GUANTÁNAMO.—What a mystery … amidst the most difficult circumstance, we Cubans always dig up the virtues that best characterize us as a people.
Several days of following Hurricane Matthew's trail through the country's eastern provinces has reinforced our pride in having been born in this land, imperfect as it make be, like any other work in progress. We saw so many great things - small and simple things - they can't fit in these few lines.
Seeing a group of children who have lost practically everything - their books, backpacks, teddy bears and shoes - playing in the rubble, with a Cuba flag waving alongside, makes one's heart beat a little faster than usual.
What to say about the interminable caravans of electrical, telephone, construction, and transportation workers, who, like ants, have been the first to arrive in disaster zones, under the worst conditions, all with the single-stared flag on their vehicles.
And just when you think you've seen or heard it all, another demonstration of solidarity is recounted, acts that prevented a category four hurricane from taking a single human life in Cuba.
That 50, 60, or more people could take refuge in one house was common, and in the darkness, they shared the pain and fear, and the little or much of what they had: a sip of coffee, a towel, or diaper for the baby…
There is Yaliseidy Londres Cobas, a Guantánamo native living in San Germán, one of the most remote settlements in Baracoa, who after taking some 60 people into her home is still accommodating two families who lost everything, telling us that they could stay as long as necessary. There are many more families doing the same here.
So much solidarity and spiritual growth in the face of adversity was captured by a young driver from Guantánamo, who, amazed by the interminable caravans of human and material resources moving toward the First City, Maisi and other affected areas, said, "Man, all of Cuba is in Baracoa."
