Submitted by Luke Pietsch

It is 1962. The Beatles’ first hit single, “Love Me Do,” is high on the rotation list, and the Century 21 Exposition (Seattle World’s Fair) is a big success of its own, featuring the newly built Seattle Space Needle. More pertinent to this article, an economic embargo with Cuba was imposed. Over the past 50 years, the embargo forced this fellow island community to form a one of a kind sustainable system of living and urban agriculture.

Today, we live in a world that progresses further each day down the path of global warming and climate change. Could it be that attributes of Cuba’s sustainable systems may become key to our own solutions in the years to come? To answer this question and many others, the Orcas Island High School Spanish Club hopes to travel Cuba for one week this spring led by Heidi Bruce, the Orcas Island High School Spanish teacher.

According to Spanish club member Kupono Anuenue, “we really hope to learn about the sustainable systems that have been working in Cuba and bring that knowledge back to share with our community, and even get to learn Spanish from native-born speakers along the way.”

However you feel about the politics of the Cuba embargo, this trip will be an incredible opportunity for students to learn about another language and unique culture. Of course, travel of any type is expensive, so please, help support this learning opportunity by visiting our GoFundMe page and donating today. You can also ask any of the students in the Spanish Club about buying coffee from them, which was kindly roasted by Local Goods to help support what should prove to be a fun, educational and life-changing experience.