As a professional employment counselor, a primary focus of
my visit to Cuba was to better understand their labor market and workforce. Upon our arrival we met our tour guide, a
lovely 29-year-old young lady fluent in both Spanish and English. She clearly
loved her homeland, but told us that the majority of the Cuban people were
poor. To help us understand Cuba she told us about the two different types of
currency. Cuban Convertible Coins (CUC),
roughly equivalent to the US dollar, are the currency of the tourists. During
2004, Cuba outlawed the use of the US dollar in Cuba and imposed a 10% tax on US dollar exchanges to Cuban currency. We actually
paid 13% to make the exchange at our hotel. Despite paying
the tax, just about everything seemed to be fairly inexpensive.
The majority of the Cuban people however, are in the Cuban
Peso (CUP) society. There are roughly 25 CUP in 1 CUC. What I viewed as inexpensive was out of the
price range of most of the population. It became quite clear as our tour unfolded that
almost everybody was on a quest to acquire CUC. As I better understood the CUP
and the CUC, I better understood the various occupations on the island.
No weapon has ever
settled a moral problem. It can impose a solution but it cannot guarantee it to
be a just one. ~ Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway was probably not speaking about Cuba, but
none-the-less we could argue that on such a beautiful Caribbean island, the words have
some truth. In July 1960 Hemingway left Cuba for the final time. His residence, Finca Vigia, was expropriated shortly
thereafter by the Cuban government. As we viewed his home, looking in doors and
windows, we saw inside one lady working in silence, apparently with the task of
not allowing tourists to enter. I wondered how much she was being paid to stand
vigil in a relic hardly changed in the last half century. I also spent some time watching a construction
crew working on a new sidewalk. They mixed concrete in a small hand turned
tumbler, shoveling it in and out of wheelbarrows, engaged in serious hard
labor. In retrospection, the rest of Cuba was not unlike the Hemingway estate,
on hold since the 1950s. I saw little that was new and saw considerable deterioration of what had been. At best
there were a few pockets of limited renovation.
Before
the Revolution, Cuba was relatively prosperous with a large upper middle
class and a fairly strong economy. Havana in the 1950s was later described as “what
Las Vegas would later become,” a playground for rich tourists, celebrities and the
American Mafia. Rural
Cuba however was not so pleasant with difficult living conditions,
unemployment, poverty and a high rate of illiteracy. That would change under Fidel Castro and we
heard the
story at the Cuban Literacy Museum.
The director was clearly passionate about her work. She was
proud of her accomplishments. Her presentation had been strong. The story about
Fidel’s 1961 campaign to eliminate illiteracy was powerful. Now time for
questions, I presented my query with the idea that many US teachers considered
themselves underpaid. I asked if Cuban teachers were paid enough money.
Immediately a slight frown on her face revealed a reluctant truth. Everybody could use more money she said. Then
she shifted into what seemed like a standardized rationalization, we get free
education and free medical coverage. The basic needs of the people are met.
Our next stop was an elementary school with many veteran
teachers. The director told me that salaries ranged between 400 and 500 Cuban
Pesos (per month). Yes, the equivalent of $16 to $20 dollars. I asked the teachers about
other sources of income and they had none. I was told that university
professors, doctors and those with advanced degrees might be earning 700 Cuban
pesos a month.
We traveled along the rural roads in Cienfuegos on route to
our hotel. The homes were weather beaten and modest. I saw farmers using hand
plows to till their land. Fortunately farmers
now have the right to operate a private business. There were not a lot of cars
on the road, however we passed many horse driven carts. I asked our guide about
the ones transporting people and learned they were taxis. The locals paid a few
Cuban pesos for local travel. The income easily supported the cost of the
owning a horse. As it turns out the taxi business is one of the better trades
and I would learn there are many different types of vehicles. Those
transporting tourists could make a decent income.
We took a walk along
the street from our first hotel quickly encountering requests to take a
bi-cycle taxi. Not half way down the
first block, we were offered Cuban cigars and traditional Cuban music.
Obviously we looked like tourists and street peddling we would find was
ubiquitous.
