FoCAN makes an invaluable contribution to Intercambio, CAN’s international youth exchange. In a blog posted on the FoCAN website, Jessica Arciga shares her experience as an Intercambio 20015 intern.
Intercambio was wonderful week spent among 17 youth exchanges from Veracruz & Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico and Esteli & San Ramon, Nicaragua. The week was full of activities involving seed banks, youth networking, and panel discussions. Meeting this group of people changed my perspective on youth famers from speaking to a man with a family to speaking with university students in the Yucatan. The young man I had the opportunity to speak with spoke about the struggles with the government in Nicaragua along with poverty issues while the youth from the Yucatan spoke more about implementing gardens and better educating communities around their university. Youth from Estelí, Nicaragua spoke very passionately about their organization and the techniques they appreciated most when dealing with environmental hardships (water usage and water availability in homes).
The week involved a series of organization both on campus and off-campus: Food what, PICA, The Digital Nest in Watsonville, El Centro, and Mesa Verde Gardens to name a few. The activities were specifically to create networks between the youth here and the youth from Mexico and Nicaragua. We had three public events; one was conocimiento to meet the youth, a panel about their work, and a coffee cupping to meet the spectacular people who cultivate coffee beans. Read the rest of the blog here.
Check out the photos posted on FoCAN’s Facebook page.
