reality tours - Global Exchange

Traveling through our Reality Tours is not simply a trip, but rather a journey. We encourage you to immerse yourself into the ways of life of those surrounding you. We invite you to give way to all your senses and truly understand what it is to be a person living in the country you are visiting. We strive to make connections with others as a way to share stories, and grow our understanding of the world. Our trips challenge you to “Meet the People, Learn the Facts, Make a Difference” and move beyond stereotypes. The following is a story of how one of our participants found not only a new appreciation for a culture outside of their own, but understood the interdependence between herself and the people she met. Here is how she is making a difference.

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Afghanistan was a faraway land that I had never imagined traveling to until the summer of 2002. Of course, after 9/11/2001 it had become a location mentioned frequently in the media and I had become consciously and painfully aware of it’s importance in the unfolding history of our time. I was visiting a friend in San Francisco in July 2002. He knew that I had been to the Middle East several times during the past one and a half years, and thought that I would be interested in a talk sponsored by Global Exchange. There was to be a discussion about the situation in the Occupied Territories. I was very much interested, so we went and six months later I was on my way to Gaza. (Another story!) Now, I had an inkling that I knew nothing about what was happening in the world. In the spring of 2003 I managed to travel to Iraq. (Another story!)

Several months later I contacted Global Exchange again. This time I asked if there was a country in the region that I could travel to where I could work with an individual instead of a group. After several discussions my request was accepted by Najibullah Sedeqe in Afghanistan, and so this story began.

It was a short visit, three days in October of 2003. I stayed in a small guesthouse and in a nearby park Najib and I would take a daily walk. At that time there were still more donkey carts and pedestrians than cars on the streets. For a moment I felt like I had traveled back in time. There was little evidence of western influence. Oh, how I long for those days! It was a fast and furious tour. We mad many visits including several schools that were recently opened for girls; something that had not happened during the previous decade because of the Taliban rule.

It is difficult to remember a time before I knew Afghanistan and Najibullah Sediqi, the in-Country coordinator for Global Exchange Afghanistan delegations. After approximately fifteen to twenty journeys to that mysterious and beautiful land, Afghanistan, has proven to be a perfect teacher. Each adventure “was the best of times and was the worst of times.” Each providing me with new insights and giving me great gifts for the soul. Photography, my work, especially in Afghanistan and the Middle East, has taught me many life lessons in the process of making great images. The sheer cultural shock that often brought excitement of something new also brought struggle, and often I was faced with discomfort, anger and selfishness. With much patience and kindness Najib and others guided me to be a more humble human being. The humility and a heartfelt wanting to return something to Afghanistan has now brought me to a place of action. Over the course of the next year, and with the assistance of Najib and Global Exchange, I will develop four to five Indie go-go campaign projects, each to raise funds for one Kabul family to purchase a tool or product that would enable them to begin to be self-sustaining. Each campaign will be in the amount of 300 to 800 US dollars.

Our first project is now live!

This project will be for the family of Zalikha for the purchase of an air compressor to re-inflate flat tires. There are many on the streets of Kabul. Please check out the project page to read Zalikha’s story and please continue to revisit for updates and new projects.

– Gloriann Liu

To donate and take action now, visit Gloriann Liu’s project page here!

It’s springtime and discounts are in the air! Use the discount codes provided below by June 17th and save $200 on any of the following Reality Tours. We hope you can join us on one of these great trips!

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Venezuela: Community Development & Populist Movements
July 18-27
$1,900
Discount code: VzGX15

Travel with Global Exchange to dig past the headlines and explore the changes occurring in Venezuela, Latin America and the hemisphere as a whole. You will meet with human rights activists, rural agricultural workers, labor unions, community activists, journalists, government officials and opposition figures. See for yourself the unprecedented social change that is occurring at this historic time in Venezuela and the region.

Costa Rica: Sustainability on the Caribbean Coast
July 18-27
$1,700
Discount code: CrGX15

Join us as we explore the advantages and disadvantages of a tourism-based economy. As we travel across this naturally rich and strikingly beautiful country, we will examine the social and environmental problems facing Costa Ricans and meet the important players who are creating sustainable solutions. The local solutions to these challenges will inspire our action and involvement with these issues.

