Youth Outreach: Cuba Project
Visit to Cuba
February 5-13, 2000

12 youth and 4 chaperones travel to Cuba to visit their partner parish of La Trinidad in Bermeja, Matanzas, Cuba.

After months of preparation including fundraising, education and team building, 12 youth and 4 chaperones from St. George's Anglican Church in Guelph, Ontario, Canada began the journey to visit their partner parish of La Trinidad in Bermeja, Matanzas, Cuba on Saturday, February 5, 2000. The day was cold and snowy but they left with dreams of sunshine and white sand as well as the warmth of the prayers and support of their home community of St. George's. They were looking forward to an experience of urban and rural life, and learning about health and education systems, tourism, and the Cuban Episcopal Church.

The following is an excerpt from the presentation put together by the youth that travelled to Cuba. The full presentation has been taken to various Anglican Church groups within the Diocese of Niagara, school groups, Presbyterian Church Women's groups and will be presented as a workshop at Youth Synod and the Niagara Youth Conference. A newsletter will be available early in May for those who wish to hear more about the trip. Please contact The Rev. Christine Hutchison-Hounsell stgeorge@sentex.net to book a presentation or to request a copy of the newsletter.

Church Cathedral, Havana
We experienced two different aspects of church life in Cuba: the Cathedral Church in Havana and the parish church of La Trinidad in rural Bermeja. On Sunday morning, our first morning in Cuba, we attended the liturgy at the Cathedral. The church building itself was very open and allowed the birds to fly and nest freely throughout the service. It seemed to be about the size of St. George's worship space without the side pews. On this particular day there were only about 70 people in attendance, but they were still able to fill the building with their wonderful music. They had many different forms of music. The first was simply the use of a tape recorder and cassette tape. This tape is used for hymn singing and service music throughout the Diocese of Cuba. They also had different people perform live with guitars, piano and drums; some might say it was like musical testimonies. The service was very informal, with people coming and going and the servers wandering wherever they needed to throughout the hour. We learned that in the past ten years the church's population has doubled. We really enjoyed our time at the cathedral and had the chance to experience worship in a city church in Cuba.

Episcopal Diocese of Cuba
The Diocesan offices are also located at the Cathedral. They consist of the office of the Bishop's secretary, Amada, and the Bishop's office, which is shared with the Communications Officer, Francisco. The Bishop works at the desk and Francisco at the computer. The computer and the email access, which the Diocese has only recently acquired, make a huge difference in communications between the Diocese of Cuba and the wider church. As a church, they had to apply for special permission from the Minister of Religion in order to buy the computer and to receive email access. They still do not have access to the Internet. Down the hall there is also an office for the Diocesan Administrator who manages the fiscal affairs of the diocese as well as the diocesan storehouse. This storehouse is used to keep food for visitors to the Cathedral Residence and for medical supplies brought by visitors for the use of the church in Cuba.

La Trinidad, Bermeja
We also had the chance to experience the life of our linked parish the Church of La Trinidad in the small village of Bermeja. The population of this church is 50-60 adults on a Sunday and 50 children that attend Sunday school. However, on a special holiday, like Christmas or Easter, there can be up to 300 people in attendance. Their building is about half the size of our Kirk Chapel and cannot possibly hold more than 50 people. In spite of the limitations to the numbers that could fit in the building, the church was welcoming and inclusive and every person, man, woman, and child received communion. All age groups were well represented at La Trinidad; young families and the youth are very active.

When we arrived at the church in Bermeja we were greeted by a large group, invited into the church and sung to by some of the children. The Bishop, priest, layreader and local officials also greeted us. The building that was made into the church was previously a house that was donated by a family. Their regular service would be held on a Saturday night because they have only one priest who is Juan Barreras and he also serves three other churches. He is a very busy man but always has time for each of his churches. The day-to-day leadership of the parish is carried out by a lay volunteer with a full time job in the city of Matanzas (1 1/2 hours away). His name is Lazaro LaGuardia. Lazaro and his family made us very welcome both at the church and in their home. We had most of our lunches cooked for us in their small kitchen over one burner and it was always plentiful and delicious.

Parish Structure
The Bishop is held in high regard in Bermeja. The town has been flooded a number of times and the Bishop sent resources to help many people during the most recent flood. The water during that flood rose to 4 feet in many houses so that some people, including the layreader, Lazaro, and his family lost everything. The government has since put in a dam to ensure that they will not be flooded again. The parish leadership includes their priest, Juan Barreras, the layreader, Lazaro, and a number of other lay volunteers. We brought partnership t-shirts with us as gifts to the parish. The Bishop presented these to the significant lay leaders of the parish during our final Eucharist on Friday night. These included the treasurer, the Sunday School Coordinator, a man who does whatever needs doing in the church, the custodian, and a couple of catechists.

Impressions
The people of La Trinidad have a very strong sense of community; they have deep commitments, and have a lot of respect for their Bishop. They are welcoming and very friendly, and even though they speak a different language they are easy to communicate with. It is a great group of people and we were very lucky to visit our partner parish and to make new memories and friends that we will never forget.

Partners
For our final farewell, one of the sugar cane cutters spent 3 hours baking and decorating a beautiful cake for us. The cake was a model of La Trinidad and St. George's showing a bridge built between us. It is our hope that we can continue to build this bridge. The opportunity to visit our partner parish was not only an eye opening learning experience for our whole group but an enriching spiritual exercise as well. We were welcomed and cared for beyond our wildest imaginings and in the process learned something of the extent of God's love for all people and us. We learned that friendship and partnership are not about what we have to give or what we need but about living with one another, walking together along life's rocky road with a vision of a world in which peace, freedom, justice and love are highest values. The people of La Trinidad have left us with lasting memories, which will shape our lives, and for that we give thanks to God.