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The campaign against illiteracy was an opportunity for Cuban women to leave traditional roles and step forward to a role in the revolution. They were known as alfabetizadores or in English, literacy coaches. They were an army fighting against an imperialist power for their country. To them, being able to read and write was just a valuable to this revolution as carrying a gun in the military insurgency. Their leader Fidel Castro was behind the campaign and pushed these young women into a role that empowered them to take charge in their country.
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Brigadistas I.D. CardsThe Alfabetizadores carried these I.D. cards. Because they were seen as a powerful army and a threat to the anti-revolutionaries, some of these teachers lost their lives in violent ways. These teachers were mostly women in their teenage years. This opportunity allowed them to take part of the revolution and empowered them as women to impact the world one student at a time. Asking their parents for permission, they left home to prepare for teaching and then began their work in the rural areas of Cuba teaching each person how to read.
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Himno Del AlfabetizadoresLike an army, the Alfabetizadores had their own battle song. In the link below you can listen. Translation:
"We are the Conrado Ben´ıtez Brigade, we are the vanguard of the revolution, with books we achieve our goal of bringing literacy to all of Cuba. Through fields and over mountains, the brigadiers go, honouring the fatherland, struggling for peace. Down with imperialism! Long live liberty! We bring with words the light of truth. Cuba, Cuba, education, work, rifle, pencil, primer, manual, let’s go teach literacy, let’s go teach literacy, we shall triumph!" |
Proud TeachersMany of these women gave up everything to be trained as an alfabetizador. Some did not receive permission from their fathers, but instead left because it was an opportunity for them to do something for the revolution. They taught young children all the way to their oldest student who was 108. Their efforts were not small, and the literacy campaign continued for years.
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Who were these women?
A movie called Maestra has began to tour the world and explaining who and what these men and women did in the literacy campaign of Cuba. The film records oral histories of the women who had the job of an alfabetizadore. Directed by a San Francisco native, Catherine Murphey, she has worked in Latin America for the last ten years recording information about the literacy movement. Below is the trailer for the movie and the link to the website.
Literacy: the ability to read and write.
Writing a letter to Fidel Castro was the last element of the literacy campaign. In order to pass the program they wrote a letter to their leader. The picture to the left is a picture of one of the letters written to Fidel Castro during this campaign. The photo was taken by Linda Silvius, a blogger who visited Cuba and the Museum of Literacy in Havana.
You may think that the students were all young children, however, the oldest student was actually recorded as being 108 years old. The students were of all ages and from all areas of the country. This was their biggest fight against imperialism. If their country could promote reading then they were capable of handling education and expanding knowledge to their country.
You may think that the students were all young children, however, the oldest student was actually recorded as being 108 years old. The students were of all ages and from all areas of the country. This was their biggest fight against imperialism. If their country could promote reading then they were capable of handling education and expanding knowledge to their country.
"There are two armies in our nation: one armed with rifles and cannons to defend the work of the revolution, and one armed with books to advance the revolution; one army to combat foreign enemies, traitors and those who would destroy what we have accomplished, and another army to combat lack of culture and illiteracy. The revolution needs both these armies, one can do nothing without the other." - Fidel castro ‘Speech at Varadero to Departing Conrado Ben´ıtez Brigadistas and Their Families, Mother’s Day, 14 May 1961.
Learning to Read
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"People need revolution in order to develop and advance. . . . When the wealth of a nation is in the
hands of another nation, a revolution is needed to recover that wealth. When the humble men and women of a country live without work, without land to cultivate, without education, they must create a revolution." -Fidel Castro This quote completely captures the mindset of the people behind the literacy campaign. They truly fought for the betterment of their people and their country. They faced violence, hardship, and abandonment from family, but they taught the citizens of Cuba to read and write. |
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Cuba: Literacy Today
Literacy is defined by the CIA World Fact Book as the amount of people who are able to read over the age of fifteen. It is important to note that what the alfabetizadores did in the early years of the Cuban Revolution did not stop. Today in 2015, the literacy rate over the whole country is 99.8% both male and female. The average amount of school received by both male and female is fourteen years. Education is still very important to them. 11,031,433 people living in Cuba as of July 2015, and the majority of them can all read.
