Don’t give up on Cuba

In 2013, we were very fortunate to have joined a People to People bus tour of Cuba. We had 12 days of amazing memories. Outside of Havana, the primary means of transportation were either horse-drawn carts which carried six to eight people, bicycles or hitchhiking. People would stand beside the road holding out money in hopes of being picked up. Driving through most towns, we saw very few TV antennas and even fewer window air-conditioning units. Many homes had laundry hanging outside on clotheslines.

The people were poor and had very few luxuries, but do not confuse being poor with poverty. We saw no signs of hunger or malnutrition. Clothes were clean and not ragged. There was no trash littering the roads or towns. What we did see was a lot of social activity. In the evenings we saw people sitting on porches and interacting in small groups. Children rode bicycles while some men had horse-drawn carts carrying passengers. We ate in restaurants approved by the Cuban government and two private restaurants which our guide and bus driver, being government employees, were not allowed to enter.

Our last 3 nights were spent at Cayo Coco, a resort on the north coast of Cuba. It had beautiful white sand, clear blue water, and everything you would expect at any resort in Florida except Americans. It had a German cruise ship docked and lots of European tourists. Don’t let Donald Trump take the opportunity to visit Cuba away from you.

Sanford

Confederate statue doesn