US State Department to Send 15 Cubans to Graduate School
By Tracey Eaton (alongthemalecon.blogspot.com)
HAVANA TIMES — The US State Department wants to send at least 15 Cubans to graduate school in the United States so they can “more effectively establish, lead, manage, and grow independent organizations in Cuba.”
U.S. officials are seeking a public or private university to carry out the $1.5 million project, called the Cuban Nonprofit Management Scholarship Program.
The State Department announced the project on Tuesday. Applications are due on July 23. Excerpts of the announcement are below:
“The United States Department of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) announces a Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support a U.S.-based scholarship program for graduate-level education focused on nonprofit management for Cubans with up to $1,584,158 in FY 2014 Economic Support Funds for a project period of four years. The anticipated start date for this activity is September 2015 and one award is anticipated as a result of this NOFO. WHA invites U.S. public and private institutions of higher education or U.S. nonprofit /non-governmental organizations having 501(c)(3) status with the IRS or an equivalent official status to submit proposals.
“The program will support the U.S. government’s foreign assistance goal to empower Cubans to freely determine their own future by increasing human capacity, promoting community-level engagement, and expanding civic society networks by administering a scholarship program for graduate-level degrees or certificates in nonprofit management in the United States for at least 15 participants. The program will build the capacity of Cuban individuals to more effectively establish, lead, manage, and grow independent organizations in Cuba.
In addition to the university-based requirements for completing a degree or certificate, the program will include English language training, as needed, to prepare students for scholarly courses, as well as a work experience opportunity through an internship with a nonprofit organization or professional association.
BACKGROUND
“U.S. foreign assistance for Cuba seeks to empower Cubans to freely determine their own future by increasing human capacity, promoting community level engagement, and expanding civil society networks. Since 1996, the United States has provided assistance to increase the flow of information on democracy, human rights, and free enterprise to Cuba through a variety of U.S. and foreign non-governmental organizations.
“The U.S. Department of State has engaged with independent civil society groups on education, communication, and governance issues. The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) seeks to build upon these earlier, successful capacity building efforts and provide professional development opportunities to current and future civil society and community leaders through coursework and internships on nonprofit management. Civil society organizations in Cuba have had few models to follow as they grow to serve the needs of their communities. With an increased ability to travel, Cubans are eager for more information and want to take advantage of educational opportunities not afforded to them otherwise.
“To support further progress, the U.S. Department of State has allocated $1,584,158 in FY 2014 Economic Support Funds for a scholarship program for graduate-level coursework focused on nonprofit sector management.
PROJECT PURPOSE
“To support the professional growth of emerging nonprofit leaders and thereby contribute to the development and diversification of human capital in Cuba, this project will fund a scholarship program for graduate-level certificates and degrees focused on nonprofit management. Participants will also receive English language training and a hands-on trainee/internship program in a U.S. non-governmental organization or professional association as part of the project. At the end of the project, participants will have a set of tools and skills to manage and grow civil society organizations that will effectively support democratic principles in Cuba.
PROJECT GOAL
“The goal of this project is to empower and prepare nonprofit leaders to use entrepreneurial tools and strategies and to grow Cuba’s nascent civil society base and enable the nonprofit sector to work more efficiently and effectively as a means to promote democratic principles in Cuba.
PROJECT OUTCOME
“The individuals that participate as students and interns in this project will be able to demonstrate knowledge of and skill in multiple aspects of management of nonprofit organizations, enabling them to return to Cuba to provide greater expertise in the field and capable of employing their newfound skills as founders, employees, or advisors for independent organizations in any variety of issue areas.”
I love people even The Adm there..It takes love knowledge understanding of how it was for people who looked like me before Fidel. and a persistence before anyone can come to LOVE..How I did it was I simply asked myself what did I hate? Was it the woman in the glass or the fact that I could not change things? As a Cuban, I love the creator and have been blessed recently going into my 13 yrs as a Cancer Survivor (gracias Fidel) whose country literally save my life when the US was playing games..I was there before the guerre and after and so I am a NATIVE vs someone who married a Cuban and think I know it all..I married an Afrikan from Angola, who is a native of Cuba recently who is in real.estate so going back and forth over the last ten yrs has been an immeditate bonus..Soon very soon it will all come full circle. I thank Dios that I can see beyond hate
“Quagmire of hatred”? I hate the Castros, but I don’t see it as a quagmire, more like a pothole. It is a real leap of faith to give the Castros credit for the pursuit of “freedom and happiness”. Hahaha! By the way, isn’t the carrot WITHOUT the stick a good thing?
Moses, anything you support smells fishy for you bear no love at all for the Cuban leaders. If you possessed one grain of sand of sympathy for the suffering masses of the wotld, if you possessed one gram of compassion with in your heart for your brothers and sisters of the human race,if you were created with one little tender spot in your heart for your brothers and sisters of God’s Creations, if your heart bore a mustard seed ol love and respect for yourself or any other individual. you would not be so negative in your approach to life; you would not have been the quagmire of hatred that you are.? have you ever been in Love Moses? Have you ever experienced affections from anyone, because people like you are totally incapable of Loving, your heart being so overwhelmingly full and running over with ruinous hatred. People like you repel others for you give off vibrations of negativity. If you are a loving, respectful, compassionate and genuine person you would not wear that scowl on your face and people will be drawn to you, because tou give off vibrations of LOVE AND AFFECtion! The Cuban people are the most generous, friendly and literate people in the world. What the Americans are trying to do is to impose their capitalist system on Cuba in the form of empowering the 15 Cubans who might accept the scholarships and use these same number as a base for illegal activities of overthrowing the Socialist system. If they cannot succeed with the BIG STICK approach, why not try the carrot approach? The same difference! America bears no love, sympathy, concern, compassion for Cuba and its people. All that happens is that they are gravely offended that Cubans dare, not only to successfully construct a Socialist state 90 miles away from their door steps, but possess the moral fortitude to defend it. This is what is galling them; this is what is irking them and that is why they are using every available trick in the deck of cards to desfroy the 1959 Revolution! Marcus Garvey, that Black Conscious Leader from Jamaica, had this to say, and I quote, “Liberate the minds of men and ultimately, you will liberate the bodies of men!” end of quote. I say Amen to that! I hope that this does not rile you, but,”LONG LIVE THE 1959 CUBAN REVOLUTION! LONG LIVE THE CUBAN LEADERS! LONG LIVE THE CUBAN PEOPLE WHO ARE THE DEFENDERS OF THE REVOLUTION!” A revolution like that of Cuba, can only be constructed and defended by men and women who are firmly of the BELIEF that ALL MEN are truly created equal and it is their inalienable right to pursue freedomand happiness; their fundamental right to free education, the rght to proper housing, the right to decent medical attention and their inalienable right to live like the human beings they were created to be.
Instead of restricting the travel of American Citizens, this is what the U.S. should be doing.
How dare that evil empire to the north provide scholarships to 15 bright Cuban minds. No doubt the thought of better-educated Cubans strikes fear in the hearts of Castro bootlickers who see this move as a national security threat and yet another dastardly attack against a defenseless Castro dictatorship. Sarcasm aside, who can oppose a program like this? Opening the minds of Cuban intellectuals can only benefit Cuba as a whole. Nonetheless, let the Castro sycophants have their say. What is wrong with this program?