Dreams Past and Dreams of the Future
HAVANA TIMES – The other day, I heard the following comments from a Mexican woman: “We were in Varadero and met a singer who was so nice and sang so well that my daughter said: ‘Mama what do you think if we take him to Mexico with us, and make him famous?’”
In the end, they didn’t invite him, but it made me remember my student years. During that time, I sacrificed myself to earn a scholarship in another country but didn’t manage to get one. A dream of the majority that very few achieved. Whoever fulfilled that dream became the envy of the rest.
A German exchange student at the Seminary, Utha Irhke, promised she’d invite me to come to her land, and would even make it possible for me to study Theology in the seminary where she was studying. To my surprise, she did so. But for me to be able to make the trip and study in that country for a year, I needed the endorsement of my church, the one that had allowed me to enroll in the Matanzas Theological Seminary where I was studying at that time.
I asked for their recommendation. The Monthly Board met, and also another Commission from my faith community, to discuss giving me permission and the necessary recommendation for those upcoming studies in a foreign country. Although all the brothers and sisters recognized my very good record as a student, as well as the fact that I undertook the tasks of my pastoral fieldwork in Havana with responsibility, they wouldn’t give me the recommendation. One sister declared that a niece, who studied in the same Seminary, had told her about my unfavorable view of the government – what they call ideological deviations. This was very dangerous to the religious institution for many reasons. In addition, it could be a sign that I wouldn’t return to the island.
This comment, even given the rest of my magnificent trajectory up until then, was sufficient to assure that the endorsement never reached my hands. And, of course, my yearning to study in Europe was torn up by the roots.
Given this, when I heard what that Mexican woman said about the singer from Matanzas, I had a desire to run to Varadero, buy a Havana Club rum, find him and talk about our dreams, aspirations, about what we’ve suffered and the battles we’ve waged against hunger, the innumerable necessities and often the lack of a voice in all this.
However, the entire story doesn’t have to stay the same from beginning to end. Despite being under the same government, circumstances have taken on other tones, other colors. And these past experiences shouldn’t lead us to expect the worst results. Who knows? Maybe that singer will get to take his talents to other parts of the world at some time, or I, too, may someday find myself in other liberating spaces, contributing what it’s meant for me to give.