:: Delegation Reports ::

January 2004 ~ Educational Delegation Bilingual Teachers attend Education Conference in Guamá, Jan. 7-9, 2004 A small group of seven bilingual teachers from Santa Cruz county attended a 2 ½ day education conference in Guamá municipality where they exchanged information about schools with 12 educators from their sister community. While the Cubans discussed classroom re-structurings and technological innovations stemming from the 2003-2004 School Reorganization initiative, the Santa Cruz participants focused on the bilingual movement and unequal access to higher education in the U.S. Four members of the Santa Cruz delegation began their trip on Dec. 27, 2003 in Havana, where they visited the Literacy Museum, a teacher's association and a research center for special education, among other institutions. Leaving the capitol in a van on Dec. 31, they traveled over 900 kilometers to Santiago, stopping along the way to visit historical sites in Santa Clara and Trinidad. Upon arriving in Santiago on Jan. 5, the delegation was joined by 3 more members before visiting Frank País Pedagogical University, the major teacher's training institute in Santiago Province, where they engaged in a round table discussion with over 20 faculty members. The next day, the group toured the Moncada Garrison and other museums before continuing to Guamá. The conference opened on January 7 at Giraldo Aponte Fonseca primary school in Chivirico, the political seat of the municipality. In addition to a plenary session, workshops and formal papers, there were two round tables and visits to several educational centers. The Guamayeros hosted a luncheon and a dinner for the visitors and provided lively entertainment at these and other social events, including an evening neighborhood block party. On January 9, at the conclusion of the conference, the Cuban educators shared lunch with their colleagues and later waved goodbye as the Santa Cruz delegates boarded the van for Holguín and flights home the following day. From The Educational Delegation, Dec. 27, 2003 - January 10, 2004

November 2003 ~ Medical Delegation The following report, submitted by Diana Hull, a member of the delegation, will be of interest to those who cannot attend the presentation: On November 11, 2003 a Medical Delegation from Santa Cruz, California began its journey to Guamá, Cuba. As a group of medical professionals we obtained our license under the Humanitarian Aid provision allowed by the US Government. Our professions included 3 pediatricians, a family doctor, a physician assistant and nurse practitioner, a physical therapist, masseuse, lawyer, and an organic agriculturalist. Our destination was the pristine and stunningly beautiful southwestern coast of Cuba. We had arranged a delegation meeting to be scheduled for November 19th to 22nd in the remote and isolated Municipality of Guamá near the town of Chivirico. We brought humanitarian aid: stethoscopes, industrial ear plugs, medical journals and such things that had been requested by the people of Guamá during a March visit by another delegation. Far more importantly, what we brought was our humanity. During a 4 day medical conference the Santa Cruz Delegation and the Guamá medical community shared not only our professional expertise but also our cultures, histories, personalities and our passion for fun. Our journey to Guamá started in Havana on November 12 and included a visit to the Institute of Tropical Diseases where we had an informative conference with the Institute Director, Jorge Perez, an HIV specialist. We also visited the residential Adolescent Mental Health Clinic in Havana and participated in a discussion with the Director of Psychiatry, Bandera Rosela. Upon arriving in Santiago on November 16th we were swept under the wing of Vicente Gonzlez Diaz, Director of International Relations. Here we visited the largest hospital in the region which included a neonatal unit and an acupuncture clinic. On November 19 we arrived in Guamá to begin the joint medical conference. We met with doctors, nurses, dentists, and health administrators. Between our 2 groups we constituted about 40 people, 10 of us from California and 30 from the Municipality of Guamá. During our 4 day medical conference we each had an opportunity to make presentations. The Santa Cruz delegation's talks included topics on the Santa Cruz public health system, preventive women's health care, HIV, neonatal resuscitation, lead toxicity, physical therapy techniques, organic gardening and massage. The Cuban presentations included family health, STD prevention, indicators of maternal health, homeopathy, prenatal genetic testing and pediatric health.   The conference ended daily around 2 pm with a shared meal. In the afternoons we would all get on a bus together, singing songs with our Cuban friends, as we drove along the coast into Chivirico to visit the local community and the medical facilities. We met with the medical directors and providers in 2 local hospitals and one of the many small consultorios, or primary care clinics in Chivirico. When we arrived at the clinic, located in the center of the town of Chivirico, a familiar sight greeted us as uniformed School children released from classes were practicing martial arts and playing games together on the grounds in front. The clinic, with handwritten medical education posted on walls, a box of 3x5 cards to hold patient information and a tiny herb garden in the backyard, had one Doctora who served as the first line of care for the medical needs of 125 families. Most touching of all our excursions was the trip to the Unicef School in Chivirico where a half dozen groups of school children displayed their art, danced, sang, and recited poetry and history. The school event ended with us all dancing together and then sampling a delicious array of regional foods prepared by the children's families. Our Cuban hosts made certain that we did not over look Cuba's vital history. In Santiago we were taken to the cemetery where Jose Martin is proudly memorialized, to the Historical Museum of Santiago and The Museum of the Revolution.   During our travels through Cuba we enjoyed the distinctive art and the fabulous music of the talented, soulful and intelligent Cuban people. We reached out to many and were rewarded with many spontaneous and stimulating conversations and experiences. Cubans whom we met on the street would frequently spend part of a day with us. Simply walking down a street at night we found a smile and hello turn into an invitation into a home to meet 3 generations of a family and share a glass of lemonada. The beauty of this island country and the gentleness of its people inspired a natural exchange of warmth and openness that served to show us all, Cubans and North Americans alike, that at the heart of our world of contradictions, humanity still exists.

