GREAT LEAP : COMMUNITY : CUBA

In Matanzas with Los Munequitos at the Che Guevara tile mosiac

November 29-December 6, 1999

For $20 a day, Krishna and I shared a room in a woman’s apartment in Nuevo Vedado, Habana. Eating vegetarian was a bit of a challenge in Cuba, but we finally discovered the local "green" market and lived on fresh salad with avocados and papayas. The "green" food is organically grown in empty plots in and around the city to save on fuel.

Krishna and I took our tourist privilege to ride in cabs instead of waiting in long cues for buses. Of course, many of the people’s cabs are ancient cars that can easily asphyxiate you. The ice cream sold on the streets is not made of cream or probably even fresh milk. With milk shortages, kids after 7 years don’t get fresh milk. Like our landlady and Hugo, many Cubans ride bikes to work. In what they call the "Special Period" (the embargo), they have had to live on tight rationing of food, fuel, lack of cars, building materials, medicine, etc. Yet, in a strange way, the embargo has seemed to make them a healthier people…eating less protein and fats, more exercise, holistic medicine, no pesticides. I think it also speaks to the creativity of the Cuban experiment…an experiment, from my observations, that has tried to make decisions in the interest of the majority of the people.

For instance, while there is a shortage of living space and most of the apartments, which are of beautiful Spanish style, look run down, for lack of materials, I never encountered a homeless person or panhandler in Cuba. I was also impressed with some of the things they are doing in the countryside, creating a park and restoring the ecosystems of the once slavery-driven tobacco plantations.

Nada Hay Mas Importante Que Un Nino Bridge

NADA ES MAS IMPORTANTE QUE UN NINO – "nothing is more important than a child" We were able to travel Matanzas, a cultural mecca, where we went to a ceremony at the house of the famous music group Los Munequitos. We were very close to Cardenas, the home of Elian Gonzales, the young Cuban boy being held in Florida. The TV was ablaze with people crying out for the return of the boy. After seeing happy, well cared for school children throughout our stay, it was difficult to understand how this child could be denied his father and his homeland.

Ada, Family and Friends at the Farewell Dinner

The sacrifices people are making for the future of their children was movingly illustrated by Ada, who cooked for friends who rented an apartment in Old Habana. After a fabulous vegetarian meal we shared with her family, Ada, who is an architectural engineer, talked of the hardships of the "special period", when her children didn’t want to see another plate of black beans. She appreciated our support of the Cuban revolution and stated, "they have gone without this long, we can keep on going until the embargo is over. Fortunately, regardless of the embargo, things are getting a little better each year.

Cuba seemed like such an upside down…no, right side up world to me. Things like health and education, even higher education, are free and available to all. Culture is valued there – music, dance, art – a part of everyday life. Cuban music is a good example of the beauty and complexity of their culture…inevitably vibrating their rhythms beyond their island, transcending all the "isms" and embargoes. It’s a dance, I for one, can’t resist.