This weekend, the Cuban American Student Association (CASA) is partnering with Raíces de Esperanza, a nonprofit that works to empower young Cubans, for the Cuban Youth Summit. As Cuban society becomes increasingly open, the summit aims to foster relationships between young people in Cuba and America.
Raíces de Esperanza was founded in 2003 by Cuban-American Georgetown and Harvard students who wanted to explore what it meant to be Cuban-American. It has since evolved into a group that empowers Cuban youth with a variety of projects in the greater D.C. area. Initiatives like “Cell Phones for Cuba” and “USBs for Cuba” organize drives to provide young Cubans with technology to which they do not normally have access.
The Cuban Youth Summit begins on Friday with a meet-and-greet, then features discussions on Saturday. One speaker at the conference, MJ Porter, translates for Cuban bloggers who are not published in their own country. Participants will also meet Yrak Sanchez, a Cuban rapper, and have a phone conversation with a student in Cuba. On Sunday, students will lunch with leaders in D.C.’s Cuban community.
The event aims to improve Cuban-American relations at a people-to-people level. Due to the difficulty of travel and a lack of internet accessibility in Cuba, the summit provides a rare opportunity for Cuban and American youth to communicate. “It’s especially pertinent to Cuban-Americans who live in the US because they’ve always lived being told by their parents and grandparents that they left because of the regime that came in,” said CASA president Alejandro Gonzalez (SFS ‘12). “Thus they’ve lost contact with Cuba and their roots.”
The initiatives “Cell Phones for Cuba” and “USBs for Cuba” organize drives to provide young Cubans with technology that is difficult to find in Cuba. Cell phones and USBs allow Cubans to disseminate information that would otherwise be restricted. “There have been a lot of protests in Cuba that haven’t been too publicized by the government,” said Gonzalez. “Most have been captured by cell phone cameras.”
Another project, “Dial to Cuba”, organizes phone calls between Cuban and American youths. The phone calls allow Americans and Cubans to challenge their stereotypes about each other. “Someone is listening, you are interacting with an American who is not the enemy,” Gonzalez said. “They’re no different from you.”
Very interesting article Eileen. This people to people initiative is a really good way for the societies to really learn a lot about each other.
It sort of puts things in perspective that everyone is very much alike.