  Outside of my travels to Senegal and The Gambia in 2007, I hadn’t traveled to any place where it was obvious that people had financial need. I almost always traveled to resorts or timeshares in nice well-kept tourist areas.  I had forgotten my training in public health nutrition. I had forgotten how it felt to work with and be around people who are struggling to meet their basic needs.  I had forgotten my previous non-profit work with under-served communities.  This trip to Venezuela reminded me of my idealistic college days at UC Berkeley.

Many people in Venezuela love Chavez.  What a shocking revelation for someone like me who has only heard bad things about Chavez from some of the Venezuelans that I have met and taught in my English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.  Of course living in South Florida there is a very large Hispanic community mostly from South America and Cuba—mostly wealthy and white.  I heard stories from some of these people about how dangerous it is to live in Venezuela, and how Chavez is poisoning the minds of poor people so that it is unsafe for the hard working Venezuelan to travel in public places for fear of being attacked.

I heard stories of multiple kidnapping, theft, and political unrest.  That Chavez is bad for business and it is difficult to fire bad workers and employees who don’t have incentive to excel at work because they can’t be fired.  Chavez is crazy like Castro.

The many Venezuelans that I have met here in South Florida believe the USA is a refuge from the turmoil that they have endured in their homeland.  How was I to know any different?

But then I visited the missions, the university, the labor union, the farming coop, the black owned Cocoa plantation, and I heard and I saw what Chavez has done for the disenfranchised.  Chavez is making a difference in the lives of people who believed they were previously excluded from the benefits of living in an oil rich country.  Why didn’t I know this?

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is Chavez in the eye of beholder.  It all depends on your perspective.  Now I know differently.

Now that I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears, what will I do? I will re-think my life. I have a new vision.  I want to see how other people live and experience life.  I want to travel to even more places where black Africans were dispersed during the slave trade. I will travel to Haiti and Cuba and examine the plight of my black brothers and sisters in these small island countries.  I will re-think my business.  Instead of solely working with those students who can afford to pay my hourly rate I will diversify and incorporate students with less financial means to pay for my services as an ESL instructor.  I will open my eyes—see the vision—and do something to make a difference.  I will participate.

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Lea Murray is a California native living in Florida and a part time ESL instructor with an interest in Latin American and Caribbean culture. Last month Lea participated in a Reality Tours Afro Venezuelan delegation, thanks to a Global Exchange scholarship.

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• Travel to Venezuela: check out our list of upcoming trips to Venezuela
• Learn about Global Exchange Scholarships: visit this web page for scholarship application, fundraising advice and more!

During Global Exchange delegation visit to Venezuela. Photo Credit: Blair Redlin

A Glimpse of Venezuela: Part 1

Ten yearsafter the failed coup attempt of 2002, revenue from huge oil reserves and widespread popular mobilisation are supporting grassroots change for many parts of Venezuelan society. Despite media demonisation of the Venezuelan experiment here in Canada, the changes are significant and deserve to be better understood — especially given the increasing importance of oil revenue for our country too.

In order to get a glimpse of the Bolivarian Republic in 2012, I recently took part in a fascinating “reality tour” of Venezuela organised by San Francisco-based human rights group Global Exchange.

The 10-day tour featured meetings with activists from many sectors, as well as a visit to the San Juan tambores festival in the Afro-Venezuelan Barlovento region. We spent time in the sprawling capital of Caracas, in the small Andean community of Sanare, in the industrial city of Barquisimeto and the Afro-Venezuelan town of Curiepe.

My main takeaway was of a population deeply committed to social change within the context of historic inequality and class divisions. The country has numerous problems, including poverty and deadly gun crime, but it was inspiring to see the energy and enthusiasm that both local communities and the government are bringing to bear.

Particularly striking are the efforts to circumvent bureaucratic obstacles to change through community based initiatives. Whether it’s the numerous “misiones” (to tackle poverty, housing, adult literacy and more) or empowerment of communal councils and co-ops, a significant theme of development in Venezuela is local democratic control.

