For many, the island of Cuba brings up
images of tropical beaches, classic cars, cigars
and Havana Club rum. Although Cuba is a
popular tourist destination, especially for
Canada which has over a million tourists
travel to the island each year, travelling to
Cuba on a volunteer work brigade is an
experience that goes far beyond
any regular vacation!
With the Che Guevara
Volunteer Work Brigade, one
gets to see Cuba for themselves
and make their judgments from
firsthand experience. This year,
the two-week brigade was from
April 22 to May 6. In its 26th year
, it was made up of 23 people from
across Canada, including youth
to young at heart, and all ages in
between. The brigade is an annual project
of the Canadian Network of Cuba, alongside
the Cuban organization, the Cuban Institute
of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).
This year the Che Guevara Brigade was
hosted just outside of Havana, at ANAP’s
(the National Association of Small Farmers)
Niceto Perez Garcia Camp in the small rural
town of Güira de Melena. The brigade also
spent a few days in the beautiful and historic
central Cuban city of Camagüey. Alongside
the experience of being with the Che
Guevara Brigade, we were also incorporated
into the larger May 1st brigade of almost 300
brigadistas from 32 countries. Every day we
learned a bit more about not only Cuba, but
also about the brigadistas home countries of
Congo, Whales, Vietnam, Denmark, Chile,
United States and many countries in between!
The volunteer aspect is different from year to
year, and this year it was primarily harvesting
sweet potatoes under the
direction of Cuban farmers. This experience
is the chance to learn about the lives and work
of Cuban farmers, their methods of organic
agriculture, and about cooperative farming in
Cuba!
Of course, a highlight of the trip was
participating in Cuba’s May 1st, International
Workers Day. May 1st is a day of both
celebration and struggle for working people
around the world. In Cuba, May Day, or
Primero de Mayo, is an experience like none
other. In Cuba, where the highest honour
one has is that of being a worker, May 1st
is a day of celebration and revolutionary
pride, encompassing the entire population of
Cuba. The Che Guevara Brigade alongside
the May 1st International Brigade was
able to participate from Havana’s Plaza of
the Revolution, where we witnessed over
one million people marching with their
homemade signs or workplace banners, united
to celebrate International Workers Day!
The following day the brigade participated in
the annual international solidarity conference
in Havana, again alongside international
guests expressing their solidarity with Cuba
and representing different struggles around
the world.
After seeing all that Cuba stands for and is
building within their society, we all go home
understanding that Cuba is under attack and
we have a responsibility to defend the Cuba
that we have grown to love and respect. We
now have our first-hand knowledge to combat
the lies we hear about Cuba in the mainstream
media. When we are protesting the U.S.
blockade on Cuba and demanding the U.S.
return Guantanamo to Cuba, it is with a
deeper understanding of how these struggles
impact Cuba on a day-to-day basis. But don’t
take our word for it – 2019 is coming up soon,
and we hope it will be the year you travel to
Cuba on the Che Guevara Volunteer Work
Brigade!
Janine Solanki on Twitter: @janinesolanki
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