The Cuba Partnership Resource Manual
Cultural Sensitivity in Cuba
Last Updated (Wednesday, 23 February 2011 17:47) Written by John Walter Wednesday, 23 February 2011 17:44
The model of short term mission (STM) we have developed in conjunction with the IPRC
churches in El Centro is one of accompaniment, of being embedded in the church
community and church events as we encounter them in the annual cycle. We don’t go
there to work; we go to look, listen, and participate in their lives.
That can seem a little “airy-fairy” to some who expect mission participants to “accomplish”
something tangible. I have even heard the expression, “This looks like “tourism to me.” used.
But it is far from easy or touristic to extract oneself from one’s comfort zone and spend a week
(or more) in a strange culture listening to a language one doesn’t necessarily feel at home with,
not to mention not being able to fully express oneself.
Simply put, we “accompany” our Cuban host community in its daily life, much like what we
do here…but with cultural and political adjustments. Through watching and listening we
begin to understand how others do community. It looks similar, but isn’t; these communities
have built their faith on a kind of perseverance we can only admire when we fully understand
their history. We learn, dispel some misconceptions, and return home with a different concept
of community, one less materialistically but more individualistically driven.
Inside the many layers of political and cultural issues we confront as guests, one single thing
stands out somewhat prominently: In Cuba there is a dual monetary system. The Convertible
Peso (CUC), worth roughly One US Dollar, and the Cuban Peso (CP), worth roughly five cents
to our USD. Most salaries are paid in Cuban Pesos. For example: an IPRC pastor’s salary is about
350 CP per month. That’s 88 CP per week, or the equivalent of $3.50 USD. Gladly, the pastors
are also given an extra stipend to help them cover costs, but even so…you get the idea.
Cultural sensitivity means that because we rarely are given the “full” picture at first. (“How do
these people, these communities survive on such salaries?” might be one of our first questions).
we must make practised listening the staple of our first experiences Later, at a higher trust level,
everything is sequentially discussed more freely and frankly.
This “salary” issue is at the heart of Cuba’s greatest single polemic: Brain Drain. Younger people
leave searching for a better life. Parents and grandparents may leave as well. But for those who
remain, there is a grinding sense of disproportion and deep injustice. They know that professionals
elsewhere are paid a living wage for their education level. The resulting resentments have cost Cuba
a great deal in terms of human productivity. “Look and listen” are precepts your host church will
admire in you.
As we move forward in both our church to church and presbytery to presbytery partnerships,
one goal is becoming apparent: The massive Cuban state layoffs at the end of 2010 mean that
unemployment will both rise and become chronic unless the state can assist its population
with viable alternatives. They currently don’t appear to be able to do that; in fact, by permitting
self employment through a licensing process, it’s the government itself that will benefit from what
we would call “self-employment taxes”. I hear these taxes are excessively high, something which
will only serve to discourage entrepreneurism.
This is one area in which we can assist our partners. Finding ways to make individuals and
communities self sufficient will become the focus of Baltimore and El Centro’s vision.
Churches that really know and understand the conditions under which their IPRC Church
partner is laboring can “tailor” a response to assist that community as it is impacted by the
changes in government policy. The laundry and food programs most IPRC Churches already
have in place will not be sufficient if the state salaried members themselves become victim
of layoff.
And I stress: One does virtually nothing in Cuba (or anywhere else) unless one clearly sees
the issues, and through mutual trust and collaboration, begins to address the fundamental
causes of inequality and poverty. We here in the US cannot claim to have solved this for
ourselves if we continue to leave millions of people stranded on the island of ignorance or
deny them access to the solutions that bridge the socio-economical class system.
I am apolitical. My interest in this stems from an abhorrence of needless suffering.
Together we can affect change.