Author: Hope Bastian Martinez (reprinted by Dawn Rubbert with permission)

Curious about Cuba? Want to meet a group of progressive semi-programmed friends in Havana? Interested in learning about Quakerism in Cuba and sharing wider Quaker perspectives in Havana Monthly Meeting’s first ever Work Camp?!

Potential hosts: Martin Luther King Center and Havana Monthly Meeting (Quakers)

There’s lots of interest in Cuba in the US, especially among progressive young people and I would like to create an experience for US Quakers to learn about Cuba and participate in meaningful exchange and service with members of the Quaker community in Havana. At this point this project is a “wouldn’t it be cool if…” dream being worked out between myself and the young pastor of Havana Monthly Meeting. We are starting from the idea that Quakers in the US have a lot to learn and a lot to share with folks in Cuba, and the Meeting there is excited about the possibility of receiving a group.

Luckily, due to very recent changes, US religious groups may now freely visit religious communities in Cuba without going through onerous licensing procedures. As a group of Friends we would spend 1-2 weeks getting to know Cuba and Quakers in Havana through shared worship, workshops, and service. This work camp is being planned collaboratively with members of Havana Monthly Meeting and will be designed around the skills and interests of US and Cuban participants.

We will try to keep the cost of the trip as low as possible to cover airfare, lodging and meals in a simple and inexpensive dorm/church housing, local travel, interpreters (if participants don’t speak Spanish), etc. We would also each do fund-raising through our Monthly and Yearly Meetings to cover the cost of whatever service projects we would do with Havana Monthly Meeting friends.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in please get in touch with me! (Editor’s Note: or leave a comment here on “How Do You See Peace?” and we’ll be sure to pass it on!) In your e-mail please let me know little bit about yourself, your interests in visiting Cuba, etc.

Name:
E-Mail:
Phone:

1. Please tell us about your Quaker connections: Are you a member/attender of a Quaker meeting or church? Where?

2. What makes you interested in visiting Cuba?
 
3. Have you traveled internationally before? Where to? Tell us more about the purpose of the trip(s).
 
4. What experiences, knowledge, skills, etc. do you have that you would be willing to share with Friends in Havana? Could you lead workshops on Quaker topics, or topics of interest to Friends?
 
5. On the other hand, what would you like to learn about from Havana Friends?
 
6. Complete the sentence: My trip to Cuba would not be complete without…
 
7. Do you speak Spanish? Would you need an interpreter to participate fully in the exchange?
 
8. When would you be available/interested in traveling? Please list several times when you might be available for example: “any time in the summer” or “during my winter break December 21-January 6” Preference for one or two week trip?
 
For more info or to send in an application: havanaquake2011@gmail.com.

More about us: My name is Hope Bastian Martinez. I’m a graduate student in cultural anthropology at American University and a member of Tallahassee Monthly Meeting (Southeastern YM). I visited Cuba for the first time in 2000 with a group of young people from SEYM. In 2004-2005, I lived in Havana where I collaborated with the Martin Luther King Center and a US NGO hosting study delegations to show US citizens first-hand the effects of US foreign policy in Cuba. From 2008-2009, I worked in Cuba as an editor for a public-health journal and next fall I will be in Havana again as the resident director of American University’s undergraduate study abroad program. Since 2004 I have worshiped with members of a small but vibrant Monthly Meeting in Havana and want to help create connections between Quakers in the US and Havana.

Kirenia Criado Pérez, is the Pastor of Havana Monthly Meeting, a theologian and coordinator of the Theological and Pastoral Reflection and Training Program of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. Originally from Puerto Padre, Las Tunas she studied at the Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Matanzas, Cuba before settling in Havana. Kirenia is a trained AVP facilitator and has led workshops for young people in Brazil.