Cuba 2023.
I feel very emotional each time I think about Cuba and the wonderful friends I came to know there in 2023. The Movimiento Estudiantil Cristiano de Cuba (MEC Cuba) are some of the most loving, welcoming, articulate, and caring Christians I’ve ever encountered. They study their bibles together, pray and sing, acquire and distribute medical supplies, and show up in solidarity at actions (like the Trans Day of Remembrance vigil we attended while visiting Havana). MEC Cuba also keeps close ties with previous generations of membership. We met Sarahi Garcia Gomez (now board member of the Mensaje magazine, esteemed by liberation theologians Sergio Arce), Nacyra Gomez Cruz (who later led liberation theology campaigns for the Cuban Council of Churches), and Joel Suarez (a mainstay presence at the MLK Centre in Havana). This trip, generously funded by the Lois Freeman Wilson Fund, compelled me to think how SCM Canada can maintain those vital intergenerational links as they do so well in Cuba. The friendships we formed in Cuba have also moved us into action upon returning home. Over the past year, we have advocated in meetings with government officials for an end to the blockade with other Christians and raised funds for hurricane relief efforts led by MEC Cuba. We look forward to the day Cuban Christians and their fellow compatriots are free from the US blockade that makes it so hard for ordinary people there to eat, receive medical care, and live their lives in dignity.
