By Daniel Wolowicz danielw@theacorn.com

Their upcoming journey may forever change the lives of three members of California Lutheran University’s (CLU) human rights club.

In May they will take an 11-day trip to Nicaragua to see firsthand how free trade cooperatives positively impact the local economy. The students are participating in a travel program hosted by nonprofit organization Global Exchange and will spend their time not sightseeing, but learning about how the local people live.

They’ll board in hotels and with families in northwestern Nicaragua, a region known for its coffee production and emerging free trade cooperatives. The cooperatives are unions created by farmers in economically depressed countries to improve living conditions through higher wages and healthier working conditions.

CLU student John Cummings founded the human rights club a year ago during his campaign to help bring fair trade coffee to the campus and raise students’ awareness of the growing number of fair trade cooperatives in Third World countries and other human rights issues.

"Free trade coffee is now available in a number of places on our campus," said Cummings. "It’s only a start, but I think it really helps people here at Cal Lutheran learn about the issue."

Cummings hopes knowledge he gains on the trip will help him educate others on the benefits of buying products grown within a free trade cooperative. His ability to speak conversational Spanish should be helpful, he said.

Cummings will graduate in May with a degree in sociology. He found Global Exchange through the Internet.

"I want to get to know the local people and see for myself their struggles and learn what their lives are like," said Cummings. "Global Exchange looked like the best way for us to do that. They have a great program."

As part of their time in Nicaragua, the students from CLU will work with families who are members of the Cecocafen, a fair trade association that represents about 1,200 coffee farmer families in the northwest.

"I think this is a really neat trip for these students," said university pastor and faculty advisor to the human rights club Melissa Maxwell-Doherty. "Whenever you move out of your comfort zone and learn about another culture, you grow and you make a unique contribution to the classroom and to the world in general."

  Pastor Maxwell-Doherty was at first concerned for the students’ safety, but after talking with Cummings about Global Exchange and the trip planned, she feels confident the tour will be a safe one.

The cost of the trip is about $1,500 per person, and the students must raise the money themselves.

Cummings has found financial support through families, friends and parishioners of Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church in San Luis Obispo, his hometown parish.

Global Exchange is based in San Francisco and was established in 1989. The tours it arranges to more than 30 countries give participants a firsthand view of how human rights and living conditions are affected by U. S. foreign policy. Destinations include Afghanistan, Africa, Vietnam, China, Palestine, Cuba and many Central and South American countries.

"Our focus is to put people from different countries in touch with each other and create a citizen-based diplomacy," said Malia Everette, an official associated with the program. "We want to put a positive face on how Americans are perceived abroad."

Everette said the CLU students customized their own itinerary to spend time among local families working within Cecocafen.

Cecocafen was founded in 1997 after Hurricane Mitch devastated the region’s coffee crop and left thousands of farmers without a means to support themselves. The cooperative provides financial aid and helps with construction and farming.

Cummings is accepting donations for his trip. He may be reached at jcummings@clunet.edu.