On one occasion, José de la Luz y Caballero said: “Anyone can teach, but only those who are a living gospel can educate.” Keeping this saying in mind does great credit to Alina, an educator at the Futuros Constructores Childcare Center. She is sweet, clear-minded, humble, and possesses an unparalleled skill for shaping the “little princes” José Martí spoke of.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Visiting this educational facility is a pleasant experience. Here, one senses optimism, affection, discipline, and responsibility. In one of the classrooms, Alina is surrounded by children who sing of their dreams and enjoy their games. She tells them stories, tears up paper, colors with crayons, brings puppets to life, and guides the little ones in caring for the environment for the sake of community life.
As the founder of the Childcare Center, she arrived before the center opened its doors; on July 22, 1988, she was already there, cleaning and preparing the space to welcome the children. The educational center was officially founded on the 26th, but she was already part of that story. She hasn’t stopped working since then. This is her 39th school year. Only the pregnancies with her two children kept her away temporarily. “I’ve been lucky not to get sick very often,” she says.
She has worked with children of all ages. Today she is in a classroom that combines third, fourth, and fifth grades. “This is my third year working with fifth graders,” she explains. “This is my life, my second home,” she affirms.
She is 56 years old. She acknowledges that she still has four years left until retirement. She dreams of returning to work when the time comes. She can’t imagine life without that daily routine of leaving for work. “It’s been many years of going to work. With no set time to come home,” she says.
There are difficulties, and she doesn’t hide them. “We lack many things, but what we don’t lack is the desire to work and our love for the children,” she says. “We’re short on art supplies; colored paper and crayons are scarce, but we have a little bit here and there —there are always people who help,” she explains. “Even if there isn’t a box of crayons for every child, they manage so the group can work at each table. And that’s how we get things done —little by little, we figure it out.”
“No one knows how wonderful it is to be treated with such love by the children. Sometimes on the street they see me and call me ‘auntie,’ and I think, ‘Oh my God, who could that be?’ That’s beautiful,” she says.
After 39 school years, Alina repeats the phrase that has always guided her: “If I were born again, I’d be a preschool teacher once more, because to me, a child is the greatest thing there is.”
