Scholarships, Fears And Attractions

Scholarships, Fears And Attractions / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez

14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, 27 September 2016 – The woman
approaches without fear or hesitation. "How can my son apply for one of
the scholarships mentioned on television?" she asks me abruptly. It
takes me a few seconds to realize what she's talking about, for the
images to come to mind of young Cuban students engaged in demonstrations
called by the government to reject the programs of the World Learning
organization.

She waits a few minutes, standing next to me, eager to have an email
address she can write to, a bridge for her child to learn another
reality. The slogans against the US NGO launched by officialdom don't
seem to have swayed her. When I ask her if she is aware of the
government campaign attacking this program, which is targeted to Cuban
youth between 16 and 18, she responds with a very popular phrase: "In
this case, it's all the same to me to me to be the pedestrian, or the
driver who runs over him."

Fear no longer works as it once did. A few decades ago, it was enough
for any phenomenon or person to be demonized on television for the
circle of silence and fear to close around them. Now, the volume at
which the extremists shout is inversely proportional to the interest in
the object of their animosity. Without realizing it, the Party
propaganda of recent days is helping to advertise the existence of some
scholarships that were known to only a tiny part of the island's population.

The woman is not afraid. She sticks close to me for help in some details
that will allow her son "to breathe other air." Like her, thousands of
parents throughout the island watch their children leave for school,
where in morning assemblies they shout their rejection of the new
"manipulations of imperialism." At home, the adults move heaven and
earth to inscribe their children's names on the list for the next round
of scholarships.

Source: Scholarships, Fears And Attractions / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez –
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/scholarships-fears-and-attractions-14ymedio-yoani-sanchez/