CAMAGÜEY.- One of the most vulnerable sectors of the world population is the elderly. Not only the contagion by COVID -19, in recent times, has caused greater risks to grandparents within society. As dangerous as the virus are loneliness, inattention, and physical and verbal abuse experienced by some of those who already have gray hair.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), it is expected that by 2050, the number of people over 60 years of age will double worldwide. In the Latin American continent, in 2025, they will represent 18.6% of the total with a rapid rise, along with the Caribbean, of these demographic indices, behind Africa.
Faced with the rapid growth of this population in Cuba, one of the nations expected to be one of the oldest in the world, in 2050, policies have been adopted to improve their quality of life and physical and mental well-being. For this purpose, initiatives have been implemented such as the creation of institutional centers specialized in Gerontology and Geriatrics, the so-called Grandparents' Houses and the facility of social assistance to those elderly people abandoned by their relatives, who live alone or have proven to be vulnerable from the implementation of the Economic Reorganization in the country.
The University Chairs for the Elderly (Cuam) have also proven their worth as a favorable option to increase the improvement of these individuals, essential and determining factors within our socialist system. In the work Cuba in Data, How does the Cuban population age ?, published in Cubadebate, in 2020, its authors reveal that the educational level of those who are 50 years old and over is 46.9%. Meanwhile, at the university level, women in their sixties occupy 15.7% and men, 20.9%.
The creation of the Cuam, initially in Havana and later spread throughout the provinces, has presented valuable results throughout its more than two decades of operation. In Camagüey, despite the limitations caused by COVID-19, the conscious efforts that have been carried out in the educational improvement of this age group, since 2009, are representative.
HIGH RANK SCHOOLS
About the project, its coordinator Viviana Caballero Vidal speaks: “academically it consists of a Basic Course that lasts one year and several of continuity. At the beginning, the participants are requested to meet two requirements for their enrollment: to be retired and to be 60 years of age or older. But after its initial stage, the classrooms of the chair opened for any older person who feels motivated to continue learning and develop social and affective skills.
The program has members both at the Camagüey headquarters and in the remaining municipalities. For care in these municipal enclaves, there are 30 community classrooms distributed in places with greater access for the elderly population. In the province, these spaces have been created in care centers for the elderly who have certain vulnerabilities such as Grandparents' Homes, Homes for the Elderly, local museums, health areas, Primary and Secondary Schools, among other places ”.
Another of the strengths of the initiative has been the incorporation of a faculty of highly qualified professors and collaborators with the category of PhDs and masters. "In this way it has been achieved that more than 80% belong to the House of Higher Studies, which allows a process of more institutionalization," said Caballero Vidal. One of the teachers who has planted the seed of the intellect, is Ana Jústiz Guerra, assistant educator of the Department of Spanish Discipline, at the University of Camagüey.
“I was not part of that noble proposal, since its inception but in 2018 I was invited to participate in a meeting with the elders of the Home in Ferrómnibus. There I talked with them about Martí and his relationship with the figure of Don Mariano. The experience was impressive because I dealt with adults who are more physically and mentally impaired. However, there was a lot of participation and a nonagenarian one dedicated a poem to me ”, the teacher comments, gratified.
However, their experiences with this audience have been diverse: “In 2019, I taught the course 'Martí and old age' in 6 CUAM groups, located at El Hogar de Padre Olallo, La UNEAC, El Hogar de Ferrómnibus, The Red Cross, the Pedagogical School and the Transport Union, here I also gave a discussion: The Golden Age, a school for adults. The CUAM encourages adults other types of activities such as the projection of the film Inocencia, the exchange with film specialists, visit to the House of Cultural Diversity, to the Model of the City and celebration of collective birthdays ”.
Jústiz Guerra comments how spiritually, the change has been substantial in her students. “They have raised their self-esteem, they have shared experiences, they have encouraged their knowledge, they have felt complete. In my experience, I have developed on a different plane that makes me more understanding, more patient, more human and a better professional. In the words of one of the participants in the life stories course, I have given them light ”.
Silvio González Rivero, 75, alleges that “the Chair” gave him the possibility of “exchanging with other people, and above all receiving the treasure of wisdom. Many of us have our own ailments of age, but I think that we have learned, during our lessons, to overcome these difficulties, ”says this man, who was the best graduate of 2018-2019 and intervened at significant moments in our history as Delegate to the 2nd Congress of the PCC, and to support the cleaning of bandits, in the Escambray, while he was piloting a plane.
In the decisive formation of the students, the PhD. Matilde Varela Aristigueta also intervenes. Her incursion into the University of the Elderly came “through the José Martí Cultural Society where she taught a community course on the life of the National Hero. She has been in this experience for four years and it has been very gratifying for the human quality, the decency and the respect of the students. It is very encouraging to be able to notice her devotion to the life and work of the Apostle and her permanent interest in investigating more.
“In our course we have Martí chronology as a guideline and from it we stop at its essential documents so that a comprehensive vision of the politician and creator is obtained, which contributes to weighing the admiration for the Master and to understand the genius of his thought and to act in such a way that the reasons that make it a timeless idea for today's Cuba can be evidenced. "
The specialist states that "those who underestimate the abilities of these trainees are wrong," my big boys "as I call them. From experience, I can tell you that the interventions in classes and the final works to close the course that they present are very professional and are not at all in the elementary ”. Matilde points out that it is stimulating to appreciate how companionship exists, among them, not only for teaching matters, and that possibility of socializing is enhanced in the project.
"After my arrival at these courses, my existence changed completely", confesses the retired Olga Rodríguez Vilariño, who worked as an advisor for radio programs. “I increased my friendships, I related to a very human group, and I have even enjoyed the political and recreational activities that we have organized. It is always good to have a coffee, with good company. We hope that the pandemic ends to return to normality and recover those moments ”.
Sighs after the period of social isolation imposed by the pandemic, a telephone accompaniment is carried out for the elderly who are part of "the Chair" in the Camagüey municipality. The program is called “Close to you”. "Students from the Faculty of Social and Humanistic Sciences, from the degrees of Psychology and Sociology and research professors from the Project" Strategy for comprehensive care for the elderly participate, "Caballero Vidal added.
On the other hand, Ana Jústiz, asserted that “this long period of suffering from the virus has been very difficult for everyone, but the elderly sector has felt its severity more strongly. Staying in their homes does not allow the elderly to converge in the usual spaces, receive their academic activities or participate in recreational activities. There is only telephone communication for those who have access to this route, but there are only a few ”.
For Matilde Varela, the current context has meant a halt for this age group “but the calls have not lacked, asking her about the continuity of the course; as much as they do, I long for this to end ”, and she referred to her wishes to restart the different forms of learning because, as she says, they are all soaked in the teachings of the Cuam.
The figures communicate by themselves: so far, more than 3,200 older adults of various origins and educational levels have graduated in the territory. Doctors, housewives, teachers, workers, farmers, engineers and graduates stand out. Each one represents the value of life and the efforts of a Revolution that works, for the creation of full and useful individuals, even in their third age.
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez