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CASA
of Maryland brings medical supplies and friendship to Cuba
BY
ERIC BOND
Members
of the delegation gather in the parking lot of José
Marti Airport for one last picture with the staff of Amistur,
the Cuban organization that guided us through Cuba. Front
row: Ines Cifuentes, Alexandra Escudero, Leslie Lobos, Esperanza
Loaiza. Back row: Eric Bond, Flor Guillen, Pilar Torres, Amistur
driver Luis, Amistur guide Yanelis Marquez, Lois Gutowski,
Manny Hidalgo, Cuban official Manuel Fernandez, Helena Torres,
Amistur guide Raul Macios, and Virginia Mahoney. Not pictured:
Nora Eidelman.
Even
as relations between Cuba and the United States sink to a
level unknown since the Cold War, a local delegation visited
the island, bringing much needed medical supplies to a non-governmental
health organization. Delegates met Eva Paula Bravo, the director
of the Cuban Association for the Physically Disabled—ACLIFIM
(Asociacíon Cubana de Limitados Fisicos-Motores)—which
advocates for equal rights and the expan-sion of educational
and job opportunities for people with physical disabilities.
We arrived
on Saturday, April 12 and followed a week-long itinerary prepared
by the Cuban organization Amistur, which our amiable tour
director Raul Macios explained stands for friendship ("amistad")
through tourism. Our time was divided between Habana and Pinar
del Rio, a lush province noted for its tobacco.
The trip
was organized through CASA of Maryland, a non-profit which
assists Latino immigrants with issues of health, employment
rights, law, and education. The purpose was three-fold: to
aid disabled people living less than 100 miles from the United
States, to learn about organization methods from an internationally-recognized
agency, and to bridge the gap of ignorance between Cuba and
the U.S.
The Delegation
included Ines Cifuentes, CASA Board member; Alexandra Escudero,
CASA Deputy Director; Manny Hidalgo, CASA Development Director;
Lois Gutowski, CASA's accountant; Leslie Lobos, a University
of Maryland law student; Flor Guillen, Leslie's aunt and a
retired teacher; Pilar Torres, co-director of Centro Familia,
a local institute of family studies; Helena, Pilar's daughter;
Virginia Mahoney, who works for Fannie-Mae; Nora Eidelman,
an organizer for the Maryland Latino Coalition for Justice;
Eric Bond (me), publisher of Takoma Voice and Silver Spring
Voice; and Esperanza, daughter of Eric and Alexandra.
CASA
of Maryland representatives share a cafecito and organizational
strategies with Eva Paula Bravo (second from right), the director
of a Cuban non-governmental agency that helps disabled persons
participate fully in Cuban society. From left: CASA Development
Director, Manny Hidalgo; CASA Deputy Director, Alexandra Escudero;
and CASA Boardmember Ines Cifuentes.
Together
the delegation carried 260 pounds of medical supplies, for
which Ms. Bravo expressed great appreciation.
ACLIFIM
has a voluntary membership of over 42,000 and is represented
in all 14 Cuban provinces. All of the officers are people
with physical disabilities. The organization provides counseling,
medicine, and rehabilitation equipment.
An
island of scarcity
Because
of the United States' 41-year-old economic embargo, Cuba is
an island of scarcity. For example, while the government trains
some of the most respected doctors in the world, over-the-counter
medicines are difficult to find.
With the
collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost its primary trading
partner. For the past decade, Cuba has been on a mission of
self-sufficiency, which is called, simply, the "Special
Period."
Like other
Caribbean nations, the Cuban government has opened Cuba to
tourism and has loosened restriction on low-level capitalism,
which thrives, particularly in tourist districts.
Socialism
at work
During
a visit to the University of Habana School of Social Work,
Pilar Torres discusses educational opportunites with a student
from Venezuela. Well known for excellent universities and
colleges, Cuba attracts students from throughout Latin America
and the world.
A highlight
of the trip was a visit to the Havana University School of
Social Work in Cojímar, where we learned about Cuba's
extensive social programs. Most notable is a current program
to train young neighborhood social workers to monitor the
well being of the most vulnerable residents, infants and the
elderly.
Considering
the logistics to carry out such a program in the United States,
we were surprised to learn that every child in Cuba is weighed,
and those who are underweight are given supplemental food
and vitamins. Equally astonishing was Cuba's literacy rate
of 99 percent.
A
complex experience
Each delegate
was a seasoned traveler, but each also noted that Cuba is
a place unlike any other. And each viewed the island through
his or her unique background. Discussions among delegates
refracted into a broad spectrum of emotions: from angst over
parents who fled the island after Castro's revolution to satisfaction
from an African American mother who was struck by the respect
that she saw toward young Afro-Cuban men. All members of the
delegation agreed that Cuba is a complex experience.
In June,
look for a more detailed article about our experiences.
Stickball
may be a sport of the past in Brooklyn, but it thrives in
the alleys of Habana.
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