Visits and the creation of professional, personal and political links
Since February in the year 2002 group and individual visits to Camagüey by people from the Derby area have taken place and these have resulted in growing links between people and institutions in Derby, Derbyshire. Havana and Camagüey.
The beginning of the links
In February of the year 2002 a group from the Derby area went on a study tour in Cuba. We followed a very intensive but highly valuable programme. We split into two groups for some of the visits: one for health and social care and the other for education. The photograph on the left shows our party in the city's social centre - Parque Agramonte. The statue is of Camagüey's enduring hero Ignacio Agramonte.
This photo was taken in the hospital office of Professor Reinaldo Pons - the director of the Childrens hospital in Camagüey. Professor Imtiaz Choonara,
Consultant Paediatrician at Derbyshire Children's Hospital, has just met Reinaldo, who is now the director of Health in Camagüey Province.
Imtiaz will be conducting an exchange of ideas in child health in Camagüey during the period 6th to 7th February. We will meet Imtiaz when we are there.
The portrait on the office wall is of Cuba's national hero and apostle - José Martí. He is also my hero now - the photo on the left was taken in the Havana quarry in which he was condemned to work at the age of 16 years for publishing an anti-Spanish rule newspaper. The statue was modeled on a photograph.
The Letter of Intention
In June of the year 2002 a formal letter of intention was signed in Camagüey by Señor Luis Ynchausti, the President of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, and me when I was the Mayor of of Derby, affirming that education and friendship links will be built up.
Visitors from Camagüey
Since then successive Mayors of the City of Derby have officially invited and received people from Camagüey and Havana. In September 2004 there was a visit to Derby by Señor Luis Álvarez Roldán - the President of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power of Camagüey and Señor Arsenio F. Morfa Mestril - the Director of International Relations of the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power of Camagüey.
The picture shows Morfa (on the left) and Luis with students of Lees Brook Community Sports College.
La Pedagogía - Havana año 2005
In February of the year 2005 a formal paper on Barriers to Education written by Mrs Jan Toombs the Headteacher of Nightingale Infant and Nursery School was taken to the biennial education conference held in Havana - La Pedagogía. The paper was well appreciated by her colleagues from Latin America.
The paper was translated into Spanish by Sra Magaly Batista of the Central Trabajadores Cuba and read by Srta Yoenia Valido a student of English at the University of Havana.
The photo shows Yoenia finalising the paper for a 10 minute delivery and she also revised a complementary paper written by me. It took me a long time to discover that she was available to assist me, I was one of the very few almost monoglotal English speakers at this huge but friendly and optimistic conference, and her assitance was crucial.
These visits were organised and supported by national and local organisations in the kingdom and the republic. One visit I made to Camagüey was based around a local government conference and it was evident that similar issues were being addressed in Camagüey and Derby.
 |
|