[CUBA:
2004]
The 2004 SOW team returned to Havana, Cuba to learn
more about the effects of the US trade embargo on Cuba,
as well as about the "Special Period" - the
state of economic emergency and restructuring, following
the removal of Russian economic support in 1991. Through
the organization Fundacion Amistad, SOW was able to
obtain research visas. While in Havana, the 2004 team
was connected with the same organization as the 2001
team - the Office of the Historian, an organization
that oversees many community programs in Old Havana,
including a major restoration program of certain neighborhoods.
Members of the Office were able to give SOWers an orientation
to Havana during the first few days. SOWers also participated
in volunteer activities at the Convent of San Belen,
a convent being restored by the Office.
The majority of time was spent divided into two main
research groups - health and hip hop. The health group
looked at the Cuban public health system by visiting
neighborhood clinics, clinics for natural medicine,
a health cafe to teach teens about HIV/AIDS, maternity
homes, maternity hospitals, health research organizations,
and the Ministry of Public Health. Through the Office
of the Historian, SOWers also had direct contacts with
local doctors and HIV/AIDS specialists.
The hip hop group looked at the hip hop movement as
a means of a new political voice in Cuban. According
to the Cuban government, racism, discrimination, social
differences, and gender differences do not "exist."
SOW members looked at hip hop groups whose lyrics often
revealed the opposite, and were givinga new voice to
marginalized groups of the population. Members conducted
interviews with major Cuban rap groups, attended conferences
about the hip hop movement, as well as attended many
concerts around Havana.
In addition to these subjects, SOW members conducted
research projects about urban organic farms used to
sustain neighborhoods and communities, a political exile
from the United States, and gender roles and the "whistling
culture" on the street. They also met with the
non profit, Witness for Peace, to discuss the negative
effects of US embargo, and attended a protest where
1.2 million Cubans marched in response to Bush's tightening
policy against Cuba.
SOWers stayed in casas paticulares - family stays,
where rent is paid - in Old Havana. Additionally, on
the weekends SOW members took trips to the district
of Vedado, the rural city of Vinales, and travelled
to different beaches around Havana.
[MEXICO:
2003]
Project
by Seema Kakad for Visible Thinking Undergraduate Research
Symposium:
"The
Rise of Women Leadership in Rural Communities in Guanajuato,
Mexico as a result of NAFTA and U.S. Free Trade Policies"
In May 2003, SOW travelled to Mexico
to study the effects of NAFTA and free-trade on the
Mexican economy and migration patterns to the US. The
first week was spent in Mexico City, the second largest
city in the world (behind only Beijing, and even then
some put Mexico at number one). Witness for Peace, an
American organization focused on changing U.S. policy
towards Latin America through education and lobbying,
was our host. Two young American volunteers facilitated
popular education workshops on Mexican history, migration
trends and agricultural policy, and arranged meetings
with a campesino union, an NGO that supports migrants
and refugees, and a university professor, among others.
Those five days built on what the group had learned
in preparation for the trip to create a solid foundation
from which to base the rest of the experiences in Mexico.
From Mexico City, the team moved on to Guanajuato, four
hours away and a state with one of the highest rates
of migration to the United States. The migration from
this region began with the Bracero program from the
1940s, born of U.S. need for agricultural labor during
World War II. Braceros were Mexican men contracted to
work temporarily on farms in the United States. Now,
migration from Guanajuato includes women and entire
families, temporarily and permanently.
With CEDESA as their home base,
SOW visited nearby rural communities affected by these
migration patterns. Much of the time was spent with
women's cooperatives- baking cooperatives, small community
savings and loan groups, health promoters. Many of these
groups formed as a response to the outflow of people
and sustainable work from the region. With the majority
of men between the ages of 15 and 50 living most of
the year in the United States, women are organizing
themselves to manage their many responsibilities: tending
to the fields, sponsoring community social and religious
events, and rationing the money sent home. Such collective
organizations exist in response to migration in urban
areas as well.
The final week was spent in the
city of Irapuato, staying with families and visiting
with the women's groups in working class neighborhoods
there. One particular family was a mother and four children,
who's husband was working in Texas. This particular
family was an example to SOW members of the direct impact
of US policy and free trade on Mexican households.
