See It: The Community being helped

Inter-American Collaborative Law hopes to send a delegation to Venezuela this Spring. We are a group of young law students interested in experiencing a foreign legal system and society first-hand. We hope to foster understanding between the two nations by developing relationships with legal advocates and other Venezuelans. Because of the current climate of hostility between U.S. and Venezuelan leaders, we feel that person-to-person exchanges between citizens are crucial to preserving peace and addressing global poverty. We also think that we can learn about the ways our own legal system addresses poverty by comparing it to another one. We plan to meet with various community groups, law students, judges and others. When we get home, we will hold sessions at our school and in our communities to share our experiences. We feel that such information-sharing will help engage our fellow students in international and Inter-American issues. Our biggest obstacle right now is money. There are about ten of us in the group and we need to raise $10, 000 to send a delegation this year. We had a successful fundraiser in December, and are planning a movie-and-dinner night where we will show “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and serve Venezuelan food for a small fee. We are also planning to have a bake sale and a flea market where students and faculty members can purchase used clothes and kitchenware. In past years, we have sent students to Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Honduras.