This first-time association of students on site was an important step in the inter-university cooperation, the implementation of which took place surprisingly quickly. The aim of this trip was academic exchange and field research in the fields of sociology, social work, social policy and socio-cultural development management between students and professors from the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin and the Cuban University of Sancti Spíritus "José Martí Pérez".
On paper only ten days, but it felt like half a year - this is how the remarkable programme organized by Dr. José Ramon Neira and Dra. C. Doralquis León González can be described thanks to its richness.
A dozen interesting lectures by UNISS lecturers and, in some cases, state officials awaited the Berlin students. The topics ranged from the history of Cuba to social policy, economics and environmental policy - always translated by Dr. C. Felipe Hernandez Pentón. There were also visits to Radio Sancti Spiritus and a workshop for people with disabilities, as well as to a teaching workshop organized and run by older people. Further excursions to various communities outside of Sancti Spíritus were possible, which showed what everyday life and the working methods of Cuban social workers look like, which provided a number of "aha" experiences regarding socio-cultural work in Cuba.
It should be emphasized that the Cuban organizers invested an extraordinary amount of effort and energy in this programme. The excursions are particularly worth mentioning here, as petrol is a rarity in Cuba, which in turn makes transportation within the country a luxury that locals can hardly afford - and yet a bus was specially provided to give the group of students a deep insight into the country.
But was the aim of the trip - academic exchange and field research - achieved?
One student summed it up: "I learned more here in two days than I did in two years at university in Berlin."
The Cuban students were also full of eagerness to learn, showed their home and showed the German students selfless hospitality, but above all that warmth and humanity that is sometimes sought in vain in Germany. As one Cuban said on the subject of racism: "Everyone here sits at the same table and drinks from the same glass of rum."
A symbol of what this exchange wanted to achieve: it was not just about understanding the Cuban system, but rather about showing the participants what community actually means and how we should strive for it not only around us, but above all around the world.
With cultural social work.
With international cooperation.
But above all: with solidarity.
Because solidarity is what holds humanity together.
