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AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ALTERNATIVE BREAK COLOMBIA HUMAN RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT DECEMBER 29, 2010 – JANUARY 9, 2011 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome to Alternative Breaks!!! 3 Important Information 4 Expectations & Code of Conduct 5 Colombia Pre-Departure Meeting Agendas & Syllabus 6 About Colombia 9 Country Profile 10 Political Map of Colombia 13 Our Primary Destinations 14 Witness for Peace and Itinerary 15 Safety & Security & Health 18 Colombia Timeline 19 Colombia Pre Departure Resources 26 Payment & Fundraising 27 Travel Logistics 28 Further Reading Materials List 30 2 WELCOME TO ALTERNATIVE BREAKS!!!! Congratulations on being selected to participate in an Alternative Break trip! You are about to embark on a journey of transformation, reflection, activism, and community involvement. As you know, the Alternative Break program is student-run, with the Center for Community Engagement and Service and the Alternative Break Coordinator serving as resources for the student leaders of each trip. Please read this letter carefully for important information about participating on a trip. FORMS YOU MUST TURN IN TO CSC: ON WEBSITE: www.american.edu/altbreak under “Participant Applications & Forms” Medical/Emergency Contact form Copy of health insurance card Consent & Release Waiver Form Copy of passport (for international trips) Code of Conduct Signature form PAYMENT DEADLINES: Monthly payment installments are due according to your payment schedule. Talk to your trip leaders for dates. ONLINE PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Log-on to my.american.edu, click on the Finances or Life@AU tab. 2. Under your personalized links, click on “Alternative Break E-payment.” 3. Choose your trip. 4. Enter your credit card information and click submit! 5. Payments are non-refundable. PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS VIA CASH OR CHECK: 1. Obtain deposit slip from Community Service Center with the trip Account # to ensure that the payment is placed in the correct account. 2. Bring payment and Deposit Record to the payment windows in Student Accounts (before 4:30 PM in Asbury 300). 3. Bring the original payment receipt back to the Community Service Center (MGC 273). You must keep a copy of the receipt for yourself. If you do not bring back the receipt we have no way of knowing if you paid!!! 4. Put the receipt in your trip box in the CSC. 5. Payments are non-refundable. 3 IMPORTANT INFORMATION: □ The pre-departure meetings are MANDATORY. You must attend in order to get to know other students on your trip, learn about your destination and talk about health/safety issues. □ You are responsible for making an appointment with your doctor to find out which immunizations you need. □ You are covered under AU’s international travel insurance (information on Alt Break website) □ Safety, US State Department, CDC immunizations, and other links are on the Alternative Break website. www.american.edu/altbreak □ Your leader is responsible for providing the trip itinerary and destination information. Please ask them any questions you have. □ Academic credits: You can either do an independent study with a professor of your choice or take SIS 386: Selected Topics in Global Social Justice. (Register through Alternative Break office.) □ Fundraising for your trip: If you solicit checks from individuals or businesses, they should be made out to “American University” and mailed to the AU Development Office. See the Alternative Break website for more information. AU EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION: 202-885-3636 Public Safety 1st Shoshanna Sumka, Alternative Break Coordinator; Work: 202-885-2684 cell: 240-328- 9231, home: 301-589-4274 2nd Marcy Campos, Community Service Center Director; work: 202-885-7378, cell: 301- 996-6343, home: 301-270-6343 3rd Fanta Aw, Assistant Vice President, Campus Life; work: 202-885-3357 home: 301-562 1499, cell: 240-413-2277 4 EXPECTATIONS & CODE OF CONDUCT: The following is a list of minimum expectations; your individual trip groups will discuss and formulate additional participant expectations as necessary. Code of Conduct: 1. Participate in all mandatory weekly pre-departure trainings. 2. Make payments and turn in all necessary forms on time. 3. Travel with the group at all times. 4. Abide by the alcohol and other drug free policy of Alternative Breaks. 5. Prepare individually for your trip by completing required readings. 6. Behave in a safe and responsible manner. 7. Respect the customs and local community. 8. Respect your trip leader, fellow participants & faculty/staff advisor. 9. Process the AB experience individually and with your group through reflection, conversation and other group activities. 