Iran: Ancient and Contemporary Culture
September 19 – October 3
$3,600
Discount code: IranGX15

The Citizens Diplomacy Reality Tour to Iran will give participants a chance to see inside this much-maligned nation and gain first-hand experience of the effects of the political policies of both the United States and Iran. Participants will have a chance to put a human face on this ongoing political dispute and help facilitate understanding and respect between people of different nations.

Venezuela: Community Development & Populist Movements
July 18-27
$1,900
Discount code: VzGX15

Travel with Global Exchange to dig past the headlines and explore the changes occurring in Venezuela, Latin America and the hemisphere as a whole. You will meet with human rights activists, rural agricultural workers, labor unions, community activists, journalists, and government officials and opposition figures, and see for yourself the unprecedented social change that is occurring at this historic time in Venezuela and the region.

Costa Rica: Sustainability on the Caribbean Coast
July 18-27
$1,700
Discount code: CrGX15

Join use as we explore the advantages and disadvantages of a tourism-based economy. As we travel across this naturally rich and strikingly beautiful country, we will examine the social and environmental problems facing Costa Ricans and meet the important players who are creating sustainable solutions. The local solutions to these challenges will inspire our action and involvement with these issues.

Iran: Ancient and Contemporary Culture
September 19 – October 3
$3,600
Discount code: IranGX15

Gustavo Palma, a native of Brazil, traveled with Reality Tours on our Community Rights and Democracy delegation to Venezuela in January 2015. Jo in us on one of our many Citizen Diplomacy Delegations to Venezuela.

Venezuela was my first destination with Global Exchange. I was very attracted to the proposal of the organization, but I had some trepidation to join on one of their expeditions because the organization is not well known in Brazil. My fears, however, were soon removed. The staff is very caring and honest. Everything was arranged with much clarity and plenty of information. I spent ten days in Venezuela, with total support and security, forewarned of all discomforts that such a trip – which does not seek comfort or sightseeing but to confront the harsh reality of the country – could lead me to.

My other fear was that the frame that Global Exchange would present to me, through the people whose encounters it promotes, would be biased and partisan, something less than desirable in a politically polarized country such as Venezuela. Again, there was nothing to fear. The trip was far from an apology to the Bolivarian Revolution. Next to the defenders of the Bolivarian Revolution, I spoke with many of it’s staunchest critics. And, most importantly, I had contact with social forces and trends – oriented mainly to the common organization of civil society – that were created by the Hugo Chavez government.

The local Global Exchange staff in Venezuela is excellent. Leo, the translator, is an academic enthusiast and politically free, the owner of an inexhaustible kindness. He introduced me to the rich Venezuelan literature, particularly Héctor Torres, a little-known genius. Alvaro, responsible for logistics, is a man of the people, a talented musician, and active community leader. His knowledge of the Venezuelan people is deep, and his insights into the social conflicts in the country alone would be worth the trip. My traveling companion – Jo Rawlins, a freelance blogger from California, is a person who is wise, tolerant, friendly and inquisitive – I will remember her with great nostalgia.

As a result of this balance that Global Exchange strives to make, I returned home fully satisfied, with a feeling of understanding, deeply, at least lucidly, of a national situation about which the information in Brazil comes scarce and distorted. I highly recommend Brazilians to experience Global Exchange’s Reality Tours. My experience was innovative and deeply satisfying.

The following guest post is written by Reality Tours summer intern Bryan Weiner. Every summer, Global Exchange hosts a robust intern program, where interns work closely with a staff member and participate in a weekly workshop to gain knowledge and skills. This past Wednesday, the Global Exchange interns joined the Reality Tours staff for a “local” Reality Tours in the Mission, SF.

Mission Dolores Park.

Have you been interested in going on a Reality Tour? Do you think that all reality tours require a plane ticket to far away countries? Have you ever thought of doing a Reality Tour in your own neighborhood? This past week, the Global Exchange Reality Tours staff prepared a short and informative “local” Reality Tour so that we could learn more about the social, political, and historical aspects of the diverse, vibrant neighborhood we work in, the Mission District of San Francisco.

The tour began in the Global Exchange conference room where Professor Mike Stanfield of the University of San Francisco gave us an overview of the history of California, San Francisco, the Mission system and the Mission District in particular. While the indigenous tribes of the region mostly avoided the San Francisco peninsula because of the gloomy, foggy weather, the Mission District, being the sunniest part of the city, attracted many diverse people from all walks of life including missionaries and people seeking their fortune in the Gold Rush. Unfortunately, many indigenous groups were brought here against their will and quickly succumbed to European disease, causing the Mission Dolores to live up to its name (Dolores means pains in Spanish). The neighborhood has always been a vibrant, dynamic crossroads that has continued to bring waves of immigrants, shaping the constantly changing face of the community.

