Herb Everett remembered his second trip to Cuba in 1996 when he and about 30 other activists for Pastors for Peace were stopped at the San Diego-Mexico border in an illegal attempt to take aid to Cuba.
Everett, now 51 years old, remembered being frightened and frustrated as border patrol officials ripped away hundreds of computers from the activists’ arms — computers designated for Cuban health clinics.
The computers finally reached their rightful destination, but only after caravan leaders went on a 94-day hunger strike.
This Thursday, the 11th U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan will make its stop in Eugene. The vehicle will collect donated bikes and bicycle parts, which will be distributed in Cuba.
For nearly 10 years, Pastors for Peace, a ministry of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) has sent thousands of participants in caravans that take aid to Latin America and the Caribbean. The project is meant to openly protest the trade embargo that prohibits U.S. citizens from distributing humanitarian aid in Cuba.
The Friendshipment Caravan will also pick up Susan Silver, a senior sociology major and volunteer for the University branch of the Committee in Solidarity with the Central American People (CISCAP), an advocate of “P4P.”
“I’ve always admired the Pastors for Peace for doing something concrete,” Silver said. “Not just sitting around and talking about how horrible it is, but putting themselves at risk and making an important statement, and I want to be a part of that.”
Everett, also a volunteer for CISCAP and a longtime human rights activist, said that though his 1996 caravan experienced a few obstacles, the journey was worth the trouble.
“I was approached by people in Cuba who needed help,” Everett said. “This one woman had a son who had problems with his esophagus and asked me to find a contractor that was only found in the US.”
This caravan’s mission will be to “honor Cuba’s innovations in energy and transportation alternatives” by distributing donated bicycles and acting as a “mobile bicycle facility” once in Cuba. It will also deliver medical equipment, medicines, educational materials and other supplies. Caravan vehicles will converge in Texas to cross the Mexican border.
CISCAP will sponsor a potluck to greet the caravan and give a send-off to Silver at 6 p.m. on Oct. 19 at the Koinonia Center. A speaker from the P4P organization will also talk about the details of the Cuba measure, which the House of Representatives voted on last Wednesday. The measure would let Cuba buy U.S. food for the first time in four decades and is part of a bill that would allow the import of U.S.-made pharmaceuticals.
CISCAP coordinator Scott Mikseh compared the group’s efforts to the civil disobedience acts of black people throughout history. He said that though the Friendshipment caravans may not end the controversial blockade, they will at least send a powerful message.
“You have to go step by step,” he said. “That’s what the Friendshipment is all about. It’s saying to our government that ‘you need to end this blockade’ … Even if it’s a little thing, if you do it enough, it will make a difference.”