Five students from Utah Valley University’s (UVU) Peace and Justice Studies program traveled to Havana, Cuba, and brought home lessons that they will remember for a lifetime. The group lived with Cuban families and studied under the direction of faculty members from the Facultad de Artes y Letras of the University of Havana.

They were accompanied by Peace and Justice Studies Director Professor Lynn England. “We came to Cuba as peaceful ambassadors to work with, live with, and serve the people of Cuba,” England said. “I emphasize with the students that we are students, not tourists.” He has been taking students to visit Cuba for 10 years.

Classes took place in the homes where students stayed, in university classrooms, and on excursions.

“One of my friends there in Havana arranges for several of these professors to come to the place where we're staying,” England said. “They would lecture, and sometimes we would go with them into the community on excursions for them to present their expertise and, of course, the Cuban viewpoint.”

When not in classes, students participated in a community service project for a Havana non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides life-sustaining necessities for nearly 4,000 people every day, including delivery for homebound individuals. UVU students helped prepare the food and package it for delivery.

Timberlyn Shaw, a philosophy student at UVU, contracted dengue fever while studying abroad and got to experience the Cuban healthcare system and the kindness of others in the community.

“This study abroad changed me deeply in a lot of ways,” Shaw said. “It showed me how individualist we are. The Cuban family we stayed with treated me like their child. When I got dengue fever, a woman stayed up with me until three in the morning, helping to get my fever down.”

Shaw was taken to a neighborhood clinic in Trinidad, Cuba, where she was rehydrated, tested, and medicated. She had made a full recovery by the time the students left Cuba.

“It's a very good medical system that does a lot to help people, which is interesting because they struggle so hard to get medications and things like that because of trade embargos,” Shaw said.

UVU students reported overwhelmingly positive experiences while in Cuba, with many saying it changed their perspective on life outside the United States. Brent Ivie, a psychology major, said his time in Cuba helped heighten his world perspectives.

“Part of my growth and awareness from this trip came from observing the Cuban people,” Ivie said. “Seeing their society, their interactions, and how things work — it was amazing to me. From what I observed, they respect each other; there's very little lying. Things are done naturally. The farmers still farm, and they bring their products into town every morning.

It’s organic, and it’s as god intended it to be. There's very little processed anything in that country.”

“We want to achieve an immersion in a fairly different world than the one that the students are exposed to,” England said. “We want students out in that world experiencing it.”

England and the students were in Havana for three weeks between June 26 and July 18.

Learn more about the UVU Peace and Justice Studies program and UVU Study Abroad opportunities.

Photo courtesy of Timberlyn Shaw