Travelling to Cuba, by Robert Townsend

I was in Cuba for the month of February this year. The main purpose of the trip was to learn to speak Spanish better. Speaking Spanish better was not very hard, as my Spanish at the time was quite minimal - Buenas tardes, señorita. Dos cervezas frias, por favor - and the like. So, improved Spanish was not an issue. Of more an issue, before going, was where to go to learn, and being totally immersed. By circumstance, that decision started to come about while I was travelling by bike in Cuba three years ago.

In those travels, I met up with a group of Cuban cyclists while on the road from Ciego de Ávila - Morón - Caya Coca. When we parted company , I gave my name and e-mail to one of the guys. About three months after my return, I received an e-mail from a lady I did not know. She introduced herself as being a university professor at the Universidad de Ciego de Ávila, and she was married to one of the cyclists. Professors have better e-mail access than most other Cubans, and she was writing on behalf of those cyclists. Her name is Daimes. All interchange is in Spanish. We wrote back and forth a couple of times. About two years ago she wrote saying that she and her husband had separated, she was no longer going to be the link for us, and asked if she wrote to me, she wondered if I would reply. I agreed. We wrote back and forth about five or six times until about October 2006.

Last October, I decided that I would like to improve my Spanish, and I thought that a university setting would be a better choice than something like the Berlitz School of Languages. I wrote to Daimes with this in mind, and she said that I could be accommodated any time and for as long as I wished. So, I decided to go to the Universidad de Ciego de Ávila for the month of February.


Materially, Cuba is a poor country - a lot of it has to do with the draconian blockade that the USA has imposed on Cuba for the past 46 or 47 years. As an experiment, try to imagine what most retail outlets would look like if there was no access to goods either made in the USA, or made by US multinationals which are control by the US or centred in the US. The Cuban people do amazing things, given this draconian policy. It is made even more draconian when one considers that it is a policy originating in a country that wants to pride itself on doing favours for people around the world, and one which is always championing human dignity and human rights. Other than materially, Cuba is a very rich country - rich in health care, education, innovation, music, culture, spirit and of course the people. As material goods can be scarce, I gathered together some items to take with me on my trip. I had bicycle parts, a guitar, guitar strings, reeds for saxophones and clarinets, school supplies, a lap-top computer, memory sticks, and some clothing. The latter was given to me, very generously, by Hemp & Co.

I was not staying in one of the famous Cuban resorts, but I was with the people of the country. Most of the people I met were connected to the University, and many of them were people I met through Daimes. Often, well meaning folk take supplies to Cuba to give away, and they end up giving them to the staff at the resorts. These people have easy access to most of the stuff given to them, and if they do not use it themselves, it is often sold to other Cubans for a substantial profit. I wanted to deliver my items directly to the end users, and usually folk who do not have much direct access to tourists. When it came to the items that were from Hemp & Co., Daimes and I looked for a place where there was some real need. Daimes, or me for that matter, is not religious. However, she thought that a church would be the best place to donate, as they usually had the best access to poorer people.


Two doors from Daimes's house, was a neighbour who attended on a regular basis, a Baptist gathering. We went over to visit this lady and I told her (with Daimes's help) what I had and what I wanted to do. The lady was interested, and she said that she would talk to her pastor about it. A couple of days later, the pastor and the neighbour lady, came over to Daimes's place, had a look at what I had, and they were delighted. So, we took the clothing over to the church . The four of us (the pastor, the lady, Daimes and I) put the clothing out onto a table for display. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the next day, after their church service, some of the poorer folk were going to be invited in to see what they liked, what fitted them and then take it away. The pastor was most appreciative. I made a point of telling them that the gift was not from me, as it had all been given to me to give away to Cuban people who were in need.

Even though, through the regular system, everyone in Cuba is assured of food and accommodation, there are still some folk who are in more need than others. I am sure that the items all found a good home. I am most appreciative to Hemp & Co. for helping me to help others in a materially poor country who need help themselves. Thank you Hemp & Co.

For anyone who might be interested, the folk at the Universidad de Ciego de Ávila would love to have more contact with groups an organisations in Canada, and in particular in Victoria. Areas of particular interest are eco-tourism, cycling, organic urban agriculture, music and culture. The university is about 10km from the centre of the city, in the country-side. Ciego de Ávila is the name of one of the provinces of Cuba and the main centre and capital is the city of the same name. The city, Ciego de Ávila is about 425km east of Havana. The largest airport in the area is located at Caya Coco, about 95km from the city. There are flights from Toronto and Montréal directly to Caya Coco but unfortunately there are no direct flights from Western Canada.