Cuba Balls….
In March 2017 we were invited to play soccer. When we arrived at the embankment there were more than 150 young people running and kicking a worn and deflated ball. The terrain was uneven and rocky and some were barefoot. The fences were made of something resembling “cactus”. What caught my attention was the excitement and enthusiasm of everyone.
In the course of the trip, I asked:
-Well… when does the game start?
To which they respond:
“we are already playing”.
At that moment something inside me snapped.
-I told them: “Let’s go buy some balls!
-They answer with a smile camouflaged as a lament: “Impossible” “they don’t sell balls here and if you get them they will be extremely expensive”.
We immediately went in search and indeed there were no sports stores to be found. After several hours we found a place that had a ball for sale. The value of the ball was $25.00 USD and the average salary of a Cuban is exactly that amount. They would have to stop eating and abstain from everything to buy a soccer ball. At that moment we bought it and the “soccer cup” was formed.
At the end of the day I promised him: “I’ll be back, but I’ll be back with a lot of balls”. Precisely we arrived in Puerto Rico and began to join forces with volunteers who would be added to the cause. By August 2017 (4 months later) we were already at the same airport where we had made the commitment but this time with suitcases full of hundreds of soccer balls. Balls of all colors. Balls written with words of hope for a better future so that in every kick and every goal they would hit the limitations and be free from the unjust oppression caused by an adverse social system.
Att. COMPASSIVE CULTURE
