The agenda today is to start off by visiting Caritas Havana. Let me explain. I mentioned Caritas Cubana. Caritas Cubana oversees the operations of the Caritas operations in all of Cuba. Every diocese has a Caritas organization. There are 11 dioceses in Cuba. Our primary contact with Caritas Cubana is Maritza Sanchez. She monitors and directs outside donations to the individual Caritas operations which have their own projects and volunteers. Each diocese has their own Caritas operation that establishes their own programs. The individual Caritas organization are under the auspices of the diocesan Bishop but Caritas Cubana oversees them when it comes to delegating outside funds. Is that as clear as mud?
This morning we visited one of their day care operations. It is located near a cathedral and works with pre-school children. Children in Cuba can go to government elementary schools but pre-school is not supported by the government. Therefore, mothers with children that need to work, have nowhere else to turn to than a charitable organization the will help them out. Usually, that turns out to be a church based organization. Here is a photo:
From there we went to a day care center in one of the worst, most violent slums in Havana. It is a place where drug and alcohol abuse is prevent. Again, school aged children can go to a government school but mothers with pre-school kids have nowhere to turn. This school is set up to take care of children of mothers that either have a job or are going to school. Here are a few photos of the day car center:
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Children singing a song for us.
A kid brushing his teeth on his own.
The toothbrushes and towels lined up for the kids.
Again, this is a terrible slum. The people that run the school tell us that the children come to them with a “hard look”. They have seen a lot at a young age and are already jaded. It is a tough job to draw them in and give them a different perspective but that’s what needs to happen.
One of our guides/translators also told us about the drug situation in the slum. There is a drub called “Achis” that is some sort of resin. It is a poor man’s drug. Because it is cheap and otherwise unknown it is a problem.
Just to avert you attention, here’s a photo of a street dog in this slum:
