Miami, United States. – A group of students from the Minnesota West and Normandale community schools traveled to Cuba in March as part of an intercultural communication class, according to The local medium report The Globe. The visit, which included educational and volunteer activities, left in young people an impression marked by the contrast between everyday life on the island and reality in the United States.
“It was literally like traveling in time to the 50s or 60s,” said Abdi Hussein, a second year student at Normandale. “I had this sense of how different we live in the United States. We live in luxury, with things like clean water and electricity.”
The delegation, composed of about 20 people, participated in an agenda that combined tourism, community work and cultural visits. Among the activities highlighted a tour of Old Havana, a cleaning of beaches, visits to coffee plantations and a tobacco elaboration experience. They also delivered donations to fifth grade students in a local school.
As explained by Linda Pesch, Admissions Director of Minnesota West and participant in the program, “it was a trip to Cuba that regular tourists do not see.” He added that the group had the opportunity to have fun, but also to get involved with the community and perform service work.
One of the main objectives of the program was to explore Afro -Cuban culture, an aspect that motivated several students to register. Hussein, who studies business administration, expressed interest in Cuba’s political context: “I knew that Cuba is an isolated country that I wanted to know. I was intrigued by the embargo that Cubans live with the United States.”
For Kevin Aguilar, also Normandale student, the most significant moment was direct contact with citizens. “Knowing the premises and their daily lives was an interesting way to know their culture,” he explained. From Mexican descent, Aguilar stressed that the common language facilitated dialogue with Cubans.
The students also visited Guanica, a Afro -Cuban neighborhood in which they explored various religious manifestations. Both Hussein and Aguilar agreed to praise the kindness of the population and their community spirit. “They are grateful people who are treated with respect to each other,” they said.
The experience was positively valued by Kent Dahlman, an interim dean of liberal arts in Minnesota West, who justified the choice of Cuba as a destination for “its unique culture and Afro -Cuban culture with which some of our students may feel identified.” According to Dahlman, the greatest learning was to see how students managed to “know themselves more and others.”
Despite the praiseful tone of the report and enthusiasm of the students for cultural experience, several testimonies underlined the harsh material conditions that they observed on the island. The lack of basic services and the feeling of being in a country stagnant over time reveal, without proposing it, a reality that escapes the usual tourist discourse.
The students agreed that they would return to Cuba if they had the opportunity, although what was lived in a week was, for many, a clear sample of the deep differences between both societies.