The group entering Arriba Juntos – photo by Bryan Weiner

After the introduction, we ventured out to Arriba Juntos, a community organization that primarily serves the local immigrant community. Marilyn Bunag, Programs Manager, gave us a tour of the grounds and an overview of the various services that they offer. Arriba Juntos has assisted many people get up on their feet, find a job, gain skills, learn English, get off the street and find a place to live. She shared many touching success stories such as the story of John, who was homeless and now has a full-time job at a high-end San Francisco restaurant.

The group of interns walking up Clarion Alley. – Photo by Katie Koerper

We left Arriba Juntos and walked down Clarion Alley to see the amazing display of street art that covers the entire alley. Upon arriving to our next destination, the Women’s Building, we saw and received and in-depth explanation of what is probably the most remarkable mural in the city. After pointing out all of the key female leaders depicted in the mural, Development Director Tatjana Loh gave us a tour inside the historic building and told us about all of the important community services offered at the center, such as low cost and free legal services, computer literacy classes, and a food pantry for immigrant families. Upon arriving to the third floor, we were greeted by the throne that dates back to when the building belonged to the Sons of Norway (the building has always been used for community organizations).

The mural on the front of the Women’s Building. – Photo by Katie Koerper

We said goodbye to Tatjana and made our way up the street to our final destination, Mission High School, where a bright and outgoing junior, Connor, showed us the community garden that the after-school program has been working on to promote a healthy lifestyle amongst the students. He also gave us an in-depth description about the school community that has worked together to turn a struggling and often-violent inner-city school into a nurturing place that has become a destination for students all around the Bay Area.

Before heading back to Global Exchange we made one last very important stop… ICE CREAM! At Bi-Rite Market. It was an exciting, informative, and fulfilling day. I recommend you take the time to give yourself a Reality Tour of your own community! You will be surprised at what is just around the corner.

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Hickory Grounds, near Henryetta, OK. GX tour group pictured with Mekko George Thompson and his brother Tim Thompson.

The following guest post is Part II in a series written by Rachel Jackson who is Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma’ Reality Tours Trip Leader, which is happening now.

Radical Oklahoma – Red State Reality Tour: Day 3 (July 10^th 2013)

Yesterday was a full day, rich with questions, conversations, and revelations, all the more intensified by the increasing summer heat. Today we hit the road early to drive through the Cookson Hills, home to numerous historic Cherokee communities.

In these hills stands the cabin of Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary that enabled a nation of people to become fully literate within a decade. They have also been the hideouts for many an outlaw, including the notorious Belle Starr and Pretty Boy Floyd. Folk heroes abound in these parts.

We first stopped at Hickory Grounds, Oce Vpofa (pronounced O-je Uh-bo-vuh in the Muscogee language). Hickory Grounds is unspeakably sacred to the Muscogee Nation. It was the last ceremonial grounds to leave Alabama when the Creeks were removed on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. We learned about the history and ongoing struggle to protect this important land.

Hickory Grounds was the site of the 1909 Crazy Snake Rebellion, a complicated series of events that resulted from many years of Muscogee resistance to land allotment. In order to open Oklahoma up for settlement and statehood, the federal government had to accomplish two things: 1.) abolish tribal governments and jurisdiction, and 2.) divide tribal land held in communal tenure into individual holdings. The Dawes Act of 1887 and the Curtis Act of 1898 accomplished these two goals. Chitto Harjo, leader of the so-called Crazy Snakes, resisted the process of allotment via multiple means across almost two decades.

In 1909, a lynching of a man in Henryetta prompted many African American men and boys to flee. They sought refuge at Hickory Grounds, where they erected tents and lived outside of town for many months. Local racists could only abide the perceived threat of this situation for so long. They raided the grounds, instigating a fire fight with these men and boys, and came after members of the Snakes at their homes as well. Chitto Harjo was wounded but managed to escape into the Kiamichi mountains where he died two years later.

Today the Mekko at Hickory Ground, George Thompson, faces a new resistance struggle. His position as Mekko (translated as “king,” but understood as “chief”) makes him responsible for the ceremonies that occur at the ground. Though the details of his ceremonial knowledge and duties are deeply private, Mr. Thompson maintains the fire at Hickory Grounds. He is only the fourth Mekko at Hickory Grounds since it was removed to Oklahoma in the 1830s, and he acts on behalf of not only current members of the grounds but also on behalf of ancestors long associated with the grounds, including past Mekkos.

