By Yaimi Ravelo. Latin American Summary, June 9, 2024.
Matanzas, June 7, 2024.- “We are what we do every day. So excellence is not an act, but a habit.”. Martí’s phrase appears in the theater of the Faustino Pérez Provincial Clinical-Surgical-Teaching Hospital of Matanzas.
The documentary “Where the Sunflowers Are” was supposed to be presented alongside La Colmenita de Tin Cremata, an injection of energy for those who work daily in the beautiful task of providing more life.
They and them; Doctors, doctors, nurses, boys and girls, pioneers, patients and family members, took the spotlight from the artists to turn a cultural activity into what was a day full of magic, a family day.
Hopefully the images that accompany these lines honor the joy that resounded in the Faustino Pérez Theater. Adults like children and children who were giants. Wherever the slightest difficulty appeared, there was a winged being providing solutions.
The documentary “Where are the sunflowers” directed by the young Bolivian-Cuban filmmaker Sergio Eguino Viera was presented in the hospital theater by Graciela Ramírez Cruz, head of the Cuban correspondent of Summary Latin American and producer of the audiovisual, together with Annalie Rueda Cardero , social communicator, web Master of the correspondent of Summary Latin American, who had the original idea.
Graciela Ramírez referred to the life stories that the film draws, “a luck to be with its protagonists, this time in Matanzas. We love this city, for its town, for Carilda, for its bay, and the proximity of its wonderful beaches. We have been in painful moments in this same hospital, together with Taymi, its young director, when they had to face enormous difficulties.
In the face of so much intentional propaganda about Cuban youth, focused on those who emigrate seeking economic improvements, we try to show through the lives of Dévorah, Danilo and Randy the other side that the biased press does not show. They are part of the hundreds of thousands who are here, who study, work, improve professionally, create and participate in transforming lives in their communities. That is why we think it is important to show the world the young people who live on the island, who are committed to it growing like sunflowers.”
Dévorah, Randy and Danilo are the Cubans who tell from their perspectives and their daily actions how they live and dream, how and what to do daily for those around us, how to find solutions from the collective space to transform what seemed impossible, even living in a country under an ossified blockade that his generation, that of his parents and grandparents, has been going through for more than 60 years.
In Matanzas, Dévorah and Randy jumped from the image projected in the theater to show live what they give away daily with their work.
She is an artist with great capacity who works with and for children from La Colmenita, that magical space of the Cuban Children’s Theater where she learned and grew. He, a delegate of Popular Power who works with and for her community. Danilo could not be present, but his restless soul was there, he brought tears, laughter and more than one reflection with his life story and the work he does in a vulnerable sector of Old Havana. They are among us, they were trained in Cuban schools, they dedicate themselves with passion and conviction to this Cuba to make it better.
The director of the hospital Taymí Martínez Naranjo, Deputy of the National Assembly of People’s Power and member of the Council of State, thanked La Colmenita for its actions and the documentary work of Summary Latinoamericano.
The young director also thanked the friends of Cuba who “hold the hand of the Cuban people in the moments when we need it most.” She remembered all the solidarity that Matanzas received when the Supertankers caught fire, a fact of deep sadness for the Cuban nation. There she recognized the fruitful work of those who make up the Cuban Red Cross in Matanzas.
The VARSOT Foundation of Chile, represented by Antonio Alonso, Rodrigo Devia and Marco González Urrutia, donated a wheelchair, photographic equipment, crutches and medications to the institution for the patients of the health institution in Matanzas.
The Swiss-Cuba Association Ticino section (ASC-TICINO) represented by Bárbara Iadevaia, member of the board of directors of the Confederation of Italians of the World, in Cuba; He also collaborated with his donations to the health of Cuban patients.
“We have to go to the depths of Martí, dive into Martí’s work,” said Tin Cremata, director of the La Colmenita Children’s Theater Company, “reflect the wonder that we find in Martí’s thought, a world similar to the one we have before us. the human beings who inhabit to make life an exceptional journey.”
Solidarity in constituency 78
Randy didn’t fit in his pride for his people shirt, and his people didn’t fit in the pride for Randy seats.
The 32-year-old delegate walks from one side to the other, you can see him asking, investigating, questioning, making sure that everything goes well in the activity of the 78th constituency.
They know all the heaven and earth that Randy has moved so that the streets have asphalt, public telephones, a Community Cultural House, that flowers grow and a small service office for the deaf people who make up the ANSOC, that everything is more beautiful is its premise.
Randy Perdomo is one of the protagonists of the documentary “Where are the sunflowers”, he is also one of the protagonists in his neighborhood.
Among his achievements, one of the most humane and beautiful within the District is the care for the deaf in his community, for grandparents, the sick and vulnerable people.
Randy’s feat was not only to identify a social problem, he mobilized and sensitized the population and local authorities to provide answers.
The delegate of constituency 78 realized the dream of this small deaf community, now more than raising their voice, they communicate and actively participate like others.
La Colmenita, a team from Summary Latinoamericano, the VARSOT Foundation, the Association, the ASC-Ticino and the Red Cross, arrived in this radically transformed community in the rain. Everyone, in different ways and at different times, has supported and collaborated with Randy so that it was possible to see this neighborhood transformed, not only the physical space, but also where the heart lives.
The Swiss-Cuba Association Ticino section (ASC-TICINO) is a Solidarity organization that is inspired by the same ideals of the Cuban Revolution, principles of solidarity, equality and fraternal cooperation between peoples.
For more than 50 years, l’ASC-Ticino supports the independence, dignity and sovereignty of Cuba and the Cuban people and works in close collaboration with the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples.
In the hands of their representative Bárbara Iadevaia, they delivered medicines to the Community Cultural House for more than 4,000 patients that comprise district 78 and the surrounding neighborhoods.
The VARSOT Foundation bears the initials of a Chilean mambí, General of the Liberating Army Vargas Sotomayor. This illustrious Chilean fought in the Cuban War of Independence, a sign of solidarity of the people of Chile with the Cuban cause long before the Triumph of the Revolution.
To honor the ties of historical brotherhood with the people of Cuba, this organization was officially founded in 2022 after several years of collaboration and solidarity of its members with the island.
Since its creation, VARSOT has brought medicines to the community, on this occasion a wheelchair, crutches and medical equipment of vital use for the office.
Latin American Summary and the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity to the People, under the direction of Graciela Ramírez, have also shown their solidarity in the most adverse moments.
In the Community House there are two small fans, one was donated by the Nous Barris-El Cerro Twinning of Barcelona and the other in the name of the dear Greek friend Babis Vorreas by the International Committee.
Everyone reminisced about Randy’s beginnings as a delegate, laughingly recounting the most diverse anecdotes, what seemed impossible to achieve are goals achieved that also honor the colleagues who are not physically present today and gave so much love to the delegate and his community, like the dear friend. Greek, Babis.
Randy remembers them all, appreciates the support of his constituents, entertains them publicly, there was his teacher, his professor, the president of the CDR, the doctor in the alley, the hairdresser and the neighbors. Mario Felipe Sabines Lorenzo, current Secretary of the PCC in Matanzas, and Governor Marieta Caridad Poey Zamora also arrived there.
Dévorah promised to return with La Colmenita to the neighborhood. Randy hugs and kisses everyone to show that love is necessary and only needs, like Sergio Eguino’s documentary, a little water and sun for the sunflowers to grow.
Where are the sunflowers premiered at the beginning of 2024 at the Fidel Castro Center, it exposes three life stories that wisely identify the daily problems and the capacity for resilience in current Cuban society. It is directed by the young Bolivian-Cuban director Sergio Eguino Viera, Master in Latin American and Caribbean Cinema from the University of the Arts (UA-ISA) and the New Latin American Cinema Foundation, and made together with the production team made up of Annalie Rueda Cardero , social communicator and Web Master of the Latin American Summary Correspondent in Cuba, the actress and Graduate in Historical Cultural Heritage Carolina González López, and the Master in psychology Liz Palmeiro
Photos Yaimi Ravelo
Source: Cuba in Summary
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