Our group met with a variety of locally based mission activists, in addition to actors in the women’s, students, co-op, community media and labour movements. Here are a few of my impressions:

Progress on Inequality – the focus on reducing inequality and poverty is producing results. The United Nation’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reports that Venezuela now has the third lowest poverty rate in Latin America and is the least unequal country in the region. So-called “extreme poverty” rates have been reduced from 21 per cent of the population in 1999 (when Hugo Chavez first came to power) to 6.9 per cent by 2010. Venezuela had the second highest rate of poverty reduction in Latin America from 2002 to 2010, exceeded only by Ecuador.  Venezuela ranks 73rd out of 187 countries in the UN’s Human Development Index.

Gasoline Absurdly Cheap – given that the world price of oil is hovering above $85 a barrel, it seems incredible that the price of gasoline in Venezuela is approximately .05 cents/litre. You read that right. Less than one cent a litre. or pretty close to free. This represents a massive public subsidy of gasoline prices — an expensive policy that has to be making global warming worse. To an outsider, super cheap gasoline seems like a crazy way to spend scarce resources in a country with numerous social needs, but the historical and political context is important. In 1989, Venezuelans rebelled en masse against austerity policies imposed by the IMF that included a 100 per cent increase in consumer gasoline prices and a doubling of transit fares. That rebellion was dubbed the Caracazo. As a result of the Caracazo thousands were killed, former President Carlos Perez was removed from office, the IMF restraint policies were modified and Hugo Chavez began his political career. In light of all that, it is apparently politically challenging to raise gasoline prices today. Meanwhile, Venezuela is overwhelmingly dependent on oil revenues and its economy needs to diversify. Oil accounts for 90 per cent of export earnings, 50% of federal budget revenues and 30 per cent of GDP.

Women’s Rights a Priority (Except for One Key One) – in a region where the culture of machismo remains strongly embedded, it’s encouraging that women’s rights are a priority of the government. There is a Ministry of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, a Mision Madres del Barrio for working and single mothers, a Women’s Bank and mass participation in International Women’s Day. But Venezuelan women are still denied the right to reproductive choice, as abortion remains illegal. The National Assembly has had a committee studying abortion reform since 2010, but no actual legislative change appears to be forthcoming. Our delegation met with representatives of the “Popular Feminist Circle” organisation in Barquisimeto, which provides a range of programs, including prevention of violence against women and children. They told us it has made a big difference that the President clearly identifies himself as a feminist, but until women gain improved rights to reproductive choice in Venezuela, full equality rights are a long way off.

Venezuela 2012 Photo Credit: Blair Redlin

A Glimpse of Venezuela: Part 2

Venezuela has been undergoing big changes since the failed coup attempt of a decade ago . The first part of this blog report discussed how the Chavez government is implementing change at the grassroots level through  “missions” and communal councils; the progress that has been made in reducing inequality and poverty; the context for Venezuela’s policy of  almost free gasoline; and efforts to promote the rights of women in a country where abortion remains illegal.

Here are some further reflections on my brief glimpse of Venezuela in 2012:

A new labour law for working people – on May 1 of this year, a new fundamental labour statute came into effect. Entitled the Organic Law of Work and Workers, the new law is the culmination of a major mobilizing effort by the National Worker’s Union (U.N.T.)  labour central that included over 657,000 signatures on a petition demanding a new labour law as well as the presentation of more than 20,000 specific legislative proposals to a 16 member special Presidential commission.

Important changes in the new law include: reduction of the work week to 40 hours from 44 and the requirement for a full two days off per week; 25 weeks of maternity leave for women, plus a guaranteed right to return to one’s job for up to two years after birth of the child; 6 weeks of paternity leave for men, plus the same employment guarantee for up to two years; a prohibition on out-sourcing; and restoration of a retirement bonus scheme which provides one month of pay for every year of service. The government has also instituted a 32 per cent increase in the minimum wage, taking it to approximately $700(U.S.) per month. This is now the highest minimum wage in Latin America.

The status of trade unions in Venezuela has been controversial and complex since Carlos Ortega, the former President of the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (C.T.V.) worked closely with the U.S. in support of the 2002 coup attempt.

