Seize Unforgettable Travel Opportunity with Witness for Peace Southwest

Jeanette Charles has one wish for her year — to celebrate New Years alongside the Cuban people as a Witness for Peace Southwest delegate during the anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

Luckily for her, Altruvistas and Witness for Peace Southwest (WFPSW) are co-organizing a trip to Cuba over New Years.

Witness for Peace is a national grassroots human rights organization that works in solidarity with peoples of Latin America to build a more just and humane US foreign policy towards the Americas. Witness for Peace Southwest is part of the larger WFP network. It focuses on how to change U.S. policy and corporate practices in Latin America and the Caribbean through popular education, speaking tours, campaign work & lobbying, and of course–delegations.

Jeanette is WFPSW’s Regional Organizer. She’s participated in many delegations before, but none to Cuba.

What is a delegation exactly? In this context, we’re referring to a facilitated trip in which participants travel to (usually) another country and meet face-to-face with various groups, communities and organizations working in a specific area of focus. Oftentimes, most anyone can sign up to join, unless otherwise noted.

Who typically goes on WFPSW delegations? As Jeanette put it, “They can be and are for everybody.” But historically speaking, they tend to be people who are interested in Latin America, and those with a strong curiosity about what’s going on in the region.

What happens during a WFPSW delegation may never happen again. Or as Jeanette says, “Moments don’t repeat themselves. You never know what we’re going to do next year.”

Jeanette shares some of her past experiences as a WFPSW delegate.

In Chiapas, she participated in an international gathering in solidarity with indigenous women. She heard Zapatista women share their stories struggle. In Venezuela, she saw Hugo Chavez speak multiple times alongside the Venezuelan people. In fact, she was there when he won in 2012 and witnessed the mobilization that followed. And the list goes on.

“All these moments you were either there or you weren’t,” Jeanette said. “They stick with you for a long time, and inform your work and your life.”

Whether they are big in scale or person-to-person—you carry these delegation moments with you.

This year, Altruvistas and WFPSW have teamed up to organize these delegations: one to Puerto Rico in November and the Cuba trip over New Years. (See below for details.) Both trips are open to the public, meaning anyone can sign up to go.

New Years is a very special time in Cuba. Writer Victoria Alcalá explains why.

“It was on this first day of 1959, Cuba was shaken by a much-awaited news—Fulgencio Batista, who had seized power through a military coup on March 10, 1952, had fled the country in the early hours of the morning, finally convinced that he was unable to resist the determination of the rebels commanded by the young lawyer Fidel Castro. A new era in the national history had begun.”

New Years in Cuba remains a festive occasion to this day. Multi-generations come together to celebrate.

It’s no surprise that traveling to Cuba this New Years tops Jeanette’s wish list. She knows from experience that WFPSW’s upcoming delegations represent impactful moments-to-be. Hopefully for Jeanette and those who join her in Cuba–there will be many.