SAVE MOTHER EARTH
FROM BEING OVER DEVELOPED
WE ARE
C.O.T.E. “CHILDREN OF THE EARTH”
Rick’s Santiago Cyber Café
presents: page 2 of 12
The Roads to
2002
and 2003 we stayed outside Santiago de Cuba at the Hotel Los Corales Club Amigo
resort and we usually rode a bicycle every morning from 9 to 11 am and visit
the small towns in the area. After our morning bicycle rides we would go to the
beach for a swim followed by a visit to “Roberto’s beach bar” for a cold beer.
Roberto has more bar stunts than you see in the movies and is a very chatty and
personable fellow, he would serve us our all inclusive drinks with exuberance
and flair because we put a $1 bill in his tip glass once every couple of days.
Like most Cuban bartenders, waiters and other workers in the tourist industry
Roberto makes only a basic Cuban wage of about $300 Canadian a year and relies
on tips to buy extras such as decent clothing, hair care products, toothpaste,
a TV set or a fan.
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Roberta
the beach bartender dancing on the beach- Hotel Los Corales 2003 – Santiago
de Cuba |
Roberto
the beach bartender with Diane- Hotel Los Corales 2003– Santiago de Cuba |
The area around the Hotel Los
Corales
The
3 small towns of Siboney, Seguay and Baconao are all worth a visit as well as
the artist communities of Oasis and Communidad Artisica Verraco. All these
communities are along a beautiful well paved coastal highway and it takes about
11/2 hours by car from Santiago de Cuba one way or 3 hours for a return trip.
Take a few more hours to stop and talk to some of the locals and the artists
and you will be glad you took the time to tour this area of Cuba. Siboney is
the hometown of Compay Segundo one of the former members of the Buena Vista
Social Club, Compay Segundo was born in 1907 and he came from a the lineage of
traditional trova singers in Santiago de Cuba – the cradle of the son and
bolero. There have been many trovadores but Compay Segundo was a myth, a living
legend. In France Compay Segundo’s song “Chan chan” is so popular that when
they make a toast, instead of saying “Chin chin” they say “Chan chan”. The song “Chan chan” made Compay Segundo
world famous. On the outskirts of Siboney is the Siboney Farm, this
famous farm house served as the pre revolution headquarters of Fidel Castro and
his small band of revolutionaries and it was chosen as the staging point by the members of
the command that was to attack the Moncada Garrison on July 26. “We will be free men or martyrs” were
Castro’s last words before setting off to attack the Moncada Barracks. Today
the farm is a museum and the ‘Granga Siboney’ as it is now known was declared a
National Monument. It is located beside the Museum of War on the outskirts of
Siboney.
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The
beaches in Cuba vary in their quality with the higher cost all-inclusive hotels
usually being on the best beaches. Most Cuban tourists will say Veradero has
the best beaches and hotels on the Island. We’ve been to Veradero and the
beaches are great BUT we wanted something more than just a beach vacation. We
wanted to get out amongst the Cuban people, walk the streets, visit the Cuban
stores, hotels, bakeries, restaurants, go to a children’s hospital, visit some
schools and explore the culture of Cuba by visiting it’s museums, art
galleries, churches, old buildings and parks. As far as we are concerned one of
the best places to do this is in Santiago de Cuba.
The
first time we went into Santiago de Cuba was on a Friday morning and it just
happened to be March 8, 2002 - International Womens Day. Diane and I were amazed to learn that Cubans
really celebrate this day and we watched as countless people passed by us
carrying large cakes. We had arranged to meet Judith who worked at our hotel,
the meeting place was at one of the usual bus stops the hotel workers get off
at in the city. She escorted us to 3 museums, to a school for children with
learning disabilities, to Park Cesepedes, Hotel Casa Grande and showed us
around some of the streets of Santiago de Cuba.
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Diane
and Judy on the roof of the Casa Grande - Santa Iglesia Basilica
was built in 1532 is in background- Santiago de Cuba 2002 |
Santa
Iglesia Basilica in front Parc Cesepedes- Santiago de Cuba 2002 |
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Diane
and Judy waiting for the bus in Park Cesepedes- Santiago de Cuba 2002 |
Musicians
playing at Plaza Marte- Santiago de Cuba 2002 |
In
2002 on our second visit into Santiago de Cuba on Saturday morning of the
following week we again took the hotel workers bus which is a 1950 era Canadian
donated Bluebird bus manufactured in Brampton, Ontario. They are very old and
you get the idea that they break down on a regular basis and when the bus
drives around some of those sea side curves it makes you a little nervous. The
bus is always crammed to capacity and the hotel workers were always happy to
have us aboard and kept us entertained with their antics and jovial behavior.