March 2003 The second delegation got its first taste of Cuba while attending the US-Cuba Sister City Conference in Havana and sitting in the seats usually occupied by members of the National Assembly of People’s Power. With representatives of sister cities from Florida to Washington, we heard about the Cuban government’s plans for economic growth, and about new social programs being developed in response to the all too familiar problems for youth – family instability & drug use. Our visits to the Salvador Allende School for Teachers and the Latin American School of Medicine were inspiring events that provided insights into Cuban priorities for their society. Marcelo Siera, Dora Solinas and Judy Geer relax before a night on the town. And who could be in Havana without exploring the city’s beautiful architecture and exciting music. Given our delegation’s appreciation of all things Cuban, and the exciting people we met from other sister city projects, Havana was enthusiastically explored and enjoyed. Takashi Yogi, Nancy Abbey, and Matt Farrell enjoying the whole experience. Guamá was an equally exciting and a totally different experience – quiet, rural and coastal. We were hosted by local officials for the three days we were there with food, music, and trips to projects of interest to us – a rural three room school, a dairy where they produced the milk guaranteed for every young child, the sawmill, a medical clinic, and a mini-hydroelectric plant that we traveled to in an old, lumbering bus up a steep, winding, rugged road. The highlight of the trip was the planting of the Friendship Forest. Reforestation officials, workers, and AGuaS delegates planted cypress trees to symbolize the "planting" of our relationship and the potential for growth. Each tree was numbered and the names of the people planting it recorded for posterity.

January 2003 County Supervisor Jeff Almquist and Julio Hopkins Alarcon, Presidente of the Municipio of Guamá seal the deal January 16th in Chivirico, Santiago de Cuba. Because the Sierra Maestra Mountains provided shelter and sustenance for guerilla fighters, many historic monuments and small museums have been developed there to tell the history of modern Cuba. Residents of Guamá like to explain that there were only 4 schools in the area before the revolution and now there are 117. Every child, no matter how far up in the mountains, has a teacher, a television set, and a computer powered by solar energy. They also have 54 family doctor clinics and two hospitals, one of which was founded by Che to honor the campesinos who sacrificed so much to ensure the success of the revolution. Congressman Sam Farr enjoyed interviewing revolutionary veterans at the "Circle of Grandparents" home in Ocujal, a brand new facility for aging seniors. We also visited a junior high school with more than 500 students, half of whom live on campus. Seventeen mini-hydroelectric plants draw energy from abundant rivers, and solar panels adorn rooftops. Our delegation was overwhelmed with gratitude to our hosts in the four small towns of the municipality of Guamá. We gave al report-back to Santa Cruz County on Feb 28. Each delegation member was bursting with ideas for projects where collaboration is possible. The next delegation left in late March to continue projects in alternative energy, organic agriculture, education, and medical care. Water sports and ecotourism may be areas where we can also offer advice. Needless to say, we enjoyed balmy weather and delighted in many new friendships. As they say in Cuba, “Venceremos!”