LETTER TO THE EDITOR Our Community Reads: Thank You! e would like to send a heartfelt “Thank You” to all of the many participants who “attended” events during our 2021 season. It was only our fourth year, and what a strange one it was. Luckily, we had an incredible group of highly esteemed presenters who, from their offices and living rooms via Zoom gave it their all! Thanks to Senator Laird and his stellar panel, to David Reichard of CSU Monterey Bay faculty, to the powerful personal story of local resident Dinah Davis. We all grew
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and learned and felt the emotion of what has transpired over the years relative to HIV/AIDS. Supervisor Zach Friend gave us some levity with our annual Trivia Night, and allowed readers of The Great Believers a place to share their knowledge of the book and win some prizes in the process! We are grateful to our many branch book discussion group leaders, from Aptos, Capitola, Felton and La Selva Beach for bringing people together to dive deep into the themes of Rebecca Makkai’s powerful novel, and also to
Eric & Carol Smith with the taxi the group toured Havana in. the eastern part of the island. We visited a school that the host church had started in “For a while, Ted and I thought they Pinar del Rio. We also heard about many would not let us into the country,” said humanitarian projects, for examples proPastor Kevin. “Just as we thought we’d viding items such as water filters, etc., cleared the hurdles, there was one more requiring only a small amount of money at the exit, but thankfully Eric and Carol to fund. Given the poverty level we saw, it helped us navigate this inconvenience.” was heartening to meet Cuban pastors with He continued: “Ted and I attended the a heart to serve the needy. We heard that conference in Pinar del Rio, a province in people live on as little as $30 per month. Pastors are paid about $6 per month and usually have to have another way of earning a living. “In this very poor country, people are humble and, of necessity, very innovative. Some sell fruit from a cart pulled by a bicycle. Our taxi driver drove a government-owned a pink 1950s Chevy Deluxe Styleline convertible. He also had a small rustic hair salon where I got a Cuban haircut.” The team saw a lot of buildings with Riding to Havana airport in a less-scrupulous Russion Muskovi taxi. “Cuba Churches” from page 6
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volunteer April Zilber for leading a very fun and creative hands-on art event. All of the effort made by everyone whether participating in or leading events, enrich this dream of ours to bring people together, to create community, and to learn and grow through the experience of reading a single book together. Thank you all! We also thank Santa Cruz Public Libraries for lending their support to Our Community Reads. Special thanks to Rowan Rammer and Sarah Jones for
dirty, unpainted stucco even in downtown Havana. Some of the balconies had collapsed and were not repaired. They were careful to follow the regulations set forth by the government. The government must be notified exactly where visitors are staying and that hotel/hostel must be in possession of all visitors’ passports during the entire stay. They were also instructed to avoid topics of conversation that might be considered revolutionary or oppositional to the government. The Smiths related that on one trip they tried to bring in a wireless microphone sound system for the church. This was confiscated at the airport for fear of it being used for spying or illegally transmitting information out of the country. “We had a warm and wonderful reception from our ministry hosts and hostel operators,” Pastor Kevin said. “We felt no reason to be fearful on the streets of Pinar del Rio where our conference took place or even in Havana after dark.” “Taxi drivers and people in Havana were very friendly. They really like American dollars so they are very helpful and friendly, even though we spoke very little Spanish,” said Eric. How People Can Help ell phone recharge program: Most pastors struggle just to provide food and household necessities for their families so cell phone service is unattainable without support from U.S. donors. The cell phone recharge program started as an opportunity to get financial support indirectly to pastors in Cuba. Online phone recharge companies offer double and triple recharge promotional rates twice a month. Stateside CUPA volunteer staff has a list of CUPA pastors’ phone numbers. Depending on the number of donations received, the pastors’ phones are recharged online during the promotion week. Once received in Cuba, each pastor passes a portion of the recharge to two other pastors, giving each pastor a month’s worth of cell phone service. A $25 donation, a standard price for recharging one phone
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coordinating events and providing tech support. See you next year in the 2022 Season of Our Community Reads. n — Aptos Chapter of the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Library: Jim Bourne, Bobbie Edgin, Pat Emard, Kris Franceschi, Melanie Freitas, Gale Farthing, Barbara Gaebe, Ofelia García, Teri Handzel, Coni Hendry, Sandy Laue, Diana Mejia, Eileen Miller, Ginny Morris, Lynn McNussen, Debby Peronto, Jodi Pratt, Susan Schenck, Denise Ward, and Tricia Wynne
Figaro the driver (named for being a singer). He works 7 days a week driving a government-owned taxi. He also runs a back-alley barbershop to make ends meet and doesn’t get to see his children much. that qualifies for a special promotion, will enable three pastors to have one month’s phone service. Given the very limited transportation and the lack of money for cell phone service, the CUPA program is essential for a pastor to do the work of the ministry. Thank you to Pastor Kevin Stottrup of Aromas Bible Church, for sharing this information, telephone 831-726-2850. Pay it forward cell phone recharge donations: https://www. paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_ id=X43TFGHEVPK9L&source=url. An alternate link going into the General Cuba Benevolence Fund: https:// w w w. p a y p a l . c o m / d o n a t e / ? h o s t e d _ button_id=RNZXJN8EKSCKC. n ••• Cover Photo: St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral dominates this public square, founded in 1628 in Havana. Castro’s government shut down more than 400 Catholic churches in 1962. The visitors get a ride to the Havana airport in a Russian made Mukovi, with an unsanctioned, non-government taxi driver.