[PERU:
2002]
In 2002, SOW made the decision
to expand. Duke's chapter sponsored two trips with ten
students traveling on each. One group travelled to India
and the other to Peru In Peru, the team spent some time
in a rural village near Huaraz, situated in the valley
between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra,
two high mountain ranges within the Andes. They also
spent some time in Cajamarca, an Andean city with a
well-preserved typical Incan culture. Team members focused
on various projects, from documenting excavations of
Inca ruins near Cajamarca, to analyzing the effects
of ecotourism on local communities in the Huascaran
National Park, to creating a children's book from the
stories that Peruvian families pass down to their children.
[INDIA:
2002]
The second team travelled to Ahmedabad,
India. Located in Western India and the site of the
devastating earthquake in 2001, Ahmedabad showed students
the paradox between a continually modernizing Indian
society constantly bringing in more technology and Western
ideologies and the traditional culture that offers resistance
to the effects of globalization. The team focused on
earthquake relief efforts and worked with the women's
rights movement in Gujarat through non-governmental
organizations in the area. They also had the opportunity
to take part in a Jain pilgrimage to Palitana, a significant
area of worship for the Jain community. This experience
gave them insight into the important role of religion
in Indian society and culture.
[CUBA:
2001]
The 2001 SOW team traveled to Havana,
Cuba from May 15 to May 31st. The trip was coordinated
with Luly Duke and Fundacion Amistad. The students lived
with families in apartments in the Vedado neighborhood
of Havana. The team worked closely with members of the
Office of the Historian in Habana Vieja (Old Havana).
The mornings were spent in meetings with officials,
organizations, touring museums, hospitals, day care
centers, and neighborhood businesses, among others.
This exposure was greatly complemented by the afternoon
work. The SOW team worked side by side with local employees
to help reconstruct the Convent of Belen. The Office
of the Historian has plans to revert the dilapidated
convent, one of the most important colonial buildings
in the city, into a joint home for the elderly and hotel
for people of the "third age." The group worked
on construction, plumbing, electricity, but most importantly,
building bonds of friendship. The team was also exposed
to life outside of Havana, with trips to Trinidad, Mariel,
and Soroa.
In the fall of 2001, members of the SOW team worked
eagarly to edit the organization's first documentary
film, on the Jewish community in Cuba. The SOW team
also sponsored a successful commons room disucssion
entitled "Fidel Castro: Friend or Foe?" Attracting
over forty students, the discussion initiated intellectual
dialogue about a topic that is often overlooked in regular
academic discussion. SOW's photo exhibit in the Perk
displayed the team's experiences in Havana.
[RUSSIA:
2000]
In May, 2000, the first SOW team
cultivated a relationship with two American organizations,
Abamedia in Dallas, and The Russian-American Center
in San Francisco, both of which enabled the Russia trip
to be realized. During the month of May 2000, a SOW
team of 10 individuals traveled to Moscow, Russia. After
a briefing from the US Embassy, the team traveled 300
km south to the village of Kitezh. Kitezh Children's
Eco-Village is a community of foster families for orphan
children: sixty people living together to provide a
home and a school for homeless and orphaned Russian
children. In Kitezh, the team helped with the logistics
of spring planting, construction, kitchen and housework,
and teaching English and mentoring the children. Moreover,
they created incredible bonds of friendship with the
children and adults of the village. Documentation became
a focus of the group's efforts, as each member was required
to keep an individual journal and contribute to the
team journal. In addition to this, great effort was
put into photo and film documentation of various aspects
of Kitezh community life.
Time was also spent in Moscow, where the team initially
met with members of the U.S. Embassy. The team spent
time with a family in Moscow while staying at a youth
hostel. SOW members met with the renowned journalist
and political scientist, Vladimir Pozner, and visited
an urban orphanage and convent. A campus discussion
was held with over forty University of Moscow students,
a few with whom the team has maintained contact. In
addition, the team was able to visit the Tretyakov gallery,
the Bolshoy Ballet, and other local communities and
cultural sights.
Upon returning in the fall of 2000, the SOW team held
a presentation at the Center for Documentary Studies,
exhibited their photographs on Duke's campus, spoke
to area elementary classrooms about Russia and Russian
orphans, and is working on a documentary film. The team
has also maintained interaction with Kitezh, primarily
through email, and hopes to collaborate with them in
the future, with the possibility of future trips and
exchanges between the two communities.
