History

The Canadian Cuban Friendship Association was formed in 1961 on the initiative of several people who had visited Cuba following the revolution and were anxious to help the cause of socialist Cuba.

In 1962, three specialists from Vancouver, Dr. James Lindsay, Steve Rankin and Gunnar Gislason, moved with their families to Cuba to lend their professional expertise to the building of the new Cuban society. Steve Rankin worked in Cuba as a civil engineer, and geologist Gunnar Gislason was a geologist who helped in mapping and prospecting Cuba’s mineral resources. Dr. Lindsay worked for the Cuban Ministry of Health both in industrial medicine and on combatting epidemics. In 1965 he was named Doctor of the Year. After his return to Canada, Jim Lindsay remained active in the movement to support Cuba for the rest of his life.

In the early days, most of the Canadians who visited Cuba did so at Cuban invitation and expense. Many of the visitors on their return joined the Association and worked in various ways to spread knowledge of and friendship with Cuba among Canadians. It was an expensive but necessary way for Cuba to get its message abroad.

About 1966 we concluded that it was time to stop relying on tours sponsored by Cuba and to start organizing tours of self-paying tourists. Cuba welcomed this initiative and in the spring of 1966 my late wife Gladise and myself led the first such tour. While in Cuba, we visited the Abel Santamaria School for the Blind. It had about 70 blind children and five teachers, who had to make do with about three ancient Braillewriters. It was explained to us that the only source of the Braillewriters was the US, and due to the embargo they could not have bought more even if the money was available. On our return, Gladise proposed that we should organize one or two tours every year and, taking advantage of the practice of providing one free trip for every fifteen tourists, the equivalent of the tour cost for the tour leader could be set aside for the Abel Santamaria School and other Cuban projects. During the next fifteen years, there were roughly thirty such tours. Most of them were led by Gladise, who as tour leader was entitled to the free trip but paid the equivalent into a trust account. In addition each tour who visited the School was solicited for donations. On average, about two thousand dollars per trip was thus made available. It was used to import braille equipment into Canada which was then relayed to Cuba as hand luggage by the following tour group. We also provided the Abel Santamaria School with a tape recorder, a full complement of instruments for an orchestra and many other supplies. When Gladise died in 1981, thousands of dollars of dollars were donated in her memory to the Abel Santamaria School. The Cuban Ministry of Education sponsored a memorial meeting at the school, which was attended by a charter plane-load of Canadians who had travelled to Cuba for
the occasion.

From 1981 to 1991 Peggy Chunn was the leader of CCFA and continued the tours to Cuba. Today, with the development of mass tourism to the island and direct charter flights from Vancouver, organizing official tours is not a major part of our activities, though several of our members do so with the Association’s cooperation and support. However our commitment to the Abel Santamaria School for the Blind remains as strong as ever.

By Emil Bjarnason


		Home

History of CCFA