Ortega was sentenced to 16 years in jail for his role in the 2002 oil company lockout and coup attempt, but escaped in 2006 and was given asylum in Peru. Subsequent to the failed coup, the C.T.V. still exists and represents some 200,000 members, but it has been supplanted by the U.N.T. (with 1.2 million members) as the main labour central in the country. The U.N.T. is affiliated with the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (P.S.U.V.) which is currently the governing party.

During our visit to the industrial city of Barquisimeto, we met with trade union leaders in a large office building (the “Casa Sindical”) housing many unions. The local labour council they are part of represents 80 different union locals from most parts of the private sector economy. The unionists told us the story of how they took over the union building in 2009, occupying it due to alleged corruption and lack of representation by the C.T.V.. They said they had found a “chop shop” in the building where stolen cars were dismantled so parts could be sold. When asked how they had fended off armed members of the C.T.V. who tried to take the building back, they said they had discovered 100 cases of beer in the building so they threw beer bottles at them from the upper floors until the police came!

Adult education a big priority, but easier said than done – in the small Andean town of Sanare, our group met with activists with two missions related to adult education. “Mision Robinson”  is based on a Cuban methodology which uses volunteers to teach reading, writing and arithmetic to illiterate adults while “Mision Ribas” provides remedial high school classes to adults who have dropped out of high school. For those who complete Mision Ribas, the government has also organized “Mision Sucre” to provide free college and graduate level education.

All this focus on adult education is bearing fruit. UNESCO’s 2010 Education for All monitoring report  and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics report that Venezuela has a literacy rate of 95.5 per cent for adults and 98.5 per cent for youth. The reports project that adult literacy will reach 97 per cent by 2015. In terms of adult literacy, the country is 55 out of 128 countries, while its standing in the Education for All Development Index was 59 out of 128 countries, up from 64 three years previously. Venezuela scored better than 18 other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It was moving to see the enthusiasm with which adult education is pursued at the grassroots. We were told that in the small town of Sanare alone, they have graduated people as old as 89 years and that one 65 year old is now studying medicine. It was also striking that a big part of the Mision Ribas program was the requirement for a written report on development of a concrete community improvement project such as reforestation, improving the electric grid, building a new school, etc. We also learned of integrated linkages between the education programs and “Gran Mision Vivienda” which is building badly needed public housing throughout the country. Workers taught construction skills through Mision Ribas are subsequently paid as apprentices in the construction of new housing.

But we also discussed amongst ourselves the challenges of keeping children and youth in the basic education system. Despite laws requiring school attendance and banning child labour, we had occasion to  meet 16 children from one family who are all required to work on the family farm. Only one of them can read or write. This anecdotal experience helped us realise that family and cultural issues make education policy extremely complicated in a developing country like Venezuela. Adult education is in part necessary because it is so challenging to keep children in school. Still, high school drop out rates fell by half in Venezuela between 1998 and 2011.

Bolivarian University – speaking of education, our delegation paid an interesting visit with student activists at the campus of the main Bolivarian University in Caracas. During the failed coup of 2002, the state oil company P.D.V.S.A. assisted the coup plotters by shutting down the oil industry and locking oil workers out. After the coup was thwarted one government response was to convert the former headquarters of P.D.V.S.A. in Caracas into the main campus of the new Bolivarian University.

As with the unionists we met in Barquisimeto, the student activists in Caracas were very militant. They view their own personal educations and the activities of the university as key parts of the Bolivarian project. The university is closely linked to “Mision Sucre.” There is a central campus in nine of the country’s main regions, combined with Mision Sucre university level classes in most major towns. There are therefore 4,000 students at the main Caracas campus, but 350,000 in the  wider “Bolivariana” taking university and college level courses nationwide.

The Bolivarian University has a unique entrance requirement process. As opposed to entrance exams or acceptance based on previous grades, applicants must take a three month long pre-university course. If they pass that, then they are eligible to enter the university.

Given the intense debate in Quebec and Canada about tuition and the costs of post-secondary education, it was interesting to learn that not only are there no tuition fees at the Bolivarian University but the government also covers three free meals at day at the cafeteria, student housing, free health and dental care, transportation, insurance and other student costs.

As with Mision Ribas, students are expected to complete projects that contribute to the development of the country.

