May-June delegation to Las Pavas

[Stewart in Colombia]

Experience Las Pavas. Join the delegation. (May 30 to June 12, 2013)

(Chris Knestrick and myself will be leading this delegation)

�While we can't always think ourselves into a new way of living, sometimes we can live ourselves into a new way of thinking� --Richard Rohr

Let your heart, spirit, body and personal contact with the campesinos of Las Pavas assist your mind in understanding the realities of oppression, resistance and land rights in Colombia. Participants will also benefit from the analysis, experiences and historical perspectives of a variety of Colombian human rights defenders. The focus in Bogota will be on the national and global context. In the Magdalena Medio and Barrancabermeja the focus will be more on regional initiatives to promote justice and end oppression. The visit to Las Pavas will provide insights into oppression and resistance at the community level.

Participants will travel, live, eat, often cook and reflect on their learning experiences together as a team. Delegates will explore how systemic oppressive behaviours may be embedded in the norms, attitudes and assumptions of our own communities and cultures, and look for ways to ensure that internalized oppressions don't contribute to unhealthy dynamics within the group itself or its interactions with Colombians. Delegates will also meet and learn about the CPT Colombia team's work of undoing oppression (both internal and external). Finally, in response to what they have learned and witnessed, delegation members will also develop and carry out a public direct action (often with the participation of and always in consultation with CPT's local partners and the team itself) and share their experience and concerns with their embassies in Bogota.

Warning: Participating in a delegation could be a transformative life-altering experience!

For more details, or to sign up for the delegation, please go to Colombia Delegation on our web page and follow the instructions.

�The Miracle of Las Pavas�

Community Resistance, Palm, and Displacement.

An International delegation to Colombia

Organized by the Christian Peacemaker Teams

Join the Christian Peacemaker Teams� to see the Miracle of Las Pavas!�
When:� May 30^th�to June 12, 2013
FUNDRAISING EXPECTATION:�$2600 US / $2700 Canadian, which includes round-trip airfare from a designated U.S. or Canadian city.
For more info contact CPT
www.cpt.org
Tel:�773-376-0550�
email:�deleg...@cpt.org

In Colombia, since 1964 an counterinsurgency war has left over 200,000 people dead and displaced over four million others from their homes. CPT's Colombia delegations will meet with church, human rights and social justice organizers in Bogot� and in Barrancabermeja, the industrial city in the Magdalena Medio region where CPT's full-time team has been based since 2001. Delegates will spend several days visiting one or more rural communities struggling for justice, peace and sustainable life on the land.

The special focus of the delegation will be the community of Las Pavas, a community that has been in a nonviolent struggle to return to their land. They were displaced multiply times and most recently by a palm oil company. While the upper levels of government certainly have made decisions that seem to favor the community, the facts on the ground are far less encouraging. The community is still at risk, their crops and fences are being destroyed, and the leaders are still receiving threats. ASOCAB members "have hope that the journey ahead will be positive, and that we may finally obtain what�they�have called "The Miracle of Las Pavas." Join us to see this Miracle!