We were supposed to meet another employee of the Hotel but somehow we managed
to miss connecting with him - this is Cuba and sometimes people get delayed or
sidetracked. We got off the bus in the city at Plaza de Marta which is a very
nice Square where crowds of men argue passionately for hours about baseball and
school children with their parents come to meet friends. A colorfully dressed
heavy set black woman was selling long soft homemade candy rolls which look
like a hotdog wiener to kids and on the other side of the square some local
musicians were playing for the locals. The very few tourists stood out in the
crowd like sore thumbs and were immediately set upon by people offering to take
you for a taxi ride, or other people asked for personal items. Thankfully there
is a large police presence in the area so nobody gets aggressive. We met 2 young
men aged about 25 they both were going to college - Morris speaks 5 languages
and Donut is a former boxer who was going to university to be a youth fitness
instructor. We made arrangements for them to guide us around but we first
wanted to rest and watch the goings on in the square, they said no problem and
for us to just come to where they were standing when we were ready to leave the
square. They say they will guide you around and show you the sights and it is
up to you if you want to give them something as a gift or present. After a few
minutes we took a seat in front of the band and listened to them for a very
pleasant hour. All this time we were never bothered again and when any street
hustlers approached us they were told by our Cuban guides to back off and the
encroachers immediately did. When we left the square we told Morris and Donut
that we wanted to go to a children’s hospital as we had something to take
there, Morris wanted to know what it was we had because he and his child both
have asthma. Since he and Donut were both smoking I asked them not to smoke
near us as we both didn't smoke and that we didn't have anything for asthma and
my suggestion to them both would be to stop smoking completely. They were very
obliging.
I
stay away from talking politics and explained we were only interested in
helping children and to help to relieve the suffering of others. After much
walking and observing the general living conditions of the local people, we
could actually see into many peoples homes as they were out on the streets with
their front doors open. The children were also in the streets playing with
spinning tops, playing soccer and with homemade bats and baseballs. We finally
got to the hospital and when you compare them to Canadian standards it was a
very dimly lit sparsely furnished building but despite the condition of the
buildings the Cuban people receive some of the best medical care in the world
and it is free. Diane and I presented the director of the hospital with some
antibiotics, antibiotic cream, steroid cream and then returned to the hospitals
main reception area. A couple from Ottawa we had met while out on our bicycles
in Cuba had given us some eyeglasses and asked us to give them to people who
needed them, we gave these glasses and all our hair care products to the child
care workers and nurses. This caused quite a bit of excitement in the lobby. We
then visited Santiago’s large baseball stadium, its performing arts center and
Revolution Square. I bought Diane, myself and our guides some lunch and soft
drinks at an open air restaurant before we returned to Plaza de Marta Square.
Our guides introduced us to other young men and we gave everyone Canada pins
which they all prized very much and which they immediately put on their shirts.
We
spent some more time in the square listening to Cuban music and watching a
couple of 4 year old boys dancing to the music of the band, both boys had
picked up a large leaf off the ground and then they beat it against their hand
like it was some musical instrument. We gave our guides a gift for escorting us
around, they stayed with us for awhile then they bid us adios but kept their
eye on us until we got safely on the employee bus back to the hotel.
HUMANITARIAN AID TO CUBANS
Distributing anything in
I took 2 dozen t-shirts to
I only know of one organization that is working with Cubans but I'm sure
there are many more.
Masonic Relief for
I am a Canadian Freemason and many Cubans I have met have one family
member who is a Freemason. Freemasons help the entire community not just other
Freemasons and they have proven to be one of the most honest when it comes
to getting the goods to the people who need it the most. I have met 2 surgeons
in 2 different cities in
Here is a link to this Canadian Organization and you can give my name if
you contact them.
My name is Richard Snowdon,
http://nelsonking.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=30
If you read this page it will say the items that are most needed by
Cubans.
As you are aware over the counter non-prescription drugs are not
available due to the cost and prescription drugs are very difficult to obtain.
The average income for a Cuban is $20.00 - $25.00 per month, the cost
of aspirin or any drug is very expensive for them. There are 30,000
Regular Freemasons in
For the last 10 years Masonic Relief for
Cubans will take almost anything and they will be happy that you gave
them a gift.
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