Lessons for Life from Cuba

As educational activities go, traveling deserves high marks for its ability to broaden our understanding of the world, and ourselves, in profound ways. Traveling to Cuba, a land shrouded in mystery for many of us in the US, may be the quintessential learning experience. This island nation of 11 million sits just 90 miles off the Florida coast, yet aside from a young boy named Elián González, we know so little about these close neighbors. When I asked a handful of people to do a quick "word association" game--to spontaneously list the first words that came to mind around the name Cuba--I heard these responses: "Castro, cigars, communism, poverty, primitive, Cuban Missile Crisis, refugees, boat people." This would certainly have been my own response before visiting Cuba, and represents, I believe, the view of Cuba held by many in this country. This is not surprising, given the US travel ban and economic, political, and media embargo against Cuba in place for more than four decades.

This past February, I had the great privilege of visiting Cuba with 24 other individuals from across the US on a Witness for Peace delegation. A national organization with eight regional sections around the country, Witness for Peace is a "politically independent, grassroots organizationŠcommitted to nonviolence" with the following mission: "To support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing US policies and corporate practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean. We stand with people who seek justice." Our group was in Cuba to listen and learn, to experience daily life, and to understand the impact of the US embargo on the Cuban people. In terms of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, my journey to Cuba highlighted some of the essential processes for working through conflict from the interpersonal to the international level.

Disputes between individuals or nations often involve a breakdown in communication and understanding, in which each "side" clings to its own version of the situation and cannot or will not hear the other's story. As I mentioned above, I began my trip with certain preconceptions about Cuba and its people and with limited knowledge of US-Cuba relations during the 20th century. I half expected to see a paranoid, repressed population wandering hopelessly through the streets of Havana. Castro, communism, poverty, primitive, refugeesŠ. Fortunately, this trip challenged all of us on the delegation to be open-minded and openhearted, to at least temporarily suspend our own "Americanized" view of Cuba and to carefully listen to the Cuban people tell "their" version of the story. Toward that end, our group engaged in conversations with many Cuban people--doctors, teachers, government representatives, ordinary citizens, farmers, musicians, religious leaders, and others.
We witnessed the resourcefulness and resilience of the Cuban people, their pride in their health care, education, religion, housing, community development, child care, and other social institutions, their concerns about the ongoing conflict with the US, and their recognition of the need for economic and political reforms. "The current system is not perfect, not complete," acknowledged Dr. José Ramón Vidal, former professor of communications at the University of Havana, "but it's Œour' system and we will continue to improve. We will not go back to corruption, poverty, high unemployment, and the end of our independence" [i.e., life in Cuba before the 1959 revolution]. Others we spoke with who had lived in Cuba both before and after the revolution expressed a similar sentiment: despite hardships, their lives are better now since the revolutionary changes of 1959, which was and continues to be a movement that is focused on meeting people's needs. [It's also important to note that some Cubans do not see themselves as better off and blame the current system for their situation.]

Of course, perspective-taking offers the greatest opportunity for growth and understanding as a two-way process: in addition to learning so many important things about the Cuban people (including "unlearning" stereotypes and misinformation), I also had the humbling experience that one can only gain from stepping outside one's own culture and society--seeing oneself (seeing myself, seeing my country) from the Cuban perspective. I felt welcomed and respected as a US citizen at all times while I was in Cuba, and I heard some thoughtful and even painful comments (though none were said with bitterness or malice) on certain US policies and structures, such as:

• that Guantanamo Naval Base is the only military base in the world maintained against the will of the host country, maintained "as a knife in the heart of Cuba";
• that our US belief that one cannot oppose the Cuban government is an untrue "obsession" created and fueled by the US media. [In reality, "honest" dissidents--i.e., those not funded by the US government or other groups to undermine the Cuban system--have the right to organize and express their opposition, although not without restrictions];
• that American "liberal democracy" means that political parties change and presidents change, but conditions stay the same for the poor;
• that the US is a nation of money and consuming, and Cuba is a "nation of sacrifice," or, as expressed by Reverend Raul Suarez, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Havana and a deputy in the Cuban National Assembly, "We [Cubans] live by an ethic of being, not having."

  Clearly, the Cuban and US political and economic systems differ in some fundamental ways. Yet in the end, the greatest lesson for me, in terms of peacebuilding and conflict resolution between "enemies," revolves around the wonderful similarities between the people of Cuba and the US. (Interestingly, the word "enemies" may sound like an exaggeration, but, in fact, if a US citizen travels "illegally" to Cuba--that is, without a US government license--and spends even one penny there, he/she risks prosecution for violating the US Trading with the Enemy Act.) Wherever we went, we met friendly, helpful people who work hard each day, who care deeply about their families, who have concerns about their society, who dream about a better future, who eat, dance, pray, cry, and laugh just like we do.

  I will never forget our visit to the Cartula Music School in the Marianao neighborhood of Havana. This highly competitive, public institution (i.e., open to all who qualify, and free to all who attend) specializes in voice and instrument training for 251 students between the ages of 8-14. Many students honored us with performances on flute, guitar, piano, drums, violin, and song. As we entered the school, I noticed a plaque above the door with the following words engraved on it: Amar, Tolerar, Responsabilidad, Respeto, Honestidad, Patriotismo, Honradez, Solidaridad--Love, Tolerance, Responsibility, Respect, Honesty, Patriotism, Integrity, Solidarity. This Cuban educational philosophy sounds remarkably similar to the core values underlying Maine's Common Core of Learning and the Guiding Principles of the Maine Learning Results, and most recently highlighted by the Maine Commission for Ethical and Responsible Student Behavior.

  As we were leaving the Cartula School, the director said goodbye to us with these words: "Come back, because this is now your home." In the span of a few hours, we had become one family. Our differences had faded into the background as we all--citizens of Cuba and the US alike--enjoyed the beautiful sounds of children making music. We all learned an important truth that day, as the poet Maya Angelou emphasizes in her wonderful piece, Human Family: "We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike." Neighbors, enemies, friends, teachers, parents, children, human family.

  
  (Note: As someone pointed out to me, we often use the word "American" thinking we are the only ones with a claim to that name. However, all citizens of "The Americas"--including folks in Central and South America--are every bit American as we are. Therefore, "US citizen" is probably a better choice in terms of being less ethnocentric and more clear, and I have tried to use this term whenever possible.)

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