Be an ambassador for a new policy towards Cuba:
Join the Pastors for Peace 21st Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba!
July 3 – August 3, 2010

Pastors for Peace has been organizing Friendshipment Caravans to Cuba since 1993.
Seattle-Cuba Friendship Committee has provided local support for every one of these caravans.

President Obama’s election brought hope for change in many aspects of US policy including the potential to end the illegal, immoral and internationally condemned economic blockade of Cuba.

A year has passed and we have seen only small steps towards a new relationship with Cuba – new regulations to allow Cuban Americans to freely visit and send money to their families, and background talks about a few issues of mutual interest such as immigration.

These are positive steps but progress has stalled and the fundamental mechanisms of the economic blockade remain in full vigor. Meanwhile in Congress there have been a number of bills introduced to end or ease aspects of the blockade, the most prominent of which is the one to end the travel ban for all US citizens. But none of these has yet come to a vote.

The blockade has been in place almost 50 years and outlasted 10 US presidents. We have to step up the pressure to ensure that it finally ends under the current president.

NOW is the time to completely end the blockade, travel ban and all the measures aimed at starving the Cuban people into submission and overthrowing their government. We intend to demonstrate that we will no longer tolerate it.

In July we will travel in school buses, trucks and cars on 14 different routes to visit more than 130 US and Canadian cities. At every stop we will educate people about the blockade while collecting building supplies and tools for hurricane reconstruction, as well as medical, educational and cultural supplies. Join the caravan as we pass through your community, to connect and stay with community activists across the country as you travel. Alternatively join us directly in Texas on July 18th.

From Texas we travel to Cuba via Mexico. We go without asking for or accepting a US government license, as a disciplined collective challenge to the blockade and travel ban, and as ambassadors for a People to People foreign policy.

We spend 9 full days in Cuba, in Havana and neighboring provinces, in fellowship with our Cuban brothers and sisters.

We attend cultural events and visit social projects such as organic farms, homes for the elderly and health centers including the internationally acclaimed Latin American School of Medicine.

We meet and learn from Cubans at every level about the problems caused by the blockade and how they have creatively responded, as well as how they are rebuilding after the three devastating hurricanes that hit the island in the fall of 2008.

People with skills in construction, organic gardening or mural painting will have the option of working alongside Cuban counterparts for a couple of days of the program.

We then return to the US via Mexico, proudly declaring our travel to Cuba and our opposition to this immoral blockade.

CARAVAN SCHEDULE
JULY 3-17, 2010
Caravan routes - educational events and aid collections in the US and Canada.
JULY 18-20
Participant Orientation in Texas.
JULY 21- 22
Border crossing into Mexico travel to Tampico load material aid onto cargo ship.
JULY 23 – AUGUST 1
Fly to Havana - educational program in Cuba.
AUGUST 2
Return to Tampico - travel to Mexico/US border.
AUGUST 3
Reverse Challenge, cross back into the US.

WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
· Come as a caravanista – contact us for an application form
· Recruit other caravanistas –Distribute our brochure and get others to request an application.
· Get involved locally – help host a caravan event in your community – email us to get a local contact - if there isn't one, you or your organization can take the initiative to host the caravan!
· Collect material aid - let us know so we can send you the aid information packet.
· Make a financial donation: Checks or money orders should be made out to IFCO (write Caravan only in memo line) and mailed to our New York office. For credit card donations simply click on the Donate-now button on our website www.pastorsforpeace.org and follow the instructions, or call our office.
· Donations are tax-deductible.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Seattle-Cuba Friendship Committee (Seattle Area coordination)
c/o Tom Warner
Tel. 206-523-1720
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

IFCO/Pastors For Peace (National Caravan Coordination)
418 West 145th Street, 3-FL.
New York NY 10031
Tel. 212-926-5757
Fax 212-926-5842
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.ifconews.org