The group departed from Baltimore Washington International airport at 7am on Saturday, May 17th. Less than 3 hours later, we landed at Jose Marti International airport in Havana, where we were greeted by guides, curious onlookers and a cameraman from CNN. We were transported to our hotel, the Habana Libre in Vedado, we enjoyed a welcome mojito, a quick lunch and then we visited the largest of the new playground sites, located across the Habana Harbor in Regla.

Then, we went to the warehouse in Marianao, where the three crates of playground equipment had been delivered 2 weeks earlier. We spent the afternoon unpacking the equipment that had been purchased for Regla. The following day, the volunteers pre-assembled as much of the equipment as possible. Some members of the group went to the playground site to assist the Cuban volunteers to dig the holes.

Over the next few days, the volunteers installed the equipment in Regla, and also unpacked, pre-assembled the equipment purchased for one of the other sites in Plaza. By Friday afternoon, we were ready to open the playground in Regla. At the opening ceremony, we were greeted by hundreds of Regla locals and residents of other towns that had heard about the project. The children performed dances and song recitals and the entire area was overflowing with people celebrating.

The founder of It’s Just The Kids, Inc, Bill Hauf, cut a red ribbon in front of the playground gate, and hundreds of children poured into the playground to try out the new equipment. It truly was an incredible event to witness. Later that evening, we celebrated with the new Cuban friends and workers that we had met and toiled side-by-side with all week. We departed the next day, on Saturday May 24, to return to Baltimore with many fond memories of an experience that was moving and humbling.

We were unfortunate to run out of time to open the playground in Plaza and Marianao. Before we left Cuba, the equipment was assembled in Plaza and after we left, the Cuban workers poured the concrete and put down the sand fill. Just recently, the Cuban workers completed the playground in Marianao. The opening ceremonies for both playgrounds were attended by the It’s Just The Kids, Inc founder, Bill Hauf.