Days of much altruism at the University of Matanzas

MATANZAS, Cuba, Aug 17 (ACN) “Despite the pain for the lives lost, there were days of great altruism during the fire at the supertanker base, and the University of Matanzas was one of those places where the principles of the Cuban people were ratified,” said Yasnier Hinojosa, professor of this institution and head of its Institutional Communication Department.

“As soon as we heard the news, the university community in general made a call to donate blood, and our school became an evacuation center for some 600 people were accommodated,” he explained. “It was impressive to see those who live near the supertanker base and had to leave their homes on the run sitting around in spots from where they could see the fire in the industrial zone, and they would spend hours there, worried that they would lose everything they have.”

In order to lighten people’s mood, the staff organized courses and workshops, and the Physical Culture professors worked with the children and offered tai chi practice, not without dealing with challenges such as how to win over the little sisters of one of the missing firefighters to keep them from noticing that something very unfortunate had happened to their family.

Hinojosa praised the professors who brought supplies and the artists who performed for the evacuees, as well as the support received from other universities and political and governmental authorities.

The University of Matanzas has experience in this sort of assistance in very difficult circumstances, as when it was turned into a field hospital and isolation center for COVID-19 patients. During the days of struggle against the fire at the supertanker base, it responded once again, convinced of its role as a scientific institution that gets involved and contributes to the solution.