« on: April 25, 2008, 09:50:32 PM »
The following are all rumrunners post from the recent DCF trip to cuba
Day 1 threw week twoDCF trip to Cuba Days 1 and 2 ( Las Tunis)Dubois Charitable Foundation Trip to Cuba 2008, Day 1 and 2
We flew with Sunwing into Holguin on March 22 landing at about 8:45. Had a very pleasant flight with Sunwing, a small glass of Champagne shortly after take off followed by a choice of pasta or chicken and red or white wine.
Upon landing at Holguin, I had a problem with Cuban Immigration. The majority of people who go through the Holguin airport do so on a Tourist Visa but we were traveling on special visas issued by the Cuban embassy in Ottawa. Well, it seems that Holguin is a training area for immigration officers and the poor young girl on the desk when I went to had no idea what to do with me. After about 20 min of discussions as to whether we had the correct Visas and convincing them that they were issued by Cuban so if they are wrong it is not our fault, and explaining what we do and why we were there, they finally smiled and let us all through and thanked us for the work we do…. Next time I will not be the first one to go through. I Should say that the arguing was not done by me as other then ordering drinks my Spanish is limited.
A long very bumpy bus ride to Playa Covarrubias… Road was very bad 2.5 hours to go what should have been just over an hour. Stayed at Villa Covarrubias s for 2 nights with Sunday being a down day for just relaxing. Saw a small ( about dinner plate) Ray about 5 ft off the beach and later walking along the shore line came across a fellow spear fishing and he had several fish as well as a large Morey eel.
Tour on Monday was into Las Tunis Visiting 2 Circulo Infantil (Kindergarten/day care Schools) (huge upper) as well as a home for the physically and mentally disabled, some severely, (huge downer) and an Orphanage.
The Kids at the first school put on quite a show for us when we arrived then we talked to the director and the teachers about the things we had sent and what there further needs were. Had a great time with the children… many of them wanted their picture taken and then wanted to see it… it was such fun. We then went to a second school that was under repair so there were no children there at that time. These schools are quite different from our Day Cares, in that they are teaching the children life skill already at that age. They had several areas set up to mimic different parts of life (and so much of it was made out of paper mache) there was a store, complete with produce and a checkout counter and cash register, a kitchen with sink and stove and numerous pots and pans… including a pressure cooker, a small office with paper mache computer and a hospital room with a cot set up and paper mache bottles of Blood and plasma hanging beside it. (These kids will not be afraid if they have to go to the Dr)
At lunch time we visited an Orphanage, which is more like a foster home. There are very few orphanages and orphans in Cuba as when child losses their parents they tend to get cared for by other family members, they only end up in an orphanage if there are no other family members around.
The Orphanage has a Momma and Papa as well as a cook and social worker assigned to it. The children stay there until the have completed school and some even well beyond that.
We had Lunch served to us in the back yard of the Orphanage and were surprised to see that the Lunch was prepared by the 2 of the chefs from the Villas Covarrubias which was about 1.5 hours away by our bus. Both of them were on their day off and had volunteered to cook for us. We were entertained by a band made up of neighbors from the area around the Orphanage. ( as 2 of them were playing Guitars I was able to give them a couple of sets of the Guitar strings that I had taken with me .. they were very thankful, I only wish I had taken a set of strings to the fellow who was playing the bass)
After lunch we visited the Hospital for the physically and mentally handicapped. They had a wide range of patients from those only moderately affected to many in a vegetative state, this visit had a much different tone to it then at the day care, but it was important to check on the goods we had seen and from the comments of the others who had been there last year there was a huge difference especially in the beds that we sent. We also sent a night table with each bed but the Director explained that the patients could not us them due to their disabilities, so many were being used in the offices as filing cabinets
Our next stop was a small school for mentally challenged youth located in the country outside of Las Tunas. These kids also put on a show for us before we look around the school.
I final stop was at a community park to meet the community association, they also put on a show and gave us refreshments.
We then headed off to our next base of operation Santa Lucia, also a very nice resort with a great buffet and several good bars …. Did not get a chance to check out the beach or pool due to very heavy rain when we got there Just had supper and a few drinks ( Ok quite a few) then off to bed to be ready for the next day.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2008, 10:23:29 PM by Bulldog »
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Topic: DCF trip to Cuba - rumrunner - Day 1 threw week two (Read 6667 times)