Legally Volunteer Service in Cuba

I chose to work with local farmers on their community cooperative farms. We were told that the farmers were somewhat reluctant to allow us to work with them initially. I was certain they thought we wouldn't know what we were doing and might do more damage than good, which could potentially have an impact on their income. But, they trusted us to do good and we did! More importantly, we had plenty of time to interact with them and, even with a language barrier, there developed a sense of camaraderie and friendship. Their willingness to trust us and our obvious intentions to be helpful and respectful forged a very meaningful connection between and among us. It was a very moving and wonderful experience.

I do early morning walks everyday. One morning (5:30 AM) while walking, I saw a farmer walking his team of oxen. I asked him where his farm was and what crops he was growing. He told me his farm was just a short distance up the gravel road and that he was growing yucca. He pointed up the road and said yucca, than he pointed at his oxen and said vaca. I hesitated for a few seconds and than chuckled to myself about his little humor so early in the morning, especially when I knew that he was surely in for a long hard days work. I could not help but think about how many people anywhere in this world would be that happy to joke about hard work that early in the morning. Many days I find myself thinking about how I approach my daily work.

Through one of our students, I made a special connection with his mother who invited me and another volunteer to her home. It was an opportunity to really see how the local people live. We were very impressed by her generosity.

The visit to Cuba was instructional - it went far beyond what I was able to teach in years of university teaching of geography.
The first thing that struck me were the taxis lined up in from of our hotel -- mostly late 'fifties cars from the U.S. The 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air seemed to be the most popular. Our ride in a convoy of them -- all convertibles -- on our last evening in Havana was a real treat. We were told that Cuban mechanics and metal fabricators have to be really creative to keep them running. They definitely keep them painted in bright colors. Cuba is a colorful country, and the music and art were impressive. The food we were served was great, but learning about the lack of availability of a variety of foods that the average Cuban can afford to buy made our food taste a little less good.. Cubans whom we met seemed friendly and open in conversations; and really wanted us to know them. A big treat was the visit to the neighborhood of Muraleando, where a grass-roots arts center has been developed and is operated entirely by volunteers. They had us dancing to their music in spite of our old knees.

Just as Global Volunteers did in Vietnam 15 years ago, they provided a meaningful, intellectually stimulating, and enjoyable experience. Learning about Cuba directly from the Cubans is the right way to do it. Being in a congenial small group with a team leader and a Cuban guide who understand what GV is all about made the trip a life-changing experience for both my grandson and me. I give the experience an A+

This was the trip of a lifetime...to see Cuba with all of its beauty, culture and rustic appeal still intact before tourism really takes over.
The scenery in Ciego de Avila, Santa Clara and Moron was fabulously untouched, like stepping back in time.

Havana gets into your blood and I could have spend weeks there!
We did not visit tourist areas or beaches, it was the real bird's eye view of Cuba among the streets, cars, people and scenery of real life.

I was disappointed by the fact we had so little time to do things on our own. Perhaps that was because the US govt required that we be scheduled for 12 hours each day. Everything was too structured.

My one week trip to Cuba with Global Volunteers was well planned with excellent guides, comfortable accommodations, and inspiring people to people interactions, such as visits to community art projects, a theater company with performance, music venues, and interactions with Cuban students. The leader and guides were helpful, knowledgeable, and authentic which made for a great people to people experience in Cuba.