Cuba Heart Project Review – December 2013

In 2013 the International Committee of the Rotary Club of Barrie Huronia donated $500.00 to the Cuba Heart Project. $ 100.00 was spent for crafts and sewing supplies for the school kids and $ 400.00 to renovate an old hut to be used as a community centre.

In December 2013 Herb & Joyce went to Cuba to see firsthand what has happened with our donation and to learn more about the project.

First we drove to Cardenas to pick up Jesus (project Manager) and his wife Mayelin. We went then to the downtown area to get an idea what can be purchased for CUC (the Cuban convertible hard currency).

Most used way of transportation is horse and buggy and bikes.

This store sells building materials and toilets. Before we could enter the store people were asking Jesus what he needs (we have it for you cheaper). The black market booms. It’s a matter of having CUCs to pay for it. The prices for food and toiletry articles are similar to our prices with the difference that a Cuban may make 25 CUCs a month.

Left whole section just for washing powder (they have more space then products) and right, lining up to buy toiletries.

From there we drove into the country to visit the village school in Horacio Rodriguez who received part

of our donation.

The school has 178 students from Kindergarten to Grade 6.

The school director and the two best students welcomed us.

As they probably see no tourists in this area we became an attraction ourselves and in no time there were 20 people around us watching what we were doing.

This is the Kindergarten section:

Those small beds where the kids have their afternoon naps are made by the parents. Grade 3 welcomed us with a standing “Hola”.

This is where they cook the meals:

Washing hands before they go into the Cantina to eat:

The higher grades have to help in the kitchen.

The parents have to pay a small amount per month for the meals, mostly rice, pasta, beans, lettuce and a little bit of meat. Some of the fresh stuff comes from the school garden where the kids also learn planting / agriculture.

There is time for playing and recess too:

The computer lab:

Quite old stand-alone PCs. No network and certainly no Internet. No printer or electronic library.

They teach computer basics and windows office.

This is the VP office:

The government pays for the teachers, school books, 2 pencils/student per month and some stationary. There is no money for maintenance, no money for light bulbs, broken switches etc. We wanted to give $50CUC (~CAD 60.00) to the principal but we learned that he would have to hand the money to the government. Therefore we gave the 50CUC to Jesus who will walk with the principal around the school to mark down what they urgently need to get fixed. We also brought seeds for the school garden.

The VP showed us the two storage rooms for the food and the school materials and there was not much for 178 students.

When we brought the money to Cuba in spring 2013, we also brought a training guitar donated by a Les Marmitons friend which turned out to be perfect to teach the students guitar playing.

We asked the principal and the many teachers who joined us for the walk what they need (see last page).

From the school we drove to the planned community house. There we learned that the most important thing before they renovate the hut is to build a toilet. In Cuba everything takes a lot of time from getting the building materials to finding the volunteers to help building it. The toilet is being built on top of a septic tank and should be done before summer starts. But it’s Cuba, you never know.

The one room shed needs renovating but at least the structure is sound and does not need repair.

As I mentioned everything takes time in Cuba but it will be finished eventually. Our friends who work in the tourist industry work 6 days a week and one free day off which they have does not give them much time to get things done.

Back to the village school:

The two best students are the best in storytelling. For us this sounds somehow silly, why is this so important to them?

There is no Internet, no school library of some sort just the government school books which limits the teachers very much what they can teach. With the story telling they get the students fantasy and imagination going, which improves their language and communication skills and makes an interesting class too. A cheap way of an extended curriculum. That’s all they have. That’s why the Heart project provides the student and the villagers with the art sessions a way of additional learning. The Cuban way. Our visit for sure will end up as a story.

We talked to the principal and teachers what the school needs most. It has to come from the Heart project and has to stay in the possession of the Heart project as the government can take it away otherwise.

A laser printer to be able to print student materials CUC 150.00 sourced in Cuba

Paper and toner cartridge CUC 150.00 sourced in Cuba

5 USB sticks for the teachers $ 50.00

External hard drive as media library $ 100.00

Network switch with cables to network the PC to

Make the media library available to all PCs $ 100.00

Some of the network stuff can be probably sourced for free from our e-waste friend GreenGo. The plan is to download Spanish e-books, various music, music note sheets, Spanish / English dictionary, Spanish Wikipedia, multimedia encyclopaedia, etc. etc. to form the school media library.

A total of $500.00 would help to get most of their needs realized.