Social Service (IV)

Francisco Castro

She was troubled by a couple concerns: My ID card with a Santiago de Cuba address and the wage that would have to pay me (which was the minimum for a director, 320 pesos in domestic currency, (US $16 a month). The first concern was due to the fact that she obviously hadn’t read the new law, while the second was because she thought the pay was too much money for a recent graduate.

I began participating in program recordings directed by my assigned tutor, who was also a teacher at the faculty of Audiovisual Media where I had studied.  This guaranteed a good complement to my learning and quick involvement in real work.  Based on an agreement that we worked out, I would gradually be put in charge of directing programs – first rehearsals and later actual recordings.

At the same time I began working at the radio station, I also began work with my graduate thesis tutor.  She asked me to work on a story she was producing for television, and I gladly accepted to be her assistant director.  Fortunately this created no conflict, since the two tutors came to an understanding that would allow me to carry out both efforts.

On the third day of working at the radio station, I was in called in by the Human Resources Department.  The head -with much regret, which I felt was sincere- returned all my papers to me and said they had canceled my contract until the address change issue was resolved.  He told me I would have to go to the Department of Human Resources of Radio Cubana and speak with the boss.

This news coincided with the eve of my birthday.