The Beacon School, NYC

Venezuela Trip 2006 Log

Wednesday, February 22th, 2006

Greetings for everyone in Venezuela!
Everything is going great and we have lots to share.
Here's more in our continuing adventure written by individual students.

Dancing We inspired a club full of non-dancing people to get up and groove. Nearly every one of us shook it to techno, reggaeton, or modern meringue. It was great to get out there and check out the nightlife in Valencia, although we checked out two humdrum clubs before finding a place with great dancing music. At twelve-thirty, we conga-lined our way out and continued our dance party on the way to the bus. The bus, of course, was not there when we arrived, because time passes with true libertarianism in Venezuela but that served to extend our partying time a little.

Hot Springs We pulled up to what looked like a Country Club Resort, not the hole-in-the-ground hot springs I was expecting to see. The crowd at the hot springs looked to be of fairly high class (Although it's hard to tell with the entire clientele dressed in swimwear). However, the general atmosphere of the hot springs gave us the impression of wealth. The springs also showed off part of Venezuela's natural beauty. Our group was able to take two hours to enjoy the hot waters, hot sun, and healing mud in the Venezuelan hot springs. We controlled our excitements in the pool to the best of our ability (as not to appear ugly Americans) and continued to bond as a group. The weather and scenery was beautiful it was a nice part of Venezuela to see. We even got an added bonus - a Palestinian Venezuelan man came to talk to us, both about Chavez and about the situation in Palestine with the new Hamas government.

Quintana The bus ride from Valencia to Barlovento was surprisingly long. Fortunately, I don't think I ever felt so connected to the people in my grade as I did in those six hours. We drove through these beautiful mountains (nearly in the clouds!) and sang popular songs from our middle school days. When we arrived in Barlovento, Liliana welcomed us into her home as she prepared our dinner of fish and beef. It was a great change from the arepas we've been eating since our arrival in Venezuela. After dinner, one of the tour guides from Global Exchange explained we'd be eating there for the next few days. Everyone was excited and rightfully so, because the food was amazing.

On Monday we visited a Casa de Alimentacion A Feeding House for the poor. This government funded program provides food for the poor and unemployed members of the barrio. La casa de alimentacion was in the home of a woman named Carina. She converted her home into this program in order to help the people in her community. The government pays for the food and pays Carina and her helpers. She told us she serves 52 families and over 100 people because she wants to support the Revolucion.

Next we visited a women's clothing cooperative that consists of 194 members - 193 women and one man- ranging from 19 to 63 years old. Their goal is to produce 23,323 uniforms for their next order for the government-mostly for the various missions we have been visiting. Before becoming associates the women undergoing a training process for 6 months to learn basic sewing skills and how to work in groups and the cooperative process. The cooperative is run by the women and the decisions are made by a group of 11 women for the group. The cooperative is nine months old and is not yet able to pay all its expenses - the wages of the workers and to repay the government loan to open the cooperaqtive- but they expect to turn a profit soon. The money will be used to provide certain funds for the cooperative, its workers and their families - more education, better healthcare and an emergency fund. We all felt this cooperative really provided the stability and growth the women needed.

I don't know how appropriate it is that I happen to be in Venezuela during black history month but coming from a country with racism it has been very significant to visit with people who have similar problems. Sitting in a hot community center on a sunny afternoon I was in a trance of pride and nationalism - a nationalism for my black people in the United States. When I saw the men darker than me playing drums that matched the sounds of West Africa I knew that I never had to feel alone in the world again because wherever I am I will always have a brother. Besides that what all the members of the Miranda States call me anyway - Hola, mi hermano. I've probably heard that 100 times already. More than playing the drums and dancing I was moved at how passionately these Afro-Venezuelan men and women were and how they created such a progressive rhetoric in order to ensure their rights in the Bolivarian revolution. My friend Lucas translated the words from my heart and afterwards I hugged him and he asked me how I felt about Barlovento and I simply told him I was home - bueno mi hermano.