Our financial education continued when our group visited our
first market place. We walked through a Cuban peso store. The selection was
limited and the quality of many products was certainly questionable. Most of the stores on the street offered
higher quality merchandise for the CUC currency. The appliance store had older
looking models of washing machines, gas stoves and electric fans at prices we
would consider quite reasonable, yet I would suspect, out of the price range of
the average citizen. I noticed that at virtually
every home clothes were hung out to dry. While not surprising in the rural
country side, a few days later we would see the same held true in the big city
of Havana. We also visited a Bodega.
Each citizen had a ration book and could purchase their share of basics for
Cuban pesos.
Our group entered the city center park to view historical
buildings and see the local statue of Jose Marti. Marti is a Cuban national
hero, a political activist, novelist, poet in the 19th century who
advocated for independence from Spain in the 19th century. In the
park was my first encounter with an “older person” rubbing their hand and arm,
“begging.” I asked about the gesture and
our guide told me it meant, “buy me soap.” I thought to myself, they looked old
enough to be alive at the time of the revolution or otherwise they had endured
a very difficult existence. There were many people who “worked” just asking for
money.
We visited an artist community, craft booths on the road and
a market place filled with vendors. People
pleaded with me to buy and for most, no price seemed too low. They tugged at my
heart string and when they did extricate a CUC dollar or two the thankfulness
was deep and sincere. We listened to a
chamber orchestra and several bands, every time being invited to dance and they
all were selling CDs. I now have a small collection.
While traveling to Havana, we passed through many rural
communities. Cuban law mandates that every government vehicle that is not full
must stop and pick up those seeking transportation in their direction. Hence,
the yellow man has a job ensuring that those vehicles stop and allow passengers
to board. We often saw a person dressed in yellow at a prime location surrounded
by a group of travelers in need.
I was not prepared to see the big City of Cuba. Built out of
limestone, buildings were crumbling. There were signs of renovation but our guide
told us the progress had been slow and clearly there was a lot that needed to
be accomplished. One cathedral covered
in scaffolding had been that way as long as she could remember. 
In Havana, Coco Taxis (three wheelers) and vintage
automobile taxis were everywhere.
The Gentlemen “Dandy” and Habaneras (women posing in
colonial dress, some selling flowers) strutted around the center square
offering a picture opportunity for a few coins. We also encountered Caricaturists, quickly
sketching our continence hoping to sell to us for a few dollars.
Not the most glamorous job, rest room attendant may none the
less be lucrative. We paid 25 Centavos
(a quarter) to use public restrooms that featured seat-less toilets. At the
museum after I used the facility the attendant went in and flushed with a
bucket of water.
During 2008 Raul Castro opened up private enterprise to the
people. While tourism is controlled by the government, at least now a greater
percentage of the population has hope of getting a share of the dollars. Most
of the entrepreneurial jobs described are fairly new occupations on the island.
Private construction is one and there is a lot of work to be done.
I spoke one morning with the cook who made omelets and told
him I was from the United States. He
lamented that he would never be able to go and if he did he would not come
back. He told me he worked long hours
and while food was cheap, there just was not enough money. That seemingly was the story all too familiar for the vast majority.
However, there is another emerging side. We stopped for
lunch at Casa Hostel Enrique, a privately run business. It was beautiful.
Everything had a recent coat of paint. The tile floors and décor in general
reflected the life of a higher middle income family. Allowing private business ventures is
relatively new with major
changes starting in 2008. With five
rooms to rent, they pay the state 35 CUC ($35) per month per room and another
10% tax on profits at the end of the year. They rent rooms for 30 to 35 CUC per
night. They said they were very successful with so far, limited competition.
The home next door was also rebuilt and freshly painted. The home next to that
was half rebuilt. They were the only three homes on the street reflecting
significant renovation.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Cuba and highly recommend
the experience. The Cuban people are
delightful and very warm. They love to dance and love their baseball, one of
the top paying jobs! They are a society in transition and I am
hopeful for their future!
I find hope in the
darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. ~ Dalai Lama
#GCDF #Get Certified #Michael C. Lazarchick
#GCDF #Get Certified #Michael C. Lazarchick
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