A congregation of hearts in solidarity

At first it was just a family initiative, well-intentioned and driven by the youngest, who decided to help those infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus at the height of the pandemic.

Then the goodwill became "contagious": relatives and friends joined until a WhatsApp group was born which currently has more than 200 members and is called El Corazón de Morón (The Heart of Morón), although it is now known throughout the province of Ciego de Avila.

People from other regions, most of them linked to the town of Morón by blood ties and all sensitive to the epidemiological tensions of the last months, also stepped in. As a result, there have been donations to the provincial hospitals for the benefit of the patients.

Anley Regueira Hernández, the 19 year-old young man who leads the group, has also conveyed to them messages of encouragement, hope and unity.

Thus the Cubans’ usual sensibility becomes apparent in a civic group made up of professionals, homemakers, members of religious orders and individuals with diverse sexual preferences, among many others whose only policy is love and solidarity.

“We have medical doctors, intellectuals, journalists… Even political and mass institutions have joined in. Our rules forbid political or hate speeches of any kind,” group coordinator Elaine García Cañizares said. “As the provision of relief to the hospitals increased, our group decided to extend its action to other health institutions, isolation centers, senior citizens homes, schools, and so on.”

A good part of the deliveries made at local level include toiletries and foodstuffs collected across the municipality of Morón, as evidence that human values prevail in times of scarcity.

With the tenderness that springs out from the soul of a writer of children's literature, Elaine pointed out that they also help with medicines, which they share out to those who request them.

"We take precautions to prevent anyone involved in the illegal marketing of drugs from using us,” she emphasized. “Before donating medicines, we ask doctors and nurses if they are fit for human consumption. If not, we give them to animal protection groups, so they are never wasted.”

She holds that, regardless of the aid that Cuba is receiving from various countries, the solidarity movements developed within the nation are fundamental at a time when selfishness, fear and anxiety are also raising their ugly head as an additional evil during the lashing of a pandemic.

“It is in this context that we come forward, to spread hope and raise awareness among people, gathering many hearts into a gigantic one that beats strongly: the heart of Morón,” Elaine concluded.