During one of the tours the bus driver challenged us to a game of basketball. We wanted to show them how we do it in America but when the time came we played against a team of boys from the school. Luckily they gave us to experienced players for our team and we found some beautiful children to cheer us on. Luckily it ended in a tie and everyone had a good time. This was a great way to practice working together and communicating together. I will never forget this amazing experience.

Someone decided soap was worth judging. Ashley and Ariel entered a flatscreen tv and a boombox as the theme was technology representing the postmodern capitalist era we live in. The judges created a rubric with 6 categories and there were six judges. And then a storm totally soaked the piece of paper Peter wrote the story on! ha ha ha! but in the end Ariel's boombox won! it really captured the big dials and D cell battery style of American postmodernism.

We went to a Bolivarian Integral School today. We learned a lot about schools' objectives and history, but the most interesting thing I learned came from playing with the kids not listening to the lectures. Ash, Tali, Becca and I pulled out a Frisbee and began throwing with the kids, who ranged in age from 2-14. It didn't matter that none of us spoke the language well because the community and mutual joy inspired by a simple Frisbee game can be adequately expressed with a universal grin. Looking around the circle, comprised of both Beacon and Venezuelan students, everyone had a large toothy smile in common. Despite the obvious language barrier, we managed to teach them that throwing blades es malo and that throwing flat es bueno. We also singled out two talented boys and taught them how to flick by instructing este dedo aqui and placing their fingers in the correct place, and commanding mira followed by a demonstration complete with key grunts and eyebrow raises. After only half an hour, we were able to pinpoint myriad improvement and felt as though we were leaving friends behind. We all took down the school's address and when we get back to the states we plan on sending our new friends a bunch of frisbees and a copy of the rules of ultimate in Espagnol. Knowing that I was able to share the thing that brings me joy with the kids here so effortlessly, makes me optimistic about being able to spread their revolution the thing that brings them joy (besides Frisbee, of course) back home.

Things changed rapidly after we passed a massive cocoa fruit sculpture and the lush greenery and mud-stucco houses symbolized our entrance into mud-stucco houses. A crowd already started to form when we arrived and we jumped into the river nearby even before the reception began. Even though it was shallow we all jumped in and were joined by many local people from an afro-Venezuelan community of runaway slaves that dated back to 1731. The question and answer session was really cool and ranged from showing us the over 20 products they produce for sale to the sharing about teen pregnancy and problems in our communities. The workers also took us out to the fields and showed us the plants. They are planting 120,000 new plants this year and plan to open a processing plant next year. This cooperative, like the women's sewing cooperative, is locally run and managed and they also expect to make their own chocolate bars and products for sale on the international market soon. Afterwards we chatted with the other students and when we left Eric had such a huge group of girls talking to him that he threw his t-shirt out the window of the bus and they screamed like he was Elvis or better yet- Ricky Martin.

Prior to arriving at Barlovento, our meals had been okay but Liliana has been cooking for us in her home and the food has filled our stomachs and lifted our spirits. Liliana's home has been our home away from home. Last night we played Quackadillioso, other handclapping games and sang songs after dinner as we played with her beautiful daughter and 3 kittens. We want to smuggle all four back to America.

Everyone is doing pretty good more mosquitoes here- and we are totally excited about the last couple of days of our trip. We miss everyone MUCHO!!!

More later...

Monday, February 20th, 2006

Greetings to everyone from Venezuela! Everyone is in good spirits and we are having a wonderful time! A few students offered to share some of their thoughts on our experiences since the last update. Enjoy!

As we piled off the bus in Valencia we were greeted by cameras. The cameras belonged to a group of enthusiastic Valencian youths. They joined us on the bus and we were soon clapping and singing together "Ooh ! Aah! Chavez no se va!!¨ While the flamboyant Jesus danced around and incited more songs in response we sang American television songs and I Will Survive making for an interesting cultural exchange. Later on, over pizza, we discussed what the youths thought about Venezuela, socialism and Chavez. Finally, we returned to our hotel, not to go to sleep but, to witness Bayard and Turner depriving Hart of a full head of hair.

The visit to Campo Carabobo in Valencia was not only education but beautiful as well. We learned an enormous amount about the 1821 battle between Spain and the Venezuelan revolutionary Simon Bolivar. This was a heroic battle for Bolivar and he won the fight in one day. We also watched a very dramatic ceremony involving the changing of the guards - lots of pomp and circumstance!

On Sunday we traveled to one of the free Cuban health clinics established as a result of the revolutionary movement Barrio Adentro. In my opinion, this visit was one of the most moving and inspiring of the trip so far. The hospital was beautiful, well supplied, and efficiently run. The staff are part of about 20,000 Cuban doctors who volunteered to provide completely free healthcare to the people of Venezuela. We experienced their work firsthand as Danica was treated for a viral infection and rash. She is now a successful patient of the Barrio Adentro. She´s feeling much, much better. The free health care floored us in comparison to the situation in the United States.

Our trip to the community college in Valencia let us see the Mision Sucre in action. There are more than 100 students sitting under trees on weekends while they finish construction on their building. Adults of all ages take classes in education, law, sociology, and technology, etc. Many are training to teach, work in the legal field, or distribute medicines in other government missions. The students spoke passionately in favor of the Bolivarian Revolution and were incredibly welcoming. Their dedication to knowledge and sense of empowerment was truly inspiring!

Right next to the college was a barrio. This is one of the poorest communities I have yet to see. As our group walked past this slum, our hearts went out to these people. Their houses were literally made of pieces of wood and tin. Their yards were broken rocks. Even though these people were in such a predicament they welcomed us warmly, proudly saying that their community will be a better place in a few months with the help of their savior Hugo Chavez. We spent a lot of time with the young children and after playing Frisbee with them for a while, Becca and Ashley gave the disc to a group of young boys and girls.
Later that evening, we got our first glimpse of the glitz and glamour of Venezuela we visited an upscale shopping mall. But, instead of sparking a shopping bug it presented a great juxtaposition to our experience in el barrio. If I didn´t know I was in Venezuela I would have thought I was at a mall in New York or New Jersey. Curious about these people´s views of Chavez, we decided to ask around. Much to our surprise the mall rats and their parents were not huge fans of Chavez. For example "We hope Bush kills Chavez". "Chavez is an %$%~U%=". "Chavez cheats in elections". And so on. Although we left the mall with a satisfying view of the opposition, we were dismayed to find that the privately owned Mall had a right to entry, which means that they could deny entry to pro Chavez people and discriminate against others.

There´s lots more to come but we gotta go to a basketball game against some Venezuelan youth. Go Blue Demons!!!!!!!!

Friday, February 17th, 2006

From: Bayard Faithfull

Dear Friends:

Our first day was packed. A group of us went to the local email cafe to write an email, but the connection went down in the middle.

A short summary of Thursday, February 16. In the morning our hosts, Global Exchange, gave us an overview of the week. We are led by a young Venezuelan man named Yeiber Cano. He also has two assistants, one American and one Venezuelan. At 10 am we went to one of the many poor communities in the hills around Caracas. This community had established a new community center, based around two big project: a community radio station and a mural project. They spoke about how the poor communities are involved in the slow process of social change. The leaders, Ismael and Guadalupe, were very impressive speakers.

We had a wonderful lunch there cooked by a local cooperative of women.

From there, we went to the military barracks up the street. We were met by Major Mendoza who discussed the role of the military in social change. The military is in charge of the food programs for people and many of the new land cooperatives (especially the engineering). It was impressive to see the military redefine its traditional role.

In the evening we visited an arts cooperative in another poor community. They had created spaces for musicians, a children's choir, dancers, and visual artists. It is a rapidly growing project with many young people involved. Above all, one feels the hopefullness and vision of many people.

We had arepas for dinner, and then went to the beuatiful terrace at our hotel and each of the students discussed their impressions of the day.

All in all a good day. Today (Friday) we are at Telesur, the new continental media project started by the Venezuelans, Brazilians, and Argentinians. Then we are off to Valencia.

Tali was sick yesterday but after some sleep is feeling better. Peter woke up with a bad stomach today and is sleeping in the bus. Everyone else is in good shape.

Peace,

Bayard