IMPRESSIONS FROM HAVANA

For a week in mid-May 2003, I was part of a group organized to install playground equipment at three parks in Havana, Cuba. A California businessman had worked several years to get the necessary US license to travel there and to acquire the necessary resources and people for the project. We worked at the playground sites along side Cuban workers for 6 days, from 8 am to 5 pm, and completed two of the three sites. There were 60 Americans, about half of whom could speak Spanish (not including me), from fluent to "get along". Most were young folks in their 20s and 30s.

Although I have spent longer time in Uganda and elsewhere in the developing world, never have I had such a good opportunity to observe and be a part of intense work day interactions with locals - officials, security people, party people, workers, children, neighborhood citizens, etc. It was an eye-opener.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable, enlightening and satisfying trip. I felt that the playgrounds we left behind will definitely have a positive impact on the lives of the kids in these neighborhoods.

Mickey East
May 2003