idealist.org

The Prout Research Institute of Venezuela announces three courses to see and experience the remarkable changes underway and listen to both sides of the debate. We will visit projects in the city and countryside, meet with leaders and analyze government responses to social problems that plague the entire world. Using the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout), which its founder, P:R. Sarkar, called “Progressive Socialism,” we will compare ideal policies that can practically solve these problems.

Of course the challenge is not just to understand the world, but to change it. We offer a wide array of techniques and skills for social change, including startling discussion questions, cooperative games, street theater, community listening and interviewing, how to use the media and create eye-catching images, slogans, thought exhibitions and posters to impact large numbers of people...

To change the world, we also have to change ourselves. We have to be the change we want to see, "to walk our talk." The Prout lifestyle includes meditation, yoga, and a vegetarian diet, that gives tremendous clarity of mind and strength of will that all activists need.


January 10-23, 2010 Cost: US$790 (12 full days, 13 nights)

Price Includes:

# Transportation from the airport on the first day of the course

# Shared hostel style accommodations in our beautiful house with quiet and peaceful gardens (*guests must honor house rules)

# Three home-cooked vegetarian meals per day

# Transportation to and from all programmed activities

# A qualified trip leader and language translation

# All program activities and honoraria to host speakers, organizations and communities

# Reading materials

# Wireless internet access for your laptop

# NOT INCLUDED: International airfare, airport departure tax, meals outside of the Institute, tips, and personal expenses.

Revolutionary changes are underway in Venezuelan society. As Noam Chomsky has written: “During the past decade, Latin America has become the most exciting region of the world. The dynamic has very largely flowed from Caracas, with the election of a leftist president dedicated to using Venezuela's rich resources for the benefit of the population rather than for wealthy and privileged at home and abroad...”

President Hugo Chávez is calling for a Socialism for the 21st Century, but he admits he doesn't know what that means. Universal health care, subsidized food, free university education, houses for the homeless, participatory planning councils and 66,000 functioning cooperatives are suddenly transforming the country. Yet crime, corruption, pollution, and greed are eating away at social progress and feeding the opposition's accusations of dictatorship and ruin.

How to Register:

We must receive your application Download application formand a non-refundable deposit of $200 one month prior to the training. A late fee of $50 will be applied to late applications. Payments to Paypal with credit cards are welcome.

Optional:

Dec. 19 2009 is the Caracas portion of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

Dec. 20-23 Work camp at Centro Madre, sustainable agriculture, Afro-Venezuelan culture and community service. Cost: US$190 (4 full days, 4 nights). A late fee of US$25 will apply two weeks before.

Jan. 3-6 2010 Work camp at Centro Madre, sustainable agriculture, Afro-Venezuelan culture and community service. Cost: US$190 (4 full days, 4 nights). A late fee of US$25 will apply two weeks before.

Jan. 23–26 2010 Work camp at Centro Madre, sustainable agriculture, Afro-Venezuelan culture and community service. Cost: US$190 (4 full days, 4 nights). A late fee of US$25 will apply two weeks before.

You can choose to extend your stay in Venezuela and travel on your own to Isla Margarita, Mérida (“the Jewel of the Andes”), Angel Falls (the world's highest waterfall) and amazing natural parks.

Please visit our website www. priven.org for maps and directions to our institute in Caracas, Venezuela.