10. Follow-up after trip with activism on social justice issues learned. Program Reminders: 1. Turn in all necessary forms on time. 2. Participants who wish to receive course credit for participation will be required to complete additional criteria. SIS 386 or independent study credit is optional. See individual trip advisor for details. 3. Participants must become aware of relevant health and safety risks relevant to your destination. You are responsible for making an appointment with your doctor to find out which immunizations you need. 4. Make payments on time. 5. All payments made to Alternative Break are non-refundable. I understand that failure to comply with any of these expectations may result in my inability to participate in the trip, dismissal from trip at my own expense, or may affect future Alternative Break participation. 5 Colombia Pre-Departure Training Agendas & Required Readings Tentatively holding meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays. -All readings should be completed before the meeting- Week 1: Introductions Icebreaker: • Introduce ourselves as leaders. Readings: • Explain that we, as leaders chose them and we have the utmost confident in the fabric of More Terrible Than Death by Robin Kirk our group. Prologue (page xv – xxi) • Group introductions. http://books.google.com/books?id=kyl5t7_pFC Context: MC&dq=more+terrible+than+death&printsec=f • Everyone explains why they applied and want to go on the trip rontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=upd0TMKR • We talk about expectations for the group OIO8lQeUk5jRBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct and for the trip. =result&resnum=4&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAw#v= Logistics: onepage&q&f=false • Go through the Welcome packet together and fill out necessary paperwork. Remind them about passport and insurance card copies. • Discuss payment dates. • Gather ideas for fundraising. Week 2: A Day for History Icebreaker: • Icebreaker activity (Name Tag Scramble) • As leaders we facilitate a discussion of what Readings: people already know about Colombia, if anything. Timeline from Welcome Packet (from BBC) Context: • As leaders we have prepared a timeline and How America Lost the War on Drugs by Ben proceed to fill in the pieces of what people Wallace-Wells do not know and have not mentioned. (word doc to be emailed) • Q&A regarding history and begin discussion on safety concerns Logistics: • Hand out copies of travel advisories for U.S. Citizens travelling to Colombia issued by the State Department. • Repeat participants share experiences from Colombia with group and as leaders we mention that we will have guest speakers who have been in country and participants should feel free to ask them about personal safety. • Pick top fundraising strategies Week 3: In Country Overview & WFP- host Icebreaker: organization orientation • Icebreaker activity (2 Truths & a lie) Context: 6 Reading: Displacement & Peace Communities • Discuss in detail what we plan to do in Chapter 13 “Local Peace Communities in Colombia- Hand out and go over itinerary & Colombia” pgs 245-271 from Colombia: packing list. • Introduce participants to WFP, their mission Building Peace in a Time of War and explain what their role will be Logistics: • Possibly conduct a Skype meeting with WFP in Bogota. • Allow time for Q&A and safety concerns. • Implement and plan fundraising activities Week 4: Development Issues Briefing Icebreaker: • Icebreaker activity (Flash) Reading: Context: Development First- • Review basic elements of international A more human and promising approach to development and groups we will be meeting reducing cultivation of crops for illicit markets with in Colombia (ASOPROCEGUA, By Coletta A. Youngers & John M. Walsh Association MINGA, RECALCA) • Potential guest speaker from Peace Corps http://wola.org/media/WOLA_RPT_Developme office in DC to discuss the inaugural class of nt_web_FNL.pdf volunteers and their objectives that will arrive in Colombia this fall, 2010. • Discuss Colombian No Bases Coalition Week 5: Coca Eradication & Displacement Context: Guest Speaker- Diana Arango from USOC • Learn about USOC's advocacy work and how they approach altering US policy Reading: towards Colombia Chemical Reactions • Discuss USOC's reports on human rights Fumigation: Spreading Coca and Threatening defenders, government accountability, and Colombia’s Ecological and Cultural Diversity conflict over land entitlements Logistics: http://wola.org/media/WOLA%20Chemical%20 • Develop ideas as to how to work with Reactions%20February%202008.pdf USOC after the trip to build effective advocacy strategies Week 6: Free Trade Context: Guest Speaker • Review concepts of Free Trade Agreements Reading: • Connect corporate interests and Faces of Colombia: Who are the Victims of displacement- role of paramilitaries. Free Trade? • Discuss similarities between the past By Amanda Martin and Kath Nygard UFC workers and present Chiquita Banana lawsuit (word doc to be emailed) Week 7: International Accompaniment
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