Overview

A unique music and culturally focused People-to-People exchange. Cuba is a unique world of open and friendly people living in a very vibrant culture. We suggest you leave behind anything and everything you may have heard about Cuba, traveling with an open mind in an attempt to understand Cuban politics, economy, and culture through the eyes of Cubans themselves. Global Exchange in partnership with AC Journeys, invites you to join us in exploring Cuban reality while enjoying the renowned events of the Havana Jazz Festival and private performances along with meeting local artists and musicians.

We’ll also visit with an urban planner, we’ll have an exchange with a Cuban economist, we’ll make a trip outside of Havana to see Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs), and we’ll visit a sustainable mountain community to learn about their preservation efforts.

For a draft itinerary please email drea@globalexchange.org

Overview

During this 9 day trip to Oaxaca, learn about the local impacts of free trade agreements, globalization and immigration policies from community leaders while experiencing the Guelaguetza festival, an annual Zapotec tradition that celebrates the values of sharing, reciprocity, and community through traditional dances that display each region’s distinct cultural traditions.

We will explore Indigenous resilience through food, art, and social movements in Oaxaca — home to one of the largest and most diverse indigenous populations in Mexico. We will taste the region’s renowned gastronomic traditions rooted in farm-to-table and mezcal production; witness the preservation of pre-Columbian artifacts and practices, including a visit to the Monte Alban ruins; and partake in the Guelaguetza festival, a yearly celebration of the customs of Oaxaca’s Indigenous communities.

A note on the festival: The Guelaguetza is a tradition that has survived since pre-Columbian times, evolving with the influx of Christianity. It was created to bring the community together. A Guelaguetza might be called to help with the harvest, bring food to a family with a sick relative or to gather offering for the patron saint of the town. Today, the Guelaguetza is practiced informally in communities around the region and is hosted every year in the capital, where groups performs traditional dances and share traditional foods and handicrafts with the audience. It is one of the most acclaimed events of its kind in Mexico!

Overview

Spend 10 days exploring and learning about Health in Cuba. You’ll have a chance to visit with Cuban doctors, medical students and other professionals working the area of health and healing while also experiencing the island’s vibrant culture and community-led projects in historic Havana.

This is a unique program that will take a holistic look at healthy living in Cuba. From the development of vaccines, mental health, exercise and mobility, care for third-age persons, nutrition to the history of free universal healthcare and the revolution. This trip will bring you unique perspectives, practices and exchanges on Cuba’s approach to healthy living while also visiting historic sites and making important connections supporting the Cuban people.

Overview

Join us for an incredible opportunity to explore Cuba’s unique Architecture, Arts and vibrant culture in various cities throughout the Island. On this people-to-people trip you will experience meaningful exchanges with Cuban professionals about architecture and development in Cuba, about the impact of US/Cuba relations from various Cuban perspectives, and explore various art forms including music and dance. We’ll start in the capitol of Havana and then make our way to colonial towns such as Cienfuegos and Trinidad. Where we’ll take city tours, meet with historians, urban planners, and listen to live music, all while taking in the vibrant culture and beauty of the Island.

Overview

Join us on this incredible journey to Oaxaca, home to 16 different indigenous groups, the largest indigenous population of any Mexican state, during the annual Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos celebration. Dating back to the Aztecs, this celebration is a family event to remember departed souls and to celebrate the resurrection of their spirits. They are welcomed back with seas of marigold flowers, elaborate sugar skulls, painted faces, colorful parades, live music and traditional dances.

We will explore Oaxaca’s rich culture through excursions to historical archeological ruins, mezcal palenques, and artisan workshops and witness Oaxaca’s vital culture of resistance based on local indigenous traditions. We will meet the local leaders and women who are often at the forefront of these struggles, organizing themselves and their communities and leading efforts to revitalize local language and culture.

Trip highlights:

  • Take part in the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos Celebrations
  • Learn about the indigenous people of Oaxaca, their history and struggle to maintain identity
  • Meet with local political figures to learn about the current political situation
  • Speak with social justice leaders, including professors, teachers, and activists
  • Explore the colonial city of Oaxaca while you learn about its history
  • Explore local markets
  • Learn about Oaxacan migration to the U.S.
  • Learn about the repercussions of resort tourism development for local people
  • Meet artists and learn about the role they play in the popular movement of Oaxaca
  • Visit to a temazcal, a traditional vapor bath and learn about herbology and traditional medicine

Overview

A long history of successive economic and political crises in Argentina forced different sectors not to depend on the government nor on private corporations but to find paths that enhance the collective, pulling together the available resources and recognizing that life depends on celebrating diversity and working in cooperation. Here are some of the experiences that we propose to visit, to learn from each other, to share ideas, stories, experiences:

Meet with the journalists of LaVaca to discuss the Argentine political and economic situation and the social and community responses to an industrial production model that has caused widespread impoverishment and exacerbated the climate crisis.

