FOREWORD

In March 2020 we were getting ready for our Viva Cuba event We had come back from what was our second Field Trip to Cuba and were excited to share with the Dawson community what we had learned about ourselves, each other, Cuba, social justice and solidarity But the pandemic happened and it wreaked havoc on our lives and the world. For more than two years we struggled on and off with emergency remote teaching and learning, doing the best we could For North South, our biggest challenge was to keep the spirit of community and solidarity alive We held weekly seminars online and we even had a Virtual Field Trip to Cuba Finally, in August 2022, almost three years later, we got the ok to plan another in-person Field Trip. The 2022-2023 trip journey has been a new learning experience from beginning to end Once again, we are ready to share what we have learned about ourselves, each other, Cuba and social justice and solidarity in this new "post" pandemic world!

The organization of the trip presented many challenges for us all, individually and institutionally. Increased costs in a difficult economic environment have made the cost of the trip inaccessible for many Changing requirements for travelling required the establishment of new time-consuming administrative procedures After 30 years of organizing the Field Trip, this one felt new, with a steep learning curve for us all. These challenges were also made more difficult as each one of us was coming into it with a somewhat depleted supply of energy and enthusiasm

Two plus years of covid would do that! But we pushed through! A network of NSS supporters - from staff, professionals, administrators and teachers - together troubleshooted all the hurdles Students also pushed through, gathering all the motivation they could muster they carried out fundraising campaigns, filled out all sorts of confusing forms, supported one another during busy days of school-work and trip preparation, and finally packed their bags!

We got on the plane to Havana on December 27th . We were eleven students, three teachers, and little Amelia (who you are likely to see in the pictures throughout this report) We were loaded with donations, the result of several fundraising efforts by students, teachers, and the Dawson and Cuba solidarity community who responded generously to our call. Upon arrival, we were met by our partners, the Martin Luther King Centre. Sandor, Edelso, and Chino would become our companions throughout the trip, dedicated to facilitating our stay, making it way too comfortable for us to truly realize the hardships the country is going through Every day we boarded the bus and visited projects, community groups, and professionals who shared with us their experiences, parts of their lives, their challenges and their goals At the end of the day a meal at our Casa Particulars awaited us, and the opportunity to interact and establish a relationship with our hosts The learning was somewhat overwhelming! We did not only learn about the gains made in terms of gender and racial inequality and urban agriculture, but also the challenges that still lay ahead. Of course, we also learned about ourselves, about our own positionalities, and the gazes we bring This is ongoing, lifelong learning

We come back from Cuba with an important message we must share. 60 years into a crippling blockade, Trump's policy of "maximum pressure", the economic impacts of Covid on the tourism industry, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and economic reforms that have not gone as expected, amount to a critical moment for Cubans Wrapped in the comfort that our hosts procured for us, we heard Cubans tell us that there is a crisis going on, that Cuba is suffering. Many people told us that the current crisis is comparable to and even worse than the one they experienced during the Special Period Food, medicine and fuel shortages, and lack of raw materials for production, are amounting to an economic-social crisis The crisis is leading to social frustration, and as life has become harder many young Cubans are migrating, leaving Cuban families with the heartache of family separation and the country with an important demographic gap

We learned that social justice and solidarity is needed more than ever Cuba and the Global South are not just places on the map, or locations we have read about. It is the women from the Atrevete Atellier, the people from the CMLK centre, the artists at Muraleando, the kids and youth of La Camorra, who get up every day and create social change It is the many people we met working to create change all around them who remind us to ask: what are we each doing to build a more just world around us? We are in a relationship; we have a shared purpose to work for. We hope that through these pages we can convey to you a fraction of what our experience meant to us, what we learned, and how it transformed us

Oh, and Cuba SI, Bloqueo NO!

Gisela Frias

Sara Kendall