CAMAGÜEY.- The steps are heard heavy but fast. The serious demeanor of the boss intimidates. She comes from discussing a problem, her tired face shows it. The eternal staircase that goes up to her office seems to have done its thing too. She arrives and gives a kiss to those who work there. Very punctual, it was just the time agreed for the interview.
She sits in the typical desk swivel chair. The seat moves constantly, she doesn't notice it, her voice isn't heard either, but she's nervous. She lowers her head, she blushes, she says all the time: “oh, my mother”. She sweats at the questionnaire. She finds it difficult to talk about herself; perhaps that is why she uses both the pluralized “we” and the pluralized “I”, due to the habit of including all the people who inhabit her in her speech.
For the first question, the deputy and President of the Municipal Assembly had already disappeared. Dixamis Rodríguez Gómez struck me as a rebellious and anxious girl, with freshly made braids, still nervous, but curious.
“I come from a very humble home and in my childhood perhaps I did not have all the material things possible, but I was a happy girl; leader among my peers, I liked to help and defend them. I always had many friends. I was also mischievous, restless and with responsibilities since I was little, characteristics that continued throughout my adolescence and youth, although with a little more maturity”.
She belonged to the faction of "Los valientes" and as part of this, she graduated as a General Comprehensive Professor in Havana, the best of her promotion. Education keeps one of its most precious pieces of the many pieces that make it up.
“I worked in Havana and here in Camagüey. At that stage I was able to relate to young people just like me, with the same codes, interests and preferences. I think I could mention all the teachers with whom I have worked, because that time left indelible marks on me. When I was only 23 years old, I faced the educational work at the ESBU Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda with a highly experienced faculty that demanded the most from me in terms of my preparation. Then I worked at the Esteban Borrero Junior High School, which had more than 1,700 students, and at the Inés Luaces Mixed Center: one challenge after another. Education gave me the best of my learning, it made me the teacher that I am and will always be. In my current responsibilities, this has helped me to talk to people, to be more sensitive, to get involved, to understand and respect diversity, because a town is like a school where different people live together, with different needs, characteristics, interests and problems.”
She calls it “my community”, because Los Coquitos has been that place to experience, learn and dream.
It “has given me the challenge of accompanying them in their difficulties and challenges. Being part of the neighborhood and trying to transform it is a privilege. As a delegate I have not only had the opportunity to help people with material matters and daily problems. Spiritual accompaniment sometimes overcomes any obstacle. As the mother of a teenager, I am very concerned about the future of the new generations, so that they have a guarantee of a better place to live”.
Dixamis, a woman who takes firm steps towards empowerment and leadership, a woman who describes herself as free and happy, a woman who thinks, projects and yes, with flaws, fears, insecurities, sadness and problems. She carries a town on her back and that is not a light load, but a young woman who gives a kiss after climbing that infinite staircase is a good person.
“I dream a lot, I dream of seeing my son grow up with positive values, I dream that my family will always be healthy, and for my people I dream so much… A more equitable country, that always maintains its principles and aspirations for social justice, a country in that we all work to enforce the laws, a country without a blockade and without pressure, a country that never lets itself be broken, a country that never forgets Fidel and his history. I also dream of a Cuba for young people, a future that should always be better."
Within those dreams there is also room for shortening the stairs, although she has the best office of hers on the street and in the neighborhood.
—If the Dixamis girl saw you now and was in front of you, what would she say to you?
—That girl would scold me for many things, for her impetus and her dreams, because sometimes I want to handle everything at the same time and she was mischievous and restless, without limits. But she would also feel proud to see me grow and learn every day, at least I would like that, that the girl I was looks at me and feels proud.
The chair stops and she will have to get down again
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez