Las Tunas.- Nelva Rosario and the boys who make up the first Pre-University graduation in Las Tunas have a beautiful love story. It intertwines beyond the sea, time, nostalgia… and every time they hug, in their eyes you discover that sacred mixture that is the result of complicity and enjoyment.
Therefore, whenever she or one of her students invites me to participate in the meetings they hold to “catch up and rekindle nostalgia,” I adjust my agendas and join, even for a few minutes, the festival of smiles, anecdotes and mischief. that they savor with so much delight.
A few days ago we experienced such an occasion. The director called them to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first high school graduation that Las Tunas had.
They did the most serious part of the evening at the now Vicente García provincial museum, the place where they trained as high school students because, in those early years, their halls were classrooms.
They arrived dispersed. Some came from work, others brought their grandchildren by the hand and there were those who laughed out loud, just seeing each other, because memory always refreshes their memories together.
They settled in the main room, which for them is nothing other than the chemistry laboratory, and waited, still, for teacher Nelva to enter, escorted by Rafael Hernández and Carlos Tamayo, who, very quietly, said to his teacher : “You are a rose between two thorns.”
But she didn’t listen to him. In that minute, her 86 years of well-lived life weighed like centuries and the teacher’s vision was lost, between the faces of her boys, now grown, and the remembrances of the times in which she helped forge the wonder of Pre-University Education. on this balcony.
They were silent to listen to her and repeated: “Present!” every time the name of one of the group’s companions who are no longer here was mentioned, because death, meager and unforeseen, has taken them away.
Nelva told them “thank you” many times; She also encouraged them: “Embrace life and the happiness of existence,” and she recalled for them the ardor of that perseverance that opened the door to the classrooms for them.
“It was Monday, October 4, 1971 when classes began. I remember that there were eight teachers to teach all the subjects, and that most of us came from Cucalambé secondary school.
“One of those teachers (Nirma Sánchez Agramonte) also served as teaching secretary and we did not have a director; because the proposal was Emilio Rosales, who was a teacher at the Holguín pedagogical school, still waiting to be released to assume responsibility here.
“We stood at the door to receive the boys on the first day of school, and I remember that the number was well below the more than 200 that the Ministry of Education in Cuba required to begin. You were just a handful, but a golden one, and each one was worth fighting for. That’s how we did it.”
Nelva told them about the setbacks, about the trip to Santiago de Cuba to meet with the Eastern Provincial Directorate, do an analysis and obtain approval for the operation of the pre in the territory of Tunas-Puerto Padre. And from that defeat.
He told them that it was Faure Chomón who then left for Havana to speak in person with the Minister of Education, José Ramón Fernández; and thus approval was obtained. And there were no premises, teachers, furniture, but everything came together with effort and the steel determination of Commander Mediavilla.
The faces began to harden, some were tearful and others continued to snoop around among those present until they found the smile of their friend from the classroom, the one who at their side did either a play or some of those pranks that made school time more bearable. from school to the countryside, or the many productive activities they carried out.
They talked about teacher Eduardo Barciela Hidalgo and the days when, from his sick bed, he gave the Spanish instructor, Carlos Tamayo, in the morning the classes that he had to teach in the afternoon without fuss or distractions.
They gave flowers to Vicente García and José Martí, they remembered together the park bench on which they sat then to coo over everything possible about the future and they got together to share a drink or a sweet afterwards; with the joy of being the first Pre-University graduation in Las Tunas and celebrating 50 years of the day they received their degrees, plump.
It was nice to see their hugs, the anecdotes they told very quietly, because they still keep valuable secrets between them and they received, from the WhatsAppthe complicit face of those in the group who, now in other latitudes, did not want to be left out of the party.
It was one of the many memorable days they have lived together, proud of the firm steps they took and today they look forward to the future.
