April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Good impressions from Cuba visit
Carol Sandoval, director of the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) for Siena College in Loudonville, represented the interests of higher education on the trip.
She found Cuban schools' resources "limited due to the American embargo," but said she was "very impressed with their system."
Impressions
Ms. Sandoval said the group spent most of its time around Havana, although some members rented a van during their free time to see the countryside.The HEOP director had hoped to visit a Cuban university, as well, but said the continuing controversy over whether six-year-old Elian Gonzalez should stay in the U.S. kept university officials too busy to host the delegation. Instead, Ms. Sandoval visited a grade school and a high school.
"They were very orderly," she noted. "Lunch was provided for the students; they were very well organized. Everyone has to complete 12th grade. They're very dedicated to literacy."
Medical schools
Ms. Sandoval was surprised to learn that Cuba has a number of medical schools and doctors, many of whom have an interest in bioengineering. She was told that work is being done in Cuba on finding a cure for Parkinson's disease, and that doctors there believe they can cure patients whose condition is diagnosed early enough. She also found that the conditions Cuban doctors and others work under are a struggle."There's rationing of food, medical supplies and construction materials," she said. "We delivered medicine to two different hospitals, and a lot of it was antibiotics. They can't get epilepsy medication down there" because it's produced in the U.S.
When the delegation saw the crucial need for even simple medical supplies, Ms. Sandoval added, they ransacked their own suitcases to add what they could: Band-aids, Q-tips, bars of soap and liquid soap.
High and low
Ms. Sandoval delivered some other gifts, as well: When the group visited a foster home that housed a number of children, she handed out Siena pens and keyrings with flashlights in them."They were thrilled," she remarked. "They want anything from America."
The director said she was also pleased that the group got to meet with Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly.
Each of the more than two dozen delegates is compiling a statement about what they experienced on the trip and whether they believe they accomplished their humanitarian goals. The statements will be collected by Albany resident Joseph Gomez, a Cuban emigre who organized the trip. A report summarizing them will then be submitted to Congress.
Ms. Sandoval does believe the delegation had an effect on U.S.-Cuban relations. "We extended a lot of good, warm feelings from the American people," she said.
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