Afro-Venezuelans – one focus of our trip was the Afro-Venezuelan community, descendants of slaves who were in the main brought from the Congo and Angola. Today, Afro-Venezuelans are mostly concentrated in the Barlovento region of Miranda state, which we visited.

Cacao is the main raw ingredient for chocolate and Venezuelan cacao is among the best in the world. Many slaves were brought to work in cacao plantations, so it was interesting to visit a modern-day cacao plantation which has been farmed by the same Afro-Venezuelan family for generations. A state owned chocolate processing plant (“Oderi”) is nearby, as well as six smaller co-operative chocolate factories for artisanal products.

The Marquez family told us of several recent government steps to improve the cacao economy. In April 2011, cacao was declared a national strategic project. Chocolate processing has been nationalised through the Venezuelan Cocoa Socialist Corporation and a “fair price” is paid to farmers that is 20 per cent above the market rate. Many new co-operatives have been assisted and through the A.L.B.A. alternative trade agreement, new international cooperation and trade measures have been put in place to improve cacao markets. The Marquez family told us none of this has been popular with international chocolate companies, but the quality of Venezuelan cacao is very high, so the higher prices are being paid.

Afro-Venezuelans continue to struggle against racism. The 1999 reform of the Venezuelan constitution included significant recognition of indigenous rights, particularly land, cultural and language rights. However, no similar recognition was provided for Afro-Venezuelans. Particularly since the 1999 inclusion of indigenous rights, Afro-Venezuelans have argued for their own constitutional inclusion though — as Canadians know well — the land rights of aboriginal peoples are in a different category than rights for settler communities. In 2007, Hugo Chavez proposed a series of constitutional amendments that, among others, included significant recognition of Afro-Venezuelans. Unfortunately, those proposals were defeated by citizens in the subsequent referendum so the campaign for better constitutional recognition continues.

In 2011, the National Assembly passed a new law against racial discrimination and the new basic education law of 2009 included specific recognition of afro-descendants.

Final observations – 21st century Venezuela is deeply involved in democratic change at many levels, as evidenced by the big push for communal councils, regional assemblies and co-operatives. Of course, intensive electoral democracy is also key. Venezuelans have voted repeatedly over the last 15 years, in both general elections and constitutional referenda, and the next national election for president will take place this October. Despite a spirited campaign by opposition leader Henriques Capriles Radonski, most polls show a commanding lead for Hugo Chavez. Certainly, most of the people we met were very enthusiastic about the changes Chavez has been leading. This enthusiasm and mass participation is in marked contrast to the disempowerment and low participation rates that too often characterise politics in Canada.

An interesting side note . . . just as the long-time popular Latin American (and farm worker) slogan of “si, se puede” was picked up by Barack Obama last election as “Yes, we can,” so this year the main slogan for Hugo Chavez is “Pa’lante” which in English means “Forward.” Barack Obama’s main slogan this time out? Also “Forward.”

The efforts in Venezuela to fight poverty, reduce inequality, develop the economy and provide social improvements are largely funded by the oil revenues that are unique to Venezuela. But other Bolivarian countries such as Ecuador and Bolivia are also using the specific resources available to them to make improvements at the local and community level. All three countries, are working with Cuba, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (and soon Suriname and Saint Lucia) within the alternative trading bloc called A.L.B.A. (“Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas”).

Unlike in Canada, oil and other resource revenues  are not being squandered on tax cuts or royalty reductions. In Venezuela and the other Bolivarian countries, secondary processing of resources is a strategic priority as opposed to the focus here on export of raw resources. And rather than corporate rights deals like NAFTA or CETA, the priority in ALBA is international cooperation and the raising of standards.

The changes in Venezuela are big and they’re happening right now in the real world. They deserve a lot more attention and understanding from our part of the hemisphere.

