Dear Teachers,

 

Now more than ever, the world needs informed, compassionate and courageous young people to take an important part in steering the world in ways that contribute to a dignified and peaceful existence for all humanity. We need the next generation of leaders to be engaged and to recognize their personal power and responsibility to create a just, humane and inclusive world. To this end, The Echo Foundation creates programs that focus on a specific sector of humanity so that we may look closely and try to understand a segment of the global society.  With this approach, we hope to learn and to teach universal truths.

 

Developed by Echo student interns, this curriculum offers educators and students, a tool with which to access a view of Cuba; its history, culture, people, and more. Our collection of articles represents an effort to educate about, and to highlight, multiple viewpoints of past and current events of this tiny island nation, 90 miles off the United States coast. Many celebrate the new open relationship between Cuba and the United States, There are also hundreds of thousands for whom Cuba represents tragic loss, sorrow, and long-enduring heartache.

 

We thank you, the teachers of tomorrow's leaders, you who devote your lives each day to the betterment of our world through your commitment to, and belief in, the next generation. What can we learn from Cuba’s past, it’s communist dictatorship, its renewed relationship with the US, and more? What lessons can we distill that teach us?

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With wishes for an inspired and rewarding year,

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Stephanie G. Ansaldo, President 

The Echo Foundation