Currently the Poarch Band Creeks in Alabama, a group that managed to gain federal recognition in the 1980’s by establishing descendancy from the Muscogee Nation, is actively desecrating the former site of Hickory Grounds in Wetumka, Alabama.

In order to build a casino complex, they have dug up the remains of seven former Mekkos and approximately 60 others, including the bodies of women and children, along with ceremonial objects associated with the burial. This is an ethically reprehensible act on the part of a group that promised to protect the former grounds as a condition of their federal recognition. Perhaps worse, in Muscogee tradition, the removal of these remains disrupts ceremonies associated with the grounds today.

We were honored by the chance to talk with George Thompson and his brother Tim about the history of Hickory Grounds, some of the practices of the grounds, and the current struggle with the tribal government of the Poarch Band Creeks. Read more at http://savehickoryground.org. Be sure to check out the resources page where you can view an excellent short film on indiegogo and read a statement from Mekko George Thompson.

Read Part 3 of the Radical Oklahoma – Red State Reality Tour next!

Rachel Jackson is a PhD Candidate and Dissertation Fellow at the University of Oklahoma in the Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy Program, Department of English. She researches and theorizes the impact of suppressed local histories of resistance on Oklahoma’s current political identity.

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Remember to check back to our blog for Rachel’s next report back from the Oklahoma road!

The following guest post is Part III in a series written by Rachel Jackson who is Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma’ Reality Tours Trip Leader, which is happening now

Creek Council House, downtown Okmulgee, OK. GX tour group pictured with Muscogee Nation Museums Director/Curator John Beaver and Assistant Director Justin Giles.

After a full morning, we met the Muscogee Nation Museums Director and Assistant Director at the Creek Council House in the heart of Okmulgee. The Council House was built in 1878 by Creek hands and served as the site of tribal government until the federal government abolished it during the allotment period and took the building from the Muscogee Nation, deeding it the City of Okmulgee, in 1919.

Justin and Josh – both Muscogee Nation citizens, trained anthropologists, and former interns with the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian – were fantastic conversationalists. They are both clearly pumped about their role in restoring the Council House to its former, original glory. The building was finally returned to the Muscogee Nation through purchase from the city in 2010. Talking to these young men, it’s obvious the resistance continues.

We ended our day at the Muscogee Nation Tribal Complex, where tribal government (finally reinstituted in 1971) and associated departments and offices are located. William Lowe and Brian Underhill of the Muscogee Nation Tourism Department led us through the Muscogee Veterans Museum and the central administration building.

The Veterans Museum is a fantastic tribute to Muscogee veteran’s participation in all U.S. wars, including a well-designed tribute to the fallen among them. It is also the only tribal veteran museum of its scope in Oklahoma. Muscogee Creeks, as our day taught us, have always been fierce fighters.

After dinner, we wound our way back through the Cookson Hills, wondering at the impact this expansive tribal history and culture must have had on Woody Guthrie as he grew up in Okemah, not too far away. And as the hot sun set behind us, we knew it would never set on the proud tradition of resistance and cultural continuance in the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma.

TAKE ACTION!

Check out photos of Global Exchange’s ‘Radical Oklahoma‘ trip on Facebook;
Plan your own Global Exchange customized trip!
Remember to check back to our blog for Rachel’s next report back from the Oklahoma road!

Photo by Diane Budd. Taken on a Reality Tour to Iran, 2008.

Our travel photo contest is off to a great start as we have received photos from Reality Tours all over the world, including Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. We have greatly enjoyed receiving and sharing your images and hearing about your memories of the Reality Tours of which you have been a part.

There is still time to submit up to three of your favorite photos from a Reality Tour to be considered for our prizes: a Fair Trade gift package and the Grand Prize of a $500 discount on a Reality Tour! We’re still looking for pictures from any of our Reality Tours to Africa- Uganda, Kenya, or South Africa anyone?

Photo by Tom Hudspeth. Taken on a Reality Tour to Cuba, 2011.

We’re also continuing to look for photos that show interactions between Reality Tour participants and people from the communities we visit.

Submit today, as the deadline for submissions is April 10, 2013. And make sure to vote for the Popular Choice winner by liking your favorite photos on our Facebook Page!

