However, from September 24-October 1 this year, 49 people from all over the U.S. sweated for a full 40 hours, side-by-side with workers from the Havana Parks & Sanitation Department and neighbors from local Committees for Defense of the Revolution (CDR), digging holes and assembling equipment.

They put up playgrounds in Las Madres Park in Cotorro, San Agustín Park in San Agustín, Antiguo Champagne Sport Park in Guanabacoa, and Santa Amalia Park in Arroyo Naranjo, building each in about a day and a half. "Part of the satisfaction of this is they see the results really fast," Hauf noted.

They also repaired swings and other playground equipment put up in 2003 in Regla, Plaza and Marianao. All of the park sites, chosen from a list provided by Havana city authorities, are in working-class neighborhoods full of children.

The U.S. volunteers came from 17 different states and all different backgrounds, ages 17-74. Many of them raised money for the project from family and friends. Joe Stolkovich, 28, a hospital lab technician from Baltimore, Maryland, had studied for a semester in Cuba in college, and said those who donated money included some of his former classmates.

As the week went by, volunteers made friends with neighbors who brought sandwiches and opened their houses to the volunteers when it rained.

Francisco Mathews, president of a CDR in Cotorro whose members worked on the park, commented, "They worked really well and until late, in spite of the sun." The U.S. volunteers, in turn, praised their Cuban hosts.

"I’ve never seen this much concrete get moved so fast," said Dan Casey, 29, a playground installation manager from Chicago. "They’re tireless, and they do everything with a smile on their face. They’re definitely the hardest-working people I’ve met."

Maritza Rosario, 32, works for the Chicago public schools system, teaching people how to design and build playgrounds. Originally from Hatillo, Puerto Rico, she says she felt right at home in Havana. "We make sure that even though this equipment is put together by volunteers, the quality is not lost, and everything is installed correctly."

During a September 29 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Cotorro, Ernesto Torres Vázquez, president of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power in Cotorro, commented, "They came with one goal in mind, and they made this dream come true – a very concrete one. We have never had this opportunity to work together in solidarity with 50 people from the United States."

John Cosentino, 36, a plumber from Salem, Massachusetts, agreed: "I love how the project is bridging the gap between Cuban and American people," he said. "It’s a wonderful country. I wish I could come here more often."

Forrest Stuart, 23, a political science major at American University in Washington, D.C., says he had read about Cuba before he came, but wasn’t sure how much of it was true, and was surprised at how warmly he and other volunteers were received by the Cubans. "The picture that’s painted for us in the U.S. is inaccurate in every way," he says. "I definitely want to come back."

Jerry Kallman, 74, came with his wife Lorraine, 63, from New Jersey. He had been in Cuba before, to organize the US Healthcare exhibition in 2000. "There’s a warmth and a joy here that’s very special, working together with the Cuban people," he commented, as Lorraine agreed. "We put in our sweat equity," he laughed.

The group’s license is good for another 18 months, and Hauf says they plan to be back soon.

"There are days I get stressed: so many people, two different cultures, two different governments," Bill comments. "But in the end, I see the smiling faces of the children, and feel really good."