Visit with representatives of the largest peasant union in Argentina, the UTT, to debate and better understand how to change the productive matrix and for an agricultural system that instead of polluting everything (soil, water, crops and people) opens the possibility of sustainable life and a future for the planet.

Tour a ‘recovered’ pharmaceutical laboratory Farmacoop, managed by their workers in a democratic, horizontal way and selling medicine with the idea that “speculation is immoral”.

Visit with the workers of the UST, organized in a cooperative to maintain the park that used to be one of the largest landfills in Argentina. Explore how workers with meager resources but with technical and human responsibility were able to assume challenges that seem overpowering (i.e. confronting corporations and governments, taking charge of a landfill of enormous proportions), carrying out projects so that a dignified life is possible in otherwise devastated places.

Meet with organizers of the expanding Women’s Movement and learn about their struggle against gender violence (“Ni Una Menos”) and their battle for legal abortion (“Aborto Legal Ya!”).

Discuss with an economist the impact of the several financial crises in the country and the role of the USA and the IMF.

This tour is co-sponsored by WESPAC, WCN and Global Exchange for more information please contact wespacfoundation@gmail.com or call (914) 449-6514 or you may register here.

Possible trip extensions to visit Iguazu Falls on the Argentina/Brazil border are also available.

 

Overview

Join Global Exchange for a People to People solidarity delegation to meet, learn and exchange with Cuban’s from various sectors.

Visits may include meeting with Cuban’s working in Biotechnology and medicine, a visit with an economist to discuss the impact of sanctions on various areas of the economy, visit a sociologist to learn about ‘brain drain’, visit a poly clinic to learn of women’s health and access to care. Also visit community projects, cultural spaces including dance, music, art and religion, an organic farm and a special visit with a neighborhood organizing committee to learn about how Cuban’s organize locally and about daily life.

Overview

Join us during Semana Santa (Holy week) and witness the beauty of Mexico’s most culturally and linguistically diverse state. Meet with Indigenous activists, enjoy world famous Oaxacan cuisine, visit the ancient archaeological sites of the region, visit community run projects and witness  the Holy Week celebrations.

These celebrations happen in a state that has suffered disproportionately from the collapse of rural economies and decades long surge of out migration detonated by the original NAFTA accords, as millions of Mexicans — bereft of income and opportunities – headed north. We will look at how Oaxaca was destabilized by this exodus and what people are doing now to hold onto family and community even when they are dispersed geographically.

Overview

Similar to other countries in South America, Ecuador has traditionally suffered from the so-called “resource curse,” poverty and inequality in a land of plentiful natural resources. Despite this fact, Ecuador serves as a model for some of the most far-reaching efforts to provide an ecologically and socially-sustainable economic model. 
 
On a Global Exchange delegation to Ecuador you will meet with local organizations, politicians, journalists, farm workers, and Indigenous communities to speak about the local, regional, and global effects of corporate globalization. These affiliates will introduce you to some of the most successful local and international efforts to bring environmental justice to the Andes and the Amazon. You will explore the diversity of political challenges and successes of Ecuadorians in the Amazon basin as you engage in discussions of rights of nature, food sovereignty, fair trade, intellectual property rights, Indigenous rights and Indigenous healing methods.
 
In the northern Amazon region, you will look at the damaging effects of oil and other extractive industries while you experience the breathtaking diversity and beauty of the Amazon rainforest. You will learn about the historic ongoing court-battle against Chevron and its toxic legacy of oil exploitation. You will meet with Indigenous leaders and healers, and visit ecotourism projects that provide alternatives to extractive industries like oil and logging.
 
Back in Quito, you will discuss environmental, social, and economic rights with activists, explore the beautiful city, explore the local cuisine and visit the Mitad del Mundo, the Center of the Earth. 
* This trip is not confirmed until the minimum group size is met. Please do not purchase airfare until you receive confirmation from the Global Exchange coordinator.
* The first and last days of the tour are dedicated primarily to arrivals and departures – please schedule your arriving and departing flights on these days. If you prefer to arrive before or depart after the listed tour dates, we can still arrange airport transportation but keep in mind there will be an extra charge, as drivers are hired per day.

Overview

Join Global Exchange for a People to People solidarity delegation to meet, learn and exchange with Cuban’s from various sectors.

Visits may include meeting with Cuban’s working in Biotechnology and medicine, a visit with an economist to discuss the impact of sanctions on various areas of the economy, visit a sociologist to learn about ‘brain drain’, visit a poly clinic to learn of women’s health and access to care. Also visit community projects, cultural spaces including dance, music, art and religion, an organic farm and a special visit with a neighborhood organizing committee to learn about how Cuban’s organize locally and about daily life.