CAMAGUEY.- Three were the nursery schools that on April 10, 1961, began the path of this teaching in Cuba. That idea of ​​Vilma Espín and Fidel Castro to favor the integration of mothers into the world of work was not a trivial matter, but a profoundly transformative process. The Cubans of that time were betting high, they were doing it for the future. Six decades later, they have won, we all win.

Over the years these educational institutions have maintained their role within society and have been in charge of providing the harmonious physical and mental development of the little ones. In recent months, due to COVID-19, realities have changed radically, but their essence has remained intact.

Photos: Alejandro Rodríguez Leiva/ AdelantePhotos: Alejandro Rodríguez Leiva/ Adelante

LA CALESITA, A WORK OF LOVE

For almost 20 years, the La Calesita nursery school, located in the Jesús Suárez Gayol community, in Santa Cruz del Sur, was closed due to construction problems. Giving back to the residents and especially to working mothers an institution of such importance, has revealed the municipal and provincial authorities.

With a general value of about one and a half million pesos, the work will benefit from this Saturday about 100 minors in the area and nearby popular councils such as La Jagua. Classrooms will be opened from the second to the sixth year of life with a capacity of 20 children each and will have 46 workers, 26 of them teachers.

Onelio Casellas Recio, head of the Investment Department of the Municipal Education Directorate, explained that despite the delay and the construction stops due to a deficit of materials, the last days have been intense. The workers of the organization and a brigade of self-employed workers in the territory, led by Ariel Pérez, redoubled their efforts without losing sight of quality, to culminate this April 10, as a gift for the six decades of founded these centers.

According to Yordanka Mendoza Bensol, director of the center, they already have almost all the furniture and the rest of the accessories, although the cots are still insufficient. “Currently, schedules are made according to the interrelationships of work and the groups of each group. At the same time we finished organizing the play areas and the dolls made by the boys of the José Martí Brigade and our educators ”.

In the group, Arletis Cañete Morales stands out, who will be responsible for the second year of life. For five years she has worked in the Luis Aldana nursery school in the main town and she is studying the fifth year of a Bachelor's degree in Preschool Education.

“I don't have children, but I really like them. I have learned to love and care for them as if they were mine. For them, to achieve their fullest development, I have tried to acquire the greatest amount of knowledge of the programmed, independent and joint activities, and above all to work with the family ”.

Amparo Arredondo Mesa, one of the pedagogical assistants who founded La Calesita and welcomed the first children in September 1991, knows all of this well. “Nobody imagines how excited I am to return to this place. For none of us the idea of ​​leaving our nursing school was pleasant because the walls did not hold and there was a risk of collapse. Every day we would look over here and get nostalgic. However, today I am happy, I return to my origins ”.

La Calesita is already, thanks to the professionals of the center, builders, residents and the educational sector, a dream come true for many people. They know that this children's paradise will be the best place to care for, train and educate little ones from Santa Cruz.

SHARE JOY

Amparo's joy at returning to the kindergarten where she, she says, learned to teach, is equal to that of those who, despite the new coronavirus, do not miss her classroom. If she is excited today to receive her new “children” at the entrance, many others are comforted to know that her offspring wear the face masks all day or that Ronald, for example, forces everyone at home to wash their hands.

For the second consecutive year, Cuban educators and pedagogical assistants celebrate their anniversary in atypical conditions. In addition to their social mandate to help minors meet their school goals, they were added to keep the family calm in the midst of a pandemic. The hugs and kisses that their / our children spontaneously gave them are gone, now they must settle for recognizing smiles through their eyes.

In the Luis Aldana nursery school, from Santa Cruz del Sur, one of the first to be founded in Camagüey in 1962, they already have a “doctorate” in explanations about COVID-19. “We have patiently and lovingly managed to make even the second year kids understand the importance of taking care of the virus. They know you can't touch what it falls to the ground, that they should not be close together and that outside the center they should behave the same, ”said Lidis Revolta Ponce de León, or Mrs. Tatica, as they know her.

There lies for Ramona Farrais Ojeda, the deputy director, one of the greatest challenges. “At first it was not easy at all to be aware of compliance with health measures, to explain them to children and parents and to add normality every day to the routine of infants. Today their life schedules are maintained, they are allowed to comply with all the guidelines of the day for each year, and at the same time, live together in a healthy and safe environment ”.

Despite a decrease in attendance at the kindegarten largely due to the presence of new positive cases in the southern municipality, the specialists of "Luis Aldana" dedicate themselves morning and afternoon and develop the usual didactic activities, aimed at developing skills and the formation of values.

They, like Arletis and Amparo, like Tatica, know that their dedication today will germinate generations of good that will continue to dream and make better futures.