The
source of my affections, the incredible fountain of love and tenderness, is no
doubt, my little island of Cuba.
11
of the provinces in Cuba suffered some form of damage from the Hurricane Irma,
a powerful category 5 storm.
The
solidarity and resilience of the Cuban people shone through.
What
is the strength the inhabitants have that helps them through calamities big and
small, continual or episodic?
For
a people who have very little material possessions, loosing that little is
traumatic but not unsurmountable, if you put in context of the value that is
held dear by the Cuban people, urban and rural.
Following
is a part of a letter I received yesterday from my good friend, who is a
Psychologist.
The medical student you are talking about is not poor; neither am I.
Poverty is a social condition that does not describe our situation very well.
We are humble, we have limitations with resources, many material shortcomings, we
need many things to live better, that are true, but we are not poor. Look at
her, she has the blessing of her parents, her dad works in an excellent company
and they have a nice family. She dresses very well, she looks very happy and
that indicates that she is very happy, I know that she lives a good family life
like most Cubans, with limitations but without starving. She is young, is
studying Medicine absolutely free of charge, she does not have to move away and
live in hospital accommodations, she can stay with her family while she is a
student, her parents are young and healthy, thus she is very fortunate, she is
a millionaire like me, because whoever has a good friend has a treasure with
them.
You are that treasure.
In
the western and capitalistic societies, every thing is measured in terms of
money, material wealth (Quantitative life), whereas not much time or attention is paid
to the genuine affections. (Qualitative life). (I tell my sister all the time: Time is the Greatest Gift. I am truly not impressed by workaholic managerial types of any nationality)
Octavio
Paz had written, others had mentioned that one can count the good friends in
fingers of one hand, that is one has less than five good friends in the West. (perhaps, one of the reasons, why people have hundreds of FaceBook friends, Dunbar number dictates that it is not possible to have more than about 120 "friends", according to research women are capable of more friends than men, so the number of Good Friends still is below 12 or 15, as is the case in Cuba)
In Cuba, I can count on at least 10 good friends and another hundred friends.
People ask me, why are you so obsessed with your life in Cuba, and I tell them:
Because that is where most of my friends live and that is the fountain of
affections for me.
I
am very much reminded of the American Indians with whom I work. Earlier on they
said: We are neither a minority nor poor, as we have a rich spiritual life. We
may be materially poor but we don’t consider ourselves poor. And there is a
strong sense of solidarity among them.
In
France, people have a sense of national feeling but not a sense of togetherness or happiness and even when they give gifts
to each other, it is almost like an obligation and a favour returned, one does
not feel the genuine solidarity or feeling of unity of a nation.
Cuba
is unique, has had a very special history in the last 60 years, for the first
time, Cuba has been sovereign and independent, not puppets of any one or
following orders from the metropolitan states. I feel that over the course of
the time, economic difficulties have made their hearts and souls malleable so
as to adopt themselves to the human need.
Even
conservative people in Cuba would be heard to say: This is a humane society.
The
world needs more places like CUBA, not just concentrate about places, which are making
great economic successes, such as Singapore, while the human aspects of living and giving are completely
neglected. Cuba has its pitfalls and it is up to the Cuban people to rectify
that in the manner of their choosing, but not imposed upon them from outside
individuals or powers.
I
am proud of my friends in Cuba.