• Our “reality tour” to Venezuela was put together by Global Exchange, which did a great job. For information on future tours to Venezuela, or many other countries in the world, go here.
• Global Exchange helped publish a very informative book on Venezuela called Venezuela Speaks!: Voices from the Grassroots by Carlos Martinez, Michael Fox and Jojo Farrell. Go here to get a copy.
• One of our hosts in Venezuela was Lisa Sullivan, who is involved with School of the Americas Watch, a group that is having great success at persuading Latin American governments to withdraw military personnel from the notorious School of the Americas in the U.S..For information about the work of S.O.A. Watch, go here.
• Another host was the Prout Centre in Caracas. “Prout” stands for Progressive Utilisation Theory. Developed by Indian philosopher Prabhat Ranjan Sarker, Prout makes a case for economic democracy and localised development. For information on the new edition of a book by Caracas author Dada Maheshvaranda called After Capitalism: Economic Democracy in Action, go here. 

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Blair Redlin is a B.C. based trade union researcher, whose priorities have included privatization, trade agreements and local government. He’s vice-chair of the Board of Oxfam Canada. In the 1990s, he was a Deputy Minister in the B.C. public service.

Travel to Venezuela! To find out how you can travel to Venezuela with Global Exchange, we invite you to visit our website.

Reality Tours participant in Esphahan.

As the political and diplomatic crisis surrounding the Iranian nuclear agenda continues, Global Exchange invites you to travel and visit Iran on a Citizen Diplomacy Reality Tour.

We believe U.S. travelers to Iran can build people-to-people ties and foster dialogue and peace between the countries.  As past participant Alexa Stevens wrote of her 2011 trip:

“My journey does not boast military might nor invasive power; rather, I travel simply with the hope of bringing back knowledge”.

The exquisite ruins of Persepolis.

Citizen diplomats to Iran experience both the complex and engaging fabric of contemporary Iranian civil society while exploring also the tremendous historical and cultural sites in Iran. Travelers will visit the ancient ruins of Persepolis, the tomb of renowned Sufi poet Hafez, and the towers of silence in Yazd.

Interested in traveling to Iran?

Apply now! The application deadline for our September trip is this Friday, June 22nd, so please act quickly to join this life-changing excursion.

Jane in Iraq, Embedded with the Marines in Anbar

Our guest blogger today is Jane Stillwater, a woman whom the folks here at Reality Tours have known for over a decade. We might tease her as being a “serial tripper”, and tell her not to worry about sending in  her registration as she is in the database, but in all seriousness we honor Jane for her adventurous, compassionate spirit and for being a true citizen diplomat!

It’s wonderful to read on Jane’s blog about how each journey has impacted her. Her blog begins with: “Imagine a world where EVERY child is wanted, nurtured, protected and loved.” Jane is preparing to take her 6th Reality Tour this summer.

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In the last ten years, I’ve participated in five different Global Exchange Reality Tours  and each one of them has been both awesome and jaw-dropping. GX has taken me to Cuba, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and Belfast! And I’ve gotten to see places and meet people there that nobody, not even the locals, hardly ever get to see or know.

Jane Stillwater, Reality Tours Alumni

And I’ve also been able to come back home and write about what I have seen and to help tell other Americans that Iran, Cuba, Afghanistan. etc. are not filled with evil terrorists and boogeymen but rather with just ordinary people like you and me, trying to make a life for their families just like we do.

So when Global Exchange recently announced that it was sponsoring a new trip to Uganda on July 2, I was SO there! Signed up immediately. The trip will focus on efforts in Uganda to stop human trafficking and eliminate the use of child soldiers — what’s not to like about that?!

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Jane, you are a welcomed addition to any Reality Tours trip!

TAKE ACTION!

• You can read more about Jane’s hopes for our upcoming Uganda Reality Tours trip on her blog.
• Learn more about our powerful advocacy delegations that examine human trafficking, child soldiers and human rights.
• Interested in going on a Reality Tours trip but low on funds? Here are 3 free resources to help you fundraise:

1. Financial Scholarship Application  
2. Fundraising Tips
   
3. Fundraising Pack

Those of you who have taken the tour will recognize many of the interviewees including the journalist and freedom fighter Vasodevan Nampoothiri, Dr. R. Krishna Kumar, a pediatric cardiologist; newspaper editor S. Radhakrishnan, coordinating editor of The Mangalam Daily; Professor G.S. Jayasree of Kerala University, publisher of a journal of women’s studies, Samyukta; and Sri Marthanda Varma, Maharajah of Travancore. Gods’ Own Country (Kerala) is one of five chapters of Pax Ethnica, describing societies where people of various ethnicities and religions live in peace. In the book the authors question whether there actually are such places, and if so why haven’t we heard more about them, and what explains their success.

