Featuring John Waller, National Coordinator of the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba
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Courtenay
St John the Divine Hall
February 18th
Caravanista Sophie Ziner showing slides
Courtenay
Vanier High School
February 19th
Qualicum Beach
Kwalicum High School
February 19th
KSS Students For Peace organizer
Julie Jenkins MC'd the event
Langara College
February 20th
Caravanista Alison Bodine and John speaking to Langara Students
Simon Fraser University
February 21st
Alison, John, and event MC Jesus Morena
Douglas College
February 22nd
Douglas Students Against War
organizer Mona Teymory MCing
Mona with Caravanista Nicole
Burton
Citywide Event
Unitarian Church of Vancouver
February 22nd
Organizers from 8 de Marzo coalition
Esteban and Gladis announcing their upcoming event
Lindsay and Xiomara making a donations pitch
Wilson Munoz, chair of the Social Justice
Committee of the Unitarian Church
For the second year in a row, the Lift the Blockade Tour 2007 has just completed a whirlwind journey around Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Featured speaker of the Tour, John Waller, National Coordinator of the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba spoke at 12 events.
John Waller has been a leading Cuba Solidarity activist in Britain and the US for 15 years, has visited Cuba 15 times. Talking about the gains of the Cuban Revolution and how the US Blockade of Cuba has impacted the development of Cuban Society, John talked about what regular people in Canada can do to help end the Blockade- including traveling on the Caravan to Cuba!
Every year since 1992 the Pastors for Peace Caravan has traveled through the US collecting humanitarian aid and having educational events in over 120 cities before going on to Cuba, as an open challenge to the blockade. At all of the events on the tour, John was joined by Cuba solidarity organizers from Vancouver- Alison Bodine, Nicole Burton and Sophie Ziner, who showed slides and talked about their experiences on last year�s caravan.
Starting on Vancouver Island on the 18th of February, long time peace organizers and Latin American solidarity organizers welcomed the tour in Courtenay with an evening event at the St John the Divine Hall. The following morning, John and Caravanista Sophie Ziner spoke to over 120 high school students in Business, Leadership and Spanish classes at Vanier High School.
That afternoon, Julie Jenkins, an organizer with Students for Peace at Kwalicum Secondary welcomed students and community members to an event held after school at KSS.
The following day, February 20th, John and Caravanista Alison Bodine spoke to an eager audience in the Student Union Building at Langara College MCed by Kira Koshilanyk of Langara Students United Against War and Occupation (LSUAWO) who co organized the event, and the following day were up at Simon Fraser University at an event co organized with the SFU MAWO club, MCed by Jesus Moreno, an SFU MAWO organizer and an international student from Venezuela.
At Douglas College on the 22nd, Caravanista Nicole Burton joined John in an event coorganized by the Douglas Anti War Club, MCed by organizer Mona Teymory.
Over 75 people came together at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver on the evening of the 22nd for a city wide event coorganized by the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church. The evening was introduced by Wilson Munoz, coordinator of the SJC of the UCV, and Tamara Hansen, Coordinator of VCSC, and Colleen Glynn president if the Richmond NDP and VCSC organizer MCed the program, which was spiced up by poetry by the Cuban 5, read by Free the Cuban 5 Committee organizer Mike Larson.
John and Caravanistas Sophie and Alison traveled to Victoria Sunday the 25th, with a small crowd from VCSC to attend the event co organized by Victoria Goods for Cuba.
The following Tuesday, the 27th, several dozen community members and UVic students attended an event on UVic campus, Co organized by Students Against War (UVic), and MCed by Andrew Barry, SAW organizer and coordinator of Victoria in Solidarity with Venezuela.
Back to Vancouver on Wednesday, John and Sophie again spoke at Capilano College, where Jane Ivanova, coordinator of the Free the Cuban 5 Committee there welcomed over 25 students to the event.
In spite of the hectic tour schedule, by Thursday the 1st of March, everyone was ready to celebrate, so donning dancing shoes, VCSC and supporters shook the floor at El Rancho Restaurant- first warming up by listening to some beautiful poetry from Poets Del Sur, some great jokes and anecdotes from John Waller, followed by the film Desafio, and most exciting the Deborah Ledon and Her Guapo Amigos which had everyone shaking and grooving.
The tour was a terrific success, with over 500 people attending tour events all over the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island- sparking much interest about Cuba, about the Caravan and about solidarity organizing, building momentum for this summer�s caravan.
Victoria BCGEU Hall
February 25th
University of British Columbia
February 28th
Capilano College
March 1st
Fundraiser
El Rancho Resturaunt
March 1st
For more fundraiser pictures, click HERE