2008 SFA Encuentro

September 18-21, 2008 - Immokalee, Florida

Scroll down for information on:

• Registration
• Program
• Logistics

Registration

Complete your registration today by pre-paying the $50-$150 sliding scale fee online: Click here and select "other" and enter the amount. (You can also bring cash or a check or money order made out to "student/farmworker alliance.")

We wouldn't ask for the money if we didn't truly need it. The money collected from registration will fund scholarships for participants who would otherwise not be able to attend as well as expenses such as food, housing, materials, meeting space, and gas & transportation.

Program highlights

Logistics

We will coordinate transportation from the airport to Immokalee and vice versa - be on the lookout for the airport pickup schedule.

Housing & meals will be provided for the entire Encuentro. Most housing will be gender-neutral floor space. If you need a bed or sofa for health reasons, please let us know.

What to bring

• Your energy and your willingness to contribute, be challenged, learn, and have fun.
• Your commitment to take the campaign back to your community. Rather than a general activist conference, the Encuentro is a training & strategy opportunity for folks committed to working on CIW-led campaigns over the next year and beyond.
• Musical instruments, art, poetry; flyers & literature (and merchandise) from other struggles to share; washable bowl, cup and utensils.
• Sleeping bag and pillow, towel and personal items, your registration fee (in cash, check or money order), a bit of spending money for the trip & for our hot new SFA and Subway t-shirts...
• Do not bring any illicit drugs or alcohol - you will be asked to leave.

Volunteering

• Each participant will need to spend some time volunteering with some basic tasks to help keep our dishes and meeting spaces clean; our meals coming on time; and, overall, the weekend running smoothly.

Background

2007 encuentro

In what is becoming one of the most time-honored and important SFA traditions, our 4th-annual Encuentro - a national gathering of the SFA network - will be held in Immokalee from Thursday, September 18 through Sunday, September 21, 2008.

In the wake of the landmark Burger King campaign victory, the 2008 Encuentro will be more important than ever as we plan, strategize, and build relationships for the next year (and beyond) in the Campaign for Fair Food.

As students and young people, our organizing is essential to the success of the broader campaign, and each year the Encuentro gives us the opportunity to meet face-to-face to lay the groundwork for that organizing.

Please apply to attend the 2008 Encuentro and be a part of this process in the birthplace of one of the most successful movements for dignity and justice that our generation has seen. (Due to limited resources and the constraints of holding a national conference in a place like Immokalee, we can only accept a limited number of participants. The application process ensures that those who attend the Encuentro are representative of SFA, in many senses of the word.)

In addition to planning strategy and sharpening our organizing skills, we hope to provide a space for discussion and reflection about the nature and significance of our shared work in an age of corporate globalization, war, and empire.What are the meanings of solidarity and 'alliance' in the 21st century? What are our global and local contexts, and what does this mean for our campaigns, strategies, and tactics?

With your commitment, we know this weekend will serve not only as an inspiration but as a springboard for effective action for social change throughout the next year and beyond!