Reality Tours Participants and Community, Kerala India

To answer these questions, Meyer and Brysac undertook a two-year exploration of oases of civility, places notable for minimal violence, rising life-expectancy, high literacy, and pragmatic compromises on cultural rights. Beyond the Indian state of Kerala, they also explored the Russian republic of Tatarstan, Marseille in France and Flensburg, Germany, and the borough of Queens, New York. Through scores of interviews, they document ways and means that have proven successful in defusing ethnic tensions. This path-breaking book elegantly blends political history, sociology, anthropology, and journalism, to suggest realistic options for peace.

We extend our congratulations to Meyer and Brysac on your new publication and thank you for traveling with Reality Tours to Kerala! See praise and reviews for Pax Ethnica or sample their blog for the Pulitizer Center for Crisis reporting.

Travel to Kerala with Global Exchange: If you would like to explore our trip to Kerala, visit our website for information, photos and ways to learn more.

Last June I journeyed to one of my favorite destinations on the planet, Cuba. Despite the fact that I have lived and worked there off an on since 1991, and have had the honest pleasure of facilitating over twenty some delegations over the years, this last group was one of my most enjoyable ever. I am not sure really why. We were 13 dynamic, well traveled and inquisitive individuals with only one thing in common…the intrepid travel writer Jeff Greenwald.

I met Jeff in 2003, after he had recently founded, the Ethical Traveler. I  loved the idea of ET and was honored when a few years later he asked me to serve on its advisory board. Since then we’ve been on countless panels together; collaborated on campaigns that mobilize the international community of travelers as a global PAC to use their clout and advocate on important social and ecological justice issues; and promoted “voting with your travel budget” at the World’s Best Ethical Destinations.

I remember the day Jeff and I spoke about creating a tour for him and his friends. I felt awestruck. There is so much to see, do and learn. As we brainstormed about an itinerary, he said, “Malia, I want to see your favorite places and meet some of your favorite people”. I smiled and thought, well it will be one trip of many for you then.  I love that personally he trusted me with this challenge and a few months later, our group met in Miami and were off to soak up the sights, sounds and stories of Cuba.  It was wonderful to reconnect with communities and friends from the Mureleando arts project and the intergenerational voices at the Convento de Belen in Havana, to engaging with the teachers, parents and kids at the Love and Hope arts program for children with Down’s Syndrome and advocates for community development and conservation at Las Terrazas in the provinces.  I encourage you to read more about Jeff’s ever thought provoking insights from his “Dispatches from Cuba”. Today, I have the honor to feature a few of Jeff’s thoughts and share the word about his upcoming and yes, second trip back to Cuba.

The Beauty of the Vinales Valley, Pinar del Rio

The trip was a watershed event in my travel career. The country affected me profoundly—just as Nepal did, during my first visit in 1979. The art, music and mojitos were a revelation …. Not to mention Piñar del Rio’s gorgeous landscape, Havana’s neoclassical architecture,  and the warm, generous Cubans we met along the way.

This coming June, I will be leading another trip to the island. It’s called “Exploring Cuba: Sustainable Development, Community & Art,” and will take place June 12th-20th. Though the trip is a benefit for Ethical Traveler, the cost is very reasonable. Like last year’s trip, we’ll meet with social leaders, artists, naturalists and entrepreneurs. We’ll explore spectacular landscapes, and tour World Heritage Sites like Old Havana. Again, this will be a fairly small group — between 12-18 people. This really is a wonderful opportunity to visit a remarkable, fast-changing country. I hope to hear back from you, and promise that this will be a journey to remember (in a good way!!).

Sonrisas en Havana

Learn more about the background of Global Exchange’s  Cuba program and future Reality Tours to Cuba after you have read Jeff’s Dispatches. If you still want to read more, check out more coverage from our Alumni in the news. Recently Stelle Sheller and Janet Young, traveled with us and were featured in their local newspaper in the article, “ Local women travel to Cuba and discover two worlds” and they share  their “unexpected” findings.

