20 Apr CPHE National Network visits Cuba

By Jennifer Davis, Communications Manager, MEDICC

MEDICC organized its first Community Partnerships for Health Equity (CPHE) Network trip to Cuba from April 3-10, 2016, including participants from four CPHE sites:  Bronx, NY; Albuquerque, NM; South Los Angeles and Oakland, CA.  The purpose of the exchange was to further inform the CPHE projects already underway in these communities, inspired by Cuba’s health and community program models, and to provide the opportunity to share information and insights among the group, strengthening the broader CPHE national network.

Among its many activities and meetings, a few highlight visits included: the community project Maravillas de la Infancia, based in Matanzas province, which focuses on the needs of children and adolescents; a meeting with the Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) to discuss the evolving relationship between Cuba and the United States, and; interactions with professionals and patients at the Center for Comprehensive Care for Diabetic Patients to learn more about how chronic disease is treated and managed in Cuba.
One particular highlight was the group’s visit with Papito the Barber, who is spearheading a movement of socially accountable microenterprises and social projects in Havana, Cuba.  His team cleaned up one of Old Havana’s most depressed neighborhoods to provide economic and cultural development for the neighbors, who contribute a percentage of their income to sustain the project.  Initiatives of the project include a barber school for at-risk youth, a children’s playground and a social program for the neighborhood Casa de Abuelos.  As well, local artists have contributed to the project by installing paintings, murals and sculpture.  This project also happens to be one of the sites visited by President Obama during his trip to Cuba in March 2016.

To learn more about CPHE, or any of MEDICC’s other programs, visit our website.
(Pictured: CPHE National Network representatives, CPHE Program Director Diane Appelbaum, Program Manager Michelle Nader, and MEDICC representative Georgina Gomez. Photograph taken in the Old Havana neighborhood of Papito the Barber.)