A Summer in Cuba

It had been a peaceful day,
obligations momentarily satisfied,
upsets seemed distant,
no desperate calls had come for help...

It had been a peaceful day.
We opened the garage doors,
fueled up the Lada, and made our get away...

The sunlight tangoed with the palms.
The cumulus clouds danced salsas.
The Trade Winds abetted our escape.
The empty road ahead invited our giddy trespassing songs.

Recognizing the pastor's car, we stopped in Meneses,
Outside the church, I stopped at the street door,
unprepared for the vision I'd find within

Even more unprepared to hear the piano's echoing song...

Cuba, for the first time visitor, is something of a paradox. On one hand, its people are educated, interested in current world events, and above all: friendly. On the other hand, a short look around their streets and stores tells you that no one, absolutely no one is able to rise above a third world standard of living, despite all the advertised advantages of Cuban Socialism:

Cubans have free education, but...
It's free health care and hospitalization, but...
When I say: third world standard of living, I refer specifically to: enough food to eat, clean water to drink, access to medical treatment, absence of pandemic disease, and sufficient income to promote what might be called a "positive attitude towards life". I think these are basic standards which we can agree divide third from first world societies. But Cuba does not follow that distinction as closely as other countries, and the reason may be ascribed to the undeniable successes and failures of its Revolution, and our part in it.

My objective in this brief space is not to digress into a treatise on the successes and failures of the Cuban Revolution; there have been many fine authors who have already done that to much better effect than I could. My real intent is to relate some of what I personally witnessed during my stay this summer with the Iglesia Presbiteriana Reformada en Cabaiguán, Cuba. These observations compose a new chapter in our recent PCUSA- IPRC relationship; seen not from the vantage point of a North American visitor, but by a trusted friend, someone welcomed into the very heart of a Cuban community.

After having been schooled, after having received their masters or doctorate degrees in some discipline, Cubans become employees of the state; and the state has no money to pay its professionals a wage commensurate with that received by professionals from any developed country. This "sacrifice" made by the individual for the "good of the state" was offset in the early days of the Revolution by the euphoria of being free of four hundred and seventy eight years of either Spanish or North American rule. It was a party, and at least at the beginning everyone was dancing.

The early Revolution was a true echo of José Martí's cry for sovereignty and justice, but above all, it was a "social experiment". For a while, life was getting better for all of Cuba's citizens. Land reform nationalized the large sugar cane plantations and provided jobs and some economic security for the worker. Education was given national priority; thousands of young teachers flooded the countryside in a successful effort to raise literacy. Hospitals and clinics were built which provided free medical services to everyone. Cuba's churches, both reformed and Catholic, supported the early Revolution and [reservedly] conceded their schools and clinics to nationalization.

The state also runs the stores where its citizenry needs shop for most all their consumer goods. Imagine Sam Walton as not only owning Wal-Mart, but being Commandant of the armed forces, and President, head of State. What a horror that would be!: absolute control of earnings and consumer pricing, and the power to enforce it all! This is, of course, an oversimplification. Neither Fidel nor any other head of State controls prices at global market level. But it does provide an idea as to why the family in Cuba is in such trouble: No job mobility, fixed wages with no way to protest, no cost of living adjustments for inflation, and a dual monetary system in which many salaries are paid in ordinary pesos but goods are sold in convertible pesos worth 25 of the regular, or ordinary peso.

When a visitor enters a "Dollar Store"- a relic term from when the monetary system was based on the U.S. Dollar- he or she finds that shampoo is priced similarly to what one finds in the US, likewise all other consumer goods. However, adjusted for inflation, that three dollar bottle of shampoo costs the Cuban citizen something like one fifth of his or hers month's wages, therefore outside his / her economic reach if they want the family to eat, buy new shoes, or fix the washing machine-if they're lucky enough to have one.

This summer I spent eight weeks with the Cuban families of Cabaiguán. What I heard and saw was troubling. Many families have reached the breaking point and are beginning to fall apart due to the frustration of feeling worthless and unable to provide. Alcoholism is followed by violence, joblessness by apathy, and hopelessness by an across the board social slide towards dysfunction. The crime rate is rising, especially violent crime in its larger cities. Divorce is rising.

We North Americans have played a part in the Cuban community's suffering. We've sat on the sidelines knowing that the exiled Cubans in Miami and New Jersey have leveraged their political power in an attempt to win back their property lost to nationalization forty five years ago. But their brothers and sisters still living there are not the owners of that property, and they derive little benefit from it. The Cuban Americans aren't suffering. The politicians in Cuba aren't suffering. Who does that leave?

How can you help?

Consider walking with us in Baltimore Presbytery's Cuba Partnership.

- Call to find out how your church might make a real impact in the lives of our Cuban brothers and sisters.

- Call to find out about our link with Interchurch Medical Assistance, and the beginning of a project to bring medical relief to El Centro Presbytery's families by supplying them with basic medicines.

- Explore this site www.cubapartnership.org for an introduction to the Partnership.

- Call John Walter ~ jgwalter@toad.net 410 771 4075 (home) to schedule a powerpoint presentation for your church's mission committee.

- Call JoAnn Ruther ~ jruther@ashlandpc.org 410 527 1844 (office) JoAnn is Light Street Presbyterian Church's representative in the Cuba Partnership, she'll be happy to arrange an appointment for a presentation.