The Idlers Visiting Cobblers in Afghanistan, 2009

As part of a series honoring 10 years of relationship building, friendship and learning in Afghanistan, today we share the story of  Patricia J. Idler and Randy Idler who created a customized Reality Tour to Afghanistan in 2009.

I first spoke with Patty when she called Global Exchange to explore the possibility of a customized Reality Tour trip.  She wanted to go to Afghanistan to learn, meet and engage with a special group of people, to build relationships and create a socially responsible business that would give back. We worked together to put her vision into words, then I introduced her to our in country program officer Najib to help make her dream become a reality (tour.) Here is Patty and Randy’s story.

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Guardian Angels and Afghan Cobblers: A Customized Tour Past Participant Shares Her Story by Patricia J. Idler and Randy Idler

Global Exchange you made our trip to Afghanistan amazing.  Thank you for your friendship and global exchanges.  When I wrote to your office in a panic before I went to Afghanistan, I needed to have real authentic help in Afghanistan.  Fear and paranoia are detrimental to any situation, and I suddenly was full of anxiety.   I am not dismissing that there are very dangerous situations in the world, but I am not normally in a state of real fear.   I needed someone to reassure me that there were normal Afghan people that want the same things for their families in Afghanistan that I want for my family.  I needed to know that there would be someone that was my friend and knew the lay of the land, like a guardian angel.  I needed to know that I would not hurt the US soldiers by coming to help and getting in the way.  Global Exchange you provided me with guardian angels.

My hope was to find cobblers in Afghanistan that would want to sell their product to a nonprofit or for profit that would also give back a percentage to the little street children that do not deserve this awful situation. My hope was to help the economic situation in Afghanistan.   We are not going to be getting our US service boys home, unless American citizens empower themselves and help out.  The statement that there is nothing to fear but fear itself is a reality.  American citizens have become so fearful of others.

Global Exchange your love of people and the world made the difference.  You brought me back to reality.  You emailed me and said; we can design your trip; we can help you even if you have your trip planned.   We have wonderful guides and drivers.  Here are their emails.  We have been very successful with our exchanges all over the world to every country.  Would you like to contact people?  Would you like to come see us in San Francisco?   This simple reassurance allowed me to get back to work on my project.

Engaging with Shop Keeper in Kabul, 2009

I would recommend you to the world traveler that hopefully wants to help the world. I wish I could express how grateful I am to organizations such as Global Exchange that want to replace fear with peace, prosperity and hope for mankind.

The driver and guide you sent asked if they minded if they brought their kids.  It was wonderful.  We saw more of Afghanistan than we saw with other guides or on our own.  We met our cobblers.  We met Afghans everywhere.

We were not targets, but we did dress with respect for the Afghan culture.  We dressed like the Afghans, because we respect them and did not stand out.  We met Babur and we walked back in time.  We went to the Afghan markets and bought kites in the old city to fly on the hill on Fridays.

We began to understand that you do not need to take items from America for the children, like harmonicas.   One must buy from the Afghans for the Afghans. Items like bottles of water and simple things like food are wonderful items readily accepted.  We began to see the little children and feel their hunger and realize that child labor laws here are even ridiculous. When your tummy is empty,  is it better to starve?  They would love to be able to work for food.  Their begging is the sole supply of revenue for their families.  Schools like Aschiana school try to educate the street children and help the families with small micro loans for business.  Our countries are planets a part.

My husband was so fearful before we went with the help of our guardian angels relaxed.  He began to give to the children, “but you must give to all not just to some”.  We began to learn and listen to the store keepers on the empty streets.  We began to understand the pride that has been taken from people that just want fair trade prices and to be treated like respectful business people.  We began to make friends.  Thank you for your help Global Exchange.

The US soldiers want the situation to get better and return to their own families.  Every American needs to pitch in and help the situation or we need to go home and help rebuild another way through groups such as Global Exchange.

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Thanks to the Idlers for taking the leap of faith to call Global Exchange and customize their first visit with us to Afghanistan. You can too. Visit our customized tour page for more information.