Join the Alliance for Global Justice for a delegation to Colombia from June 7 – June 17, 2024! Learn how you can apply by sending an email to [email protected]

The Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ) is excited to announce a work delegation to Colombia from June 7th to June 17, 2024. This delegation is unique from previous delegations in that delegates will get literal ‘hands-on’ experience materially supporting community members in rural Colombia while learning about the social, labor, and political movements taking place within the country.

Unlike a vacation, in this delegation, you will have the exciting opportunity to get your hands dirty by working on making repairs to an old farmhouse in collaboration with the rural workers AURACOL and ASTRACAVA, local peace accord signers, and Red Hip Hop. With our support, the community hopes to convert their farm collective space into a community center and meeting place for local farm workers, unionists, and school children. AURACOL and ASTRACAVA both make part of the FENSUAGRO (National Federation of Agricultural Unions and REDFIC (Fransicso Isaias Fuentes Human Rights Network),

Check out this video where AFGJ National Co-Coordinator, James Patrick Jordan, recently had the opportunity to visit and speak to the farm collective on International Human Rights Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EixtWKzIef4

NO CONSTRUCTION EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED TO JOIN THIS DELEGATION. 

Not to worry if you don’t swing a hammer for a living! (AFGJ staff doesn’t either!). However, you can count on the support of experienced construction folk on our team. 

AFGJ is fortunate enough to be partnering with our good friend, comrade, and carpenter, Erl Kimmich to make this delegation a reality. Not only does Erl have experience joining our delegations to Colombia, he also does construction for a living, and will be handling the “nuts and bolts” aspect of this work delegation.

The trip will start on June 7th for 10 days with an option to join a 5-day side trip to the Colombian port city of Buenaventura where we will work on a beautification project led by local organization, UBUNTPAZ, with children from the barrio of Nayita. We will also be starting off our trip in the city of Cali, Colombia, where we will meet organizers from REDFIC who operate the Centro Pazifico in Cali, an organizing base for human rights defenders and a refuge for people facing political prosecution. We will learn about their projects and resistance movements in defense of human rights and social justice. The areas we will be visiting during our delegation are located in the Valle de Cauca department, which has one of the highest rates of political violence in the country. With this in mind, the purpose of this delegation is to provide security for the communities we will be working with, who continuously face threats from paramilitary groups and narco-traffickers.

Of course, this AFGJ delegation is not complete without the implementation of political education. With the historic election of Gustavo Petro, this trip will provide a prime opportunity to foment international, people-to-people solidarity with those most directly impacted by political violence and the War on Drugs in Colombia. 

Throughout our visit, we will assess the current situation for Colombian labor unions, working and farming people, and human rights defenders since the election of Petro, whose administration has been leading progressive efforts toward agrarian reform and peace in the country.

Most importantly, we will try and answer the big question, how do we take what we learn in Colombia, and apply it to our own struggles where we live to build a better world for all? 

While the delegation is open specifically to labor unionists and construction workers, we encourage anyone with an interest in Colombia, labor, agriculture, and international solidarity to apply. The cost for this trip is $1,400 for 10 days, not including international airfare, and an extra $600 if you join the 4-day trip to Buenaventura. 

THOSE UNABLE TO PAY ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONTACT ORGANIZERS ABOUT FUNDRAISING IDEAS AND OPPORTUNITIES AND TO SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR A DISCOUNT OR SCHOLARSHIP.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEND AN EMAIL TO AFGJ NATIONAL CO-COORDINATOR:

[email protected]

Stay tuned for more updates with our partners in Colombia as we approach the delegation!