IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | Page 20

Recreation Institute (INDER), and the National Association for the Deaf (ANSOC)

gave me the five I was short by to be able to
start the class.”

“Nowadays, you have to teach people how
to fish, not give them fish. The education is
free at my school. People tend to ask me
how much I earn from hairstyling. I tell
them that the question should be how much I
don’t earn from 10AM to 12PM, when I
teach at the school. But I’m not the only
one. Another teacher, Chino Lázaro, has his
place in Barrio Chino (Chinatown) and he
comes four mornings a week to offer students classes for free.”

nomics to the social. That’s what has had an
impact; that’s what is aimed at Cuba’s future. I cannot fix the world, but I can fix the
little piece I inhabit. The objective is that
others in other neighborhoods to the same.”

At this time, most of the students in the
course are young women who are deaf.
ANSOC offered us a sign language interpreter for the class. Papito assures that he
has learned some signs. Papito’s school also
offers clubs for high schoolers who are interested in hairstyling. I was going to interview him the day after I met him, a
Wednesday, but he already had a commitment. “I’m going to the Science Museum
with the students tomorrow.”
From practice to theory
“Our project’s backbone is culture. From
culture we go to economics, and from eco-

While he is not a Party militant, Papito believes that alliances with formal leaders—
the delegate, the council president, selfemployed people, and religious folks—are
important. “With all.” This is what allowed
him to create alliances with universities.
Two senior theses have focused on his project. One of the Patrimonio ones attempted
to recreate the Salón de Belleza and Arte
Corte Living Museum projects at a bodega,
and start a Cash Register Museum at it, but
not interrupt the bodega’s business. The
other thesis studied the productivity of the
supply chain at the business.
“There is a business belonging to the provincial government across the street that
offers electronic services. We have an
agreement with the director that if they need
a worker, to let us know, so we can find one
in the community. The young woman who

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