Sonia Peña Valdez, a Master in Educational Psychology, has been involved in education in Las Tunas for over four decades, from her time at the Pedagogical School to the University. But she cherishes three moments in her life: those in which she stood face to face with Fidel Castro Ruz. Three encounters that, she confesses, taught her that the greatness of a leader is measured by their ability to listen.
It was January 1978, the Pedagogical School of Las Tunas was a hive of activity, and Sonia, barely 18 years old, was one of the newly graduated teachers who had stayed on at the institution. They were young women full of dreams, their hands still fresh from the diplomas that certified them as teachers. “Graduating from the Pedagogical School was the greatest dream we had pursued for years.”
“It was a day like any other, and we were cleaning. We never imagined that Fidel would arrive at that moment,” she recalls.
“Being face to face with the Comandante was awe-inspiring. His slender figure, steeped in extraordinary events, transformed this moment into something sublime, a unique opportunity to meet a special human being, so full of symbolism.”
“He was interested in everyone, in the youth, in the need for us to keep striving for self-improvement,” she says. But he also spoke to them about something else: the upcoming internationalist missions in Nicaragua. “He was a person who inspired tremendous emotion, kind, polite, and above all, communicative.”
But there is something that marked her more than any other quality: “The most important thing about Fidel was that he knew how to listen. He knew about everything; he would ask you questions, but he listened to you first. That level of communication he had with people was very important.”
That first encounter would mark the beginning of a relationship that would recur two more times. That same year, Sonia participated in the Festival of Youth and Students, and at that moment, Fidel once again made contact with young Cubans.
Then, in 1980, this remarkable teacher was selected to serve on an internationalist mission in Nicaragua as a primary school teacher. “For Fidel, the most important thing wasn't the great leaders or formal meetings. For him, the most important thing was the workers, knowing how they were, how they felt, his concern for human beings,” she affirms, her voice trembling with emotion.
“And that was very moving, because I will cherish that memory forever.” An educator still active, who speaks of the Commander with the same emotion as the day she met him, Peña Valdez continues working in the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, training new generations of educators with the same fervor she had when she began this career at just 18 years old.
The Master in Educational Psychology proudly cherishes the memory of her three encounters with Fidel Castro Ruz, who listened to her youthful dreams and accompanied her on her path to teaching.