Photographer and Reality Tours past participant Linda Wolf

Photographer Linda Wolf is a proud past Reality Tours participant. Through her photographs you sort of feel you know her and those she captures.

Her global journalistic photos seem eerily familiar, even the ones of places you’ve never been. And her people pictures exude the human spirit, as showcased in her video below entitled, “I am a Full Woman.”

Definitely watch the video, but before you do…I asked Linda to share some thoughts for this post about what it was like to travel on a Reality Tour. Here’s what she had to say:

Linda Wolf’s Reality Tours Experience

I went on the Global Exchange trip to China with (Global Exchange co-founder) Kevin Danaher. First, I’d go anywhere with Kevin. He has been an inspiration to me since I interviewed him for my 2nd book, Global Uprising: Confronting the Tyrannies of the 21st Century. Kevin role modeled the best in leaders, I have to say. We were a small rag-tag group, and herding us was like herding sheep.

I once asked him how he could keep his composure when one of us was either dragging too much baggage, or always making us late. He said something I will always remember. “I look at the intentions behind people’s actions.” But, I think Kevin is just super chill – another reason I love Global Exchange. Everyone is super chill.

Everyone was easy to work with and bent over backwards to accommodate my needs, which centered around doing photography. They stopped the bus once so I could get out and take a photo. I felt I had complete freedom to go off on my own, within the confines of making sure I got back to the hotel in time for us to take off for airports or trains on time! I am so glad I went on that tour. In fact, I got some of my most favorite photos of people for Full Woman and other exhibitions, from that tour.

I’m not a person who normally takes tours of countries. I usually go alone because I don’t find tours that I feel care (about) the same things I care about — but Global Exchange went beyond what I would have wanted to do by myself. One thing I was really happy about was the way the tour was set up to support local, Chinese businesses – we only stayed in Chinese owned and run hotels, ate in only Chinese owned restaurants, and we did not follow the tourist routes.

“Graveyard Dominoes” Photo Credit: Linda Wolf

My tour was called “A Sustainability Tour of China” — One of the highlights of my trip was going to the Graveyard of Extinction at The Nanhaizi David’s Deer Park in Beijing. There are approximately 145 tombstones in the cemetery, toppled over on each other like dominoes that cover a space of 100 meters.

“Graveyard Homo Sapien” Photo Credit: Linda Wolf

Each stone is inscribed with the name of the species and the date released by World Conservation Union, that species went extinct. At the end of the line of falling tombstones stands a large concrete hand which represents where we are now, as well as what will happen if each species beyond the hand becomes extinct.

The tombstone for Homo Sapiens is not far down the line behind the hand. Seeing so clearly how interconnected we are to other species was astounding and certainly motivating to spread the messages I learned back home when I got off the tour.

—

Watch Linda’s “I am a Full Woman” Video:

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Inspired to travel? Check out a list of Reality Tours we have coming up this year.
Want to see more of Linda’s work? Check out her photography website.
Unite with 1 billion women this V-Day! This V-Day, unite with women all over the world to strike, dance & rise against gender violence! Learn more here about One Billion Rising or at www.onebillionrising.org.

Patty Idler with Shop Keeper in Kabul

One of my favorite parts about working with Reality Tours is listening to past participants reflect on their experiences when they come back to the U.S.

Are you a past Reality Tours participant with a story to tell? Share in the comments below or visit our Share Your Story page. And as Global Exchange celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year, share your memories and experiences of Global Exchange with us as we celebrate our past and look forward to the future.

Here are a few of our favorite Reality Tours stories:

Patty and Randy Idler in Afghanistan: “The driver and guide you sent asked if we 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.”

Students in North Korea

Jeremy Jimenez in North Korea: “There were no lack of spontaneous moments that enabled us to see North Koreans as individuals in their own right. When telling a cashier at a rest stop, upon being asked, that I was a teacher, she told me that I ‘have wasted my life…..(I) should have been a film star.'”

Paul Prew in Ecuador: “In the film Crude, I saw a number of the same people, organizations, and locations featured in the movie that I visited on the Global Exchange tour. I was impressed with the ability of Global Exchange to plug us into a variety of social movements and organizations. As an educator at a state university, I use the experience every term in a number of my courses.”

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What’s your Reality Tours story? Share with us below in the comments.

Afghan Assistance for Empowerment & Entrepreneurs