CAMAGÜEY.- Only in some instances did Liliana Bacallao González put herself in the "skin" of a rural woman. She always dreamed of herself being on the stage, never by the furrow or the pens. In the house of culture in her native Amancio (Las Tunas), she performed the first interpretations. Her dedication and talent paved the way for her and managed to train at the former school of art instructors El Yarey in Granma, and later she graduated from the Higher Institute of Art with a specialty in body expression.

For her social service she returned to Amancio, and of that time she has beautiful memories, like the foundation of the children's art group Azuquita, with the children of the batey, or the rescue of peasant traditions that so many accomplishments deserved at the Cucalambean Days. Her career as a professional started at the Folkloric Ballet of Camagüey, under the direction of teacher Reinaldo Echemendía, and continued with the group Teatro del Viento (Theater of Wind), which she speaks about as her great school.

Other work horizons found in Havana and then in Switzerland, where she stayed for about 10 years. The diagnosis that she was suffering from gluten Intolerance placed a new kilometer 0 in her life and decided to come back, but…

FROM TABLES TO FIELD

"We celiac patients have a permanent intolerance to gluten (protein found in wheat, oats, barley and rye) and for that disease there are no medicines. Symptoms are only reversed on a strict diet. That means we can't eat bread, pizzas, pastas, flour sweets, cold meats, smoked, nothing with preservatives. A real headache.

"Generally there are shortages of agricultural products and in many cases they appear at very high prices. Ensuring food was the priority, and my only option, planting."

Neither she nor Raidel Sanz Otero, her life partner, a graduate of a middle-level technician in machinery, knew absolutely nothing about agricultural work: "We lived in Camagüey, even though we regularly visited some of our comrades on the road to Santa Cruz del Sur and helped them as much as we could. We learned then of the possibility of requesting land under Decree-Law No. 259 and we did so."

In August 2011, they received 25 hectares of land in usufruct. The farm La Liliana was born in an area known as El Guariao, at kilometer 15 of the road to Santa Cruz del Sur. It is now defined as agro-ecological and forestry and belongs to the credit and services cooperative Camilo Cienfuegos, from Jimaguayú.

"Here the marabou was closed," Raidel recalls. In the middle of the weeds we started to disassemble and make a ring. We were cleaning and sowing to get the fruits as quickly as possible. Even my mom told me that we were crazy, that the countryside was going to age us. They assured us that it was a waste of time, effort and money. Many friends criticized us and today they have to take off their cap," remembers Sanz Otero.

Through constant hard labor and with the help of bank loans, the farm has developed. In the various crops, for example, they produce cassava during the year, they also plant corn, sweet poatato, yam, pumpkin, garlic, onion, different varieties of fruit and vegetables. They are all served by agro-ecological practices such as the application of efficient micro-organisms, the control of pests by traps of light, color and smell, the use of living barriers and the use of organic matter, among others.

They also take care of lambs, goats, Creole or Dark-Covered pigs, turkey, ducks, hens, rabbits and cattle. They deliver an average of 1,000 liters of milk a month. To guarantee the feeding of animals they have canes and king grass sowing and they work on the preparation of land to plant the yellowfin.

Soon they aspire to silage the waste from the different crops to guarantee the food in the dry period. One of the farm's achievements is the conservation and rescue of a forest of 13.5 hectares, where trees such as mije, algarroba, cedar, yaya, ocuje, ceiba and jocuma live together, many of them in danger of extinction. This area, in addition to providing refuge to bird species such as tocororos (Cuban Trogon), carpenters and cartacubas, is used for silvopastoreo, a livestock production system that combines forest resources with animals.

"All this time we have learned a lot from the experienced peasants, from their tricks to get better crops, from their delivery. I never imagined myself working the land, and you see. I do this with love; since I've previously given myself up to art, now I do it to the field, which has given me the possibility not only to guarantee the food of my family, but to help celiac children," Lili says.

HOPE NETWORK

"In consultations I met other people with the same suffering. I heard about the parents' desperation because they didn't know what to give their children for snacks and meals. The state guarantees a module for patients up to the age of 19, which is very helpful, but not enough. Camagüey also lacks a specialized gluten-free bakery.

"Knowing they have so many difficulties distressed me and we decided to give them our productions: some cassava, corn, pumpkin, some vegetables. It occurred to us then to rescue traditional dishes such as potato bread, fritters, fried root vegetable. We also made a flour with dried cassava, rice and corn, and with it we realized that you could make dumplings, pastries and pikininis. More than 15 dishes we make with the products of the farm," explains Liliana.

Through friends and family, doctors and the Office of Consumers records, this couple gradually contacted children with this condition. The idea was not only to give them some food, but to teach their parents what dishes to prepare with what was available and to offer advice on how to learn to live a gluten-free normal life.

"The nutritional support project for food allergy people was born spontaneously. We started calling them, going to their homes. With the cooperation of the local authorities, we managed to bring the children with their parents to the farm twice. During the COVID-19 quarantine we delivered a module with some sweets and bread rolls, all on a small scale because we do it with a coffee mill and a blender."

Lili smiles happy because the "family" keeps growing. "At the moment we have 83 minors and 45 young people from Camagüey, Jimaguayú, Vertientes, Nuevitas, Florida, Guáimaro and Santa Cruz del Sur. Surely there are many more. I have ties with everyone and we dream of creating a celiac association. The help of Drs. Eduardo Barreto and Adianez Sugrañes, specialists in Gastroenterology and Allergies Specialist, respectively, has been invaluable. We have the cooperation of the Party and the Government in the municipality, the ANAP, the Actaf, and many people who without being coeliac are sensitized to us. The movement has become a network."

"We never charge a penny to anyone. We do it with our resources, with the surpluses of the productions of the farm. For the project we also sow white sorghum, linaza, mijo, chia and quinoa. We want to incorporate the sesame and we already plant the first two rice strings," he says.

Lili and Raidel dream of creating a mini-industry in the province from agricultural products, produce flours, also sweets and seasonings without chemicals and that other farmers help them in their efforts. Many have judged them again as crazy for driving such a project, and they take it as an omen that they are on the right track. Nothing compares—they say—to the satisfaction of seeing celiac children come out of depressive crises and change their habits, ensuring quality of life.

If helping others without economic interests is to be crazy, then this world needs less sanity and more people like them.