Caravan gears up

IFCO/Pastors for Peace has announced that 101 cities in the United States and Canada are hosting the 20th Anniversary Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba, which will challenge the decades-long U.S. blockade aimed at the socialist country.

From July 1 to 14, school buses, trucks and cars will make their way along separate routes gathering much-needed material aid for the Cuban people. This includes construction supplies and tools, medical equipment, and educational and cultural materials. Caravan participants will join in as the vehicles head toward the Mexican border for the July 19-20 crossing.

Caravanistas will spend nine days in Cuba. The organization reports: “This year, through an exciting educational and cultural program, we will celebrate and honor the achievements of young people in Cuba, as well as learn about their daily lives and experiences as we visit organic gardens, neighborhood projects, health centers and schools.

“We will also be commemorating and lifting up the life of the Rev. Lucius Walker Jr., the founding director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace, who for 20 years gave prophetic and visionary leadership to our Caravans to Cuba in defiance of the U.S. blockade, and who died peacefully in September 2010.”

The Friendshipment Caravan explains that it travels “as a disciplined act of civil disobedience against the [U.S.] blockade and travel ban, and as ambassadors for a ‘people-to-people’ foreign policy based in mutual respect.”

The Caravan will return to the U.S. from its “voyage of friendship and discovery” in a Reverse Challenge on July 31, when participants will openly declare their return from Cuba.

More information and local events will be posted at ifconews.org. Support the caravan when it comes to a city near you.