|
By Emily Carle (she/her), Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Our theme for yesterday must have been political history because we got a large dose of it! We began our day with a guided tour of the Fidel Castro Center (Centro Fidel Castro Ruz - CFCR). Castro was clear that he did not want any idolatry created in his memory after he passed, so the Center is not necessarily a museum. (It is also because of this request that there are no statues of Castro in Cuba or schools named after him, etc). At the CFCR, we learned about Castro’s life, saw pictures of him from childhood to his elder years, watched clips of his speeches, learned about Cuban international affairs, and even saw the car he used to drive around the country with. While we were there, a Russian diplomatic delegation was visiting as well! Popular place. Before we stopped for lunch, we visited the city of Miramar to find the childhood home of WSCF delegate Emerson’s grandfather (Papi). He was born in Havana and lived in nearby Miramar until age 13. We found the house, and it was so special to experience this moment with Emerson After lunch we went to the Memorial de la Denuncia which showcased and memorialized the tragedies against Cubans that occurred over the last 60 years from foreign powers. Over 3000 Cubans have been killed. We learned about Operation Peter Pan, biomedical warfare, assassination attempts against Castro, and media manipulation against Cuba. It was a very emotionally heavy but important visit. After, we swung by the Muraleando, which reminded me of The Heidelberg Project in Detroit or the Hundertwasser in Vienna Austria. It is an artist space that used to be a dump, and before that, a water tower. In 2009, the original muralists transformed it into a beautiful building covered in paintings and sculptures. It is now a collective for artistic folks to teach free classes on ceramics, theater, music, drawing, painting, and more. We had the opportunity to purchase art by some of the artists! I got a painted cigar box :). Charles Shultz’s son came once and painted a portrait of Snoopy on the wall! Today was also the day we packaged up our medical donations for the Cuban people, and the Movimiento Estudiantil Cristiano de Cuba (MEC-C) was blown away by how much we brought. The items will be distributed to Cuban people by MEC-C. For dinner, we had classic rice and beans, and I think it was everyone’s favorite meal of the day. Can’t go wrong with comfort food!
0 Comments
By Claire Kim (she/her), Underground Seminary Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read this update and for all of your prayers and support! Yesterday, we arrived safely in Varadero and drove to our lodging at the Presbyterian Church of Luyanó in Havana. We watched the sunset from the Christ of Havana National Monument (built 1958) which sits on a hill across the bay overlooking the city. It is as if Jesus is watching over the city and people of Havana with his love and protection. After dinner, we headed to the Cuban Art Factory, which opened some ten years ago as an arts and music venue after being converted from an old oil refinery. We took an Afrobeats dance lesson(!) and then explored the art galleries and many concert rooms with different artists who were performing that night. This morning, we visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Havana, where we attended a lecture from Joel Suarez, son of Rev. Raul Suarez who in 1991, through organizing work and meetings with Fidel Castro, helped remove the requirement of being atheist in order to join the communist party. Prior to this, Castro did not recognize the role of faith in Cuba’s revolution, and those who believed were excluded from certain types of education, careers, and leadership positions. We learned about the history of Cuban Christians and churches’ relationship with the revolution and the power of testimony in changemaking, including changing Castro’s opinions on religion over time. It was a powerful and empowering morning. In the afternoon, we visited Habana Compas Dance, a dance company that weaves together percussion and dance in the same choreography. Spanish and African dance and music styles were blended together to create a uniquely Cuban style and sound that were incredible to witness. Afterwards, several of us participated in a competition to copy the instructor’s rhythm on the drums, and Kiegan and I were the last ones standing! As prizes, we were gifted a Cuban-style clave (percussive instrument) and an African-style clave! We then visited Revolution Square where Jose Marti’s monument stands, a leader in the movement for Cuban independence from Spain in the late 19th century. We also took pictures with some beautiful 1950s-style cars. Then we attended a celebration in honor of International Trans Day of Remembrance hosted by the Masculine Trans Group of Cuba of Enriqueta Favez, a Swiss woman who dressed as a man in order to study medicine and then went to Cuba and worked as a male surgeon for four years before being found out as a woman. Now we are on our way to visit the National Hotel! More soon!
The WSCF Trustees are saddened by the death of our long-time friend and colleague, Rev. Jim Palm. Jim first worked with the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines as chaplain at Silliman University and served for over 30 years on the Board of the WSCF Trustees.
You can find further memorium information in the recent Federation News published by WSCF Geneva on page 18. |
WSCF BlogOccasional updates on WSCF happenings and important updates. Archives
June 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed