Listening is the essence
• Cuba has 173 Guidance Centers for Women and
Families, located in every municipal headquarters of the
Federation of Cuban Women

Lisandra Fariñas Acosta

ANYONE may knock at their doors. Help is assured because the philosophy which has guided these centers for 20 years is based on listening, before questioning. Work is directed toward the heart of Cuban families, unavoidably the scene of conflict and contradictions at times.

Guiding and reflecting with love within communities, offering alternatives and strategies to confront family conflict, and providing citizens with the tools they need to grow as human beings and community members, is the objective of the

Casas de Orientación a la Mujer y la Familia (Guidance Centers for Women and Families). These centers emerged in the 1990’s, as another of Vilma Espín’s ideas to strengthen community work undertaken by the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC).

November 28, the national press was invited to the guidance center located in the Havana municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, where the FMC has spearheaded outstanding work.

We were received by a graduating class of artisans who recently concluded a course with an exhibition of their astonishing pieces; some 20 senior citizens who discuss violence and human rights in an improvised classroom as part of university studies they are pursuing; and a group of women avidly investigating communication strategies, a key element of their executive secretary training. This is the day to day routine observed at the Center, where the doors are always open to knowledge, improvement and development.

"This place is a marvel. Since I first arrived, I have felt welcome. I have learned to move forward and improved my self-esteem," Niuris Simón commented to Granma. She is one of the women studying to become a secretary. Before joining the class, she was employed as a security guard and faced with a conflict between her work schedule and classes, she chose to remain in the program, to improve herself.

Despite being a mature woman, she is giving her life a new direction, wanting to continue improving in a number of ways. She will emerge with a diploma attesting to her knowledge, which will serve her well along her future career path.

The centers are most commonly identified with the training programs they offer to both men and women in the community, but their work is much broader.

Mirta López, psychologist and director of the center in Plaza, explained that the principal courses offered include tailoring, crochet, cooking, hairdressing, barbering, management, library skills and gastronomy.

"We work fundamentally along three lines, from counseling and personal guidance, to group work and training. We begin with the diagnostic, and the characterization of the region based on the needs and motivations of the community itself," she said.

To carry out the effort, she reported, the center has a multidisciplinary team of 32 specialists and volunteer collaborators, and the support of various institutions in the area, including the community mental health center, the Joaquín Albarrán Hospital, the Center for Protection of Girls, Boys and Adolescents, Legal Services and the Psychological-Sociological Research Center.

"During 2012, we provided services to 20,485 persons, 2,868 men and 17,617 women", the director said, insisting on the need to overcome the perception that the center is for women only, since it is associated with the FMC. Its principal objective is to serve the entire family.

According to López, predominating in the individual counseling and guidance work are family conflicts related to partner relations and difficulties between siblings or other family members. "These conflicts are often affected by housing issues, situations in which several generations live together provoking conflict. Other problems with which we are often approached relate to the poor management of a divorce, problems with the established regimen for communication between children and parents, and child support. People also come to us with depression, anxiety and addiction issues, which have been caused by, or resulted in, domestic violence."

"It is common that these persons have not identified that they are being subjected to violence, fundamentally it’s psychological, that’s the most frequent variant we face here at the center," López continued.

Differentiated work with various groups - older adults, adolescents, boys, girls and pregnant women – is a priority for the center which offers talks, workshops and presentations in the community on a variety of topics including preventative heath care, responsible parenting, breast-feeding and addiction issues.

"Ours is the most elderly municipality in the country, making it critically important to train our elderly in nutrition, handicrafts, therapeutic physical and mental exercise. They should understand that allowing themselves free time has value. They can support the family without taking on all the responsibility. Likewise, we prepare our young people in terms of sexual and reproductive health.

"We do not want to miss the opportunity to recognize the extraordinary work done by our collaborators," Mirta López said, emphasizing the valuable contribution these volunteers make.

"They use their free time, after their work day, to help at the Center. It is a strength of the Federation of Cuban Women. We have the support of the neighborhood and grassroots organizations. When a family with difficulties is identified, or a young person not integrated, not wanting to stay in school, we provide guidance and many join us to learn a trade."

Guidance Centers for Women and Families also prioritize training for their own professionals, community directors, health corps members and volunteer social workers, in sensitive social topics such as gender equity, violence and equal rights. Training is provided in a broad range of issues, from HIV-AIDS prevention, addictions, tuberculosis, breast and cervical cancer, to mosquito control campaigns.

Many of these issues are addressed in the 165 training programs offered by centers, according to the director.

The community recognition of these centers says a great deal about the value of their work. The staff, however, believes there is much to do to ensure that all citizens are aware that unconditional help is available, close at hand.

Ana Mercedes Cruz, coordinator of the center in Santa Clara, the first to be founded in the country, told Granma that the goal is not that guidance centers mobilize communities or serve massive numbers, but that they help families, as needed, to make changes. She believes that they have met this goal.

Oneida Broche, secretary of an FMC branch in Plaza, comments that this is one of the challenges facing the Federation, "We still have many weaknesses in stable functioning in all regions. We do many things on one occasion, with individuals or groups, not taking into consideration that to make change, work must be organized as a continuous process. Many centers have achieved this, but we must continue working."

It is through respect for the family that we learn to respect ourselves and develop a culture of peace, which will allow us to live appropriately within a community.

The FMC’s Guidance Centers for Women and Families can do a great deal to make this aspiration a reality, as another expression of the victories won by Cuban women, which the youngest among us have enjoyed since our births.