Daily Cuba | 7/30 | Cienfuegos Travel Photographer

Protection

Where are all the kids?

Surprisingly, I saw very few young Cuban children. Very, very few. Maybe a dozen babies all week long. I thought it was just because since education is free all of them were always in school. Turns out, school is only four hours a day. I was in some of the biggest, busiest cities and some of the smallest, forgotten towns and it was always the same… where are all the kids? This mama heart was longing for some kiddos.

Then I realized… a universal parenting trait is protection of one’s children.

For years the Cuban people have been trained to distrust anything and everything from the United States.

I am from the United States.

I’m not seeing any children because their parents are protecting them FROM ME.

I’m happy to report that after a week of doing nothing aside of loving on anyone that would let us even if that looked like schlepping huge, heavy rocks and mounds of dirt from one pile to another to prove ourselves… I started seeing their kids. Because they let us. Progress. Yes, Lord.