Jul 12, 2007
Wait till you read the travel pamphlet of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration!
It's like no tour brochure you've ever seen. In place of "today we go to the Tower of London," it hits you with shockers, like in this trip to El Salvador from November 24 to December 3, 2007:
The tours are open to people of all ages and of all faiths.
Among the obstacles they've overcome were those thrown up by their superiors. Compelled to drop the words "liberation theology" from their literature, and other highly charged language about the wealthy elites that dominate certain Latin American and other countries, they seemed for a time (I've been following them for years) to be growing cautious.
But as far as I can see, the basic themes of these tours -- the emphasis upon contact with low-income people in foreign countries -- remain unchanged. Thus, in the spring and summer of 2008, GATE will escort groups of Americans to meet "the indigenous peoples of Guatemala." Participants will "explore human rights issues and an active resistance that stretches across centuries as well as the implications of a more recent development, CAFTA." On escorted tours of Oaxaca, Mexico, "a poor state," members of the traveling group "will learn something of the problems [Oaxaca] faces in education and agriculture, especially as they touch the lives of indigenous women."
Costs are remarkably low, an average of $1,175 per person plus airfare and $150 registration fee, for stays of nine and ten nights' duration, including lodging and all meals except one. Additional information is had by writing to GATE, 912 Market Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601-8800, phoning tel. 608/791-5283, or faxing 608/782-6301.
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[We visit the site] where Oscar Romero, the six Jesuits and their co-workers, and the four North American church women were killed. We take part in spirited dialogue with people in grassroots movements...and [others] who experience this democracy facing global challenges. We learn how trade agreements affect immigration and the poor.Now in its 26th year, the program known as "GATE" ("Global Awareness Through Experience"), designed and escorted by members of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (of La Crosse, Wisconsin), will offer numerous departures in the remainder of 2007 and throughout all of 2008 of six different programs to nations ranging from Guatemala to El Salvador to Mexico and Eastern Europe.
The tours are open to people of all ages and of all faiths.
Among the obstacles they've overcome were those thrown up by their superiors. Compelled to drop the words "liberation theology" from their literature, and other highly charged language about the wealthy elites that dominate certain Latin American and other countries, they seemed for a time (I've been following them for years) to be growing cautious.
But as far as I can see, the basic themes of these tours -- the emphasis upon contact with low-income people in foreign countries -- remain unchanged. Thus, in the spring and summer of 2008, GATE will escort groups of Americans to meet "the indigenous peoples of Guatemala." Participants will "explore human rights issues and an active resistance that stretches across centuries as well as the implications of a more recent development, CAFTA." On escorted tours of Oaxaca, Mexico, "a poor state," members of the traveling group "will learn something of the problems [Oaxaca] faces in education and agriculture, especially as they touch the lives of indigenous women."
Costs are remarkably low, an average of $1,175 per person plus airfare and $150 registration fee, for stays of nine and ten nights' duration, including lodging and all meals except one. Additional information is had by writing to GATE, 912 Market Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601-8800, phoning tel. 608/791-5283, or faxing 608/782-6301.
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Labels: alternative information, tips
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
