| Women |
|
The Cuban women were strong and wonderful, as were the women on our delegation.
Our guide/translator was Tatianna. She was a wonderful English teacher who also works in the tourism industry providing us with a professional service spiced with her personal insights and family experience.
Our contact with the Cuban Institute for Friendship with
the Peoples of the World was Rita Olga. Rita was fully familiar with the
US as she has been there many times, even Chicago.
We were welcomed in the conference and were pleased to find strong women holding up positions of leadership both in the administrative offices as well as at the mike speaking and chairing sessions.
When we went to visit a privately owned urban farm in Havana we were met by a women who owns it jointly with her husband
When we went to the neighborhood called the
"little Sierra Maestra" because of its militant role in the revolutionary
process it was the women who took the lead and the young girls who danced
and performed for us.
Finally, at the conference the workers most served by the discussions and working sessions were the librarians. In Cuba, as in the USA, the librarian is more often than not a women.
On our delegation we had many strong women as well.
Kate Williams was our advance person who set up our
trip.
Aysha was the veteran activist who gave us a foundation.
Pauline was full of excitement and inspiration as she was our librarian in
discovery of her hemispheric peers.
Michelene McGreevy was perceptive in linking our work in Toledo to some
programs we visited in Cuba, especially the activities of everyday life.
Debby Hamilton was empowered in discovering that it was possible to be a leader in a socialist society and still be a Christian.
Our visit to the Martin Luther King Center was cherished
[ Home ]
Africana Studies Dept, The
University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio 43606
Phone: (419) 530-7252 Fax: (419) 530- E-Mail: AAlkali@UTNet.UToledo.Edu