Celia’s high sensitivity.

Brief reference and anecdotes of a guajirita from eastern Cuba, one of the people who had the privilege of living with Celia, nourished by her simplicity and modesty, her energy, dedication, discipline, love for the people, the Revolution and unconditional support for Fidel.

«Those who want to know the human feeling that a communist heart harbors, those who want to know the humanist sensibility that is in the heart of Cuban revolutionaries, should study Celia’s life».

Words of the Cuban intellectual, politician and revolutionary Armando Hart, which perfectly fit the message that years ago Eugenia Palomares Ferrales transmitted to young members of the scientific community of Matanzas, during an event organized by the Science and Technology Unit of CITMA.

In the exchange, Eugenia offered details of her life and the role played in it by Celia Sanchez Manduley, the fighter of the underground and the mountains, the tireless manager of social programs within the Revolution born on January 1st, 1959; simply, her godmother.

«My father, Pastor Palomares López, was a Santiago native of Baire, who in April 1957 joined the Rebel Army. He died on August 20th of that same year in the combat of Palma Mocha, before my birth, something he always feared.

That constant concern for the life and future of his son or daughter led him to comment to the now General Teté Puebla: «If I fall in this combat, I want you to help my son who is about to be born». And that is when my story with Celia began to be written, he emphasized.

The birth of the girl from Palomares and the conditions in which the delivery took place, touched Celia very deeply.

«I was born in a cave, in the midst of shootings and bombings. Peasant families took refuge in the caves or trenches made by the Rebel Army during the fighting that took place in the area… My father had already died and my mother is presented with childbirth under those conditions.

«So that my screams would not give us away, my paternal grandparents, who were the midwives, put coffee leaves in my mouth. That caused me to lose my palate and I couldn’t take my mother’s breast, nor cow’s milk.

«Since Celia knew what was happening, she always sent me condensed milk, the only food I could assimilate. But she also sent me the layette of her sister Silvia, who had lost her baby. So it was in the middle of the Sierra Maestra that this poor and orphaned guajirita had a well-made layette».

The baptism and the commitment of the godparents

«In El Naranjo, a place near La Plata, Fidel and Celia baptized me, committing themselves to my care and upbringing, although grandfather said:

«She won’t even remember the child if the Revolution triumphs and besides, maybe this Revolution won’t even triumph».

It was normal for an illiterate old man, molded according to the false promises of the rulers of the time, to think that way. But he did send for me and several times, he emphasized.

«My grandparents did not want to send me to Havana, they were very fond of me. However, my grandfather convinced my grandmother that if I didn’t have parents, because of a religious problem, the godparents were the ones who should take care of me.

«Advice that bore the stamp of the little culture but at the same time very good education of the peasant of those times.

«My little daughter, when you arrive, you say hello, you say you to everyone, if they call you, you say sir or madam, and above all, you can’t forget to ask for the blessing of a tall, thin woman (she describes Celia), who is your godmother, and if you see a tall man with a beard and thin hands (she describes Fidel), you also ask for his blessing, he is your godfather».

Thus begins the journey into the unknown

«I was almost nine years old and I didn’t know about streets, electric lights, masonry houses and other details of the cities.

«When I arrived in Manzanillo, for me it was Havana, and it was like that every time I arrived in a town or city. I was so anxious that when I arrived in Havana I didn’t see it because I fell asleep» (LAUGHS).

«My belly was all bulging because of the parasites, my spine was totally deviated by the buckets of water and the firewood I was carrying to help my grandmother. Everyone looked at me with pity. But Celia told me, don’t be afraid, you will feel fine here, we will send you to the doctor, everyone will love you».

Medical care, education and discipline

«On one side there was Dr. Alvarez Cambra who treated my spinal problem and on the other Celia with the constant question …what did you learn today. You also have to learn to cook, knit, sew and embroider.»

«But I also had punishments. Once I ran away because I was used to bathing in rivers, I went looking for a place to swim. I found a pool and I said to myself, ‘Oh what a short river,’ but I spent the whole day in it.

«When they found me Celia told me: ‘You’ve behaved very badly, here you have to say where you’re going. you’re punished!».

Celia’s high human sensitivity

«The first time I went on vacation to the Orient, since there was no road to the place where my grandparents lived, they had to prepare an arria of mules (LAUGHTER) to carry everything I brought… But they were boxes that I didn’t know what they contained because Celia made them. A saddle for my grandfather, a sewing machine for my grandmother with fabrics, threads and other things, a radio and many other things.

«When I returned to Havana, the suitcase was also full of letters. Everyone wrote to Celia because, ‘she solves’.

«During the following vacations, people came from all over the Sierra Maestra to give me hugs and kisses because Celia had solved their problem».

Brief reference of the anecdotes and personal experiences, that in that different and special day, shared with young scientists from Matanzas, that little guajirita from eastern Cuba, one of the people who had the privilege of living with Celia, nourished by her simplicity and modesty, her energy, dedication, discipline, love to the people, the Revolution and unconditional support to Fidel without limits.

Written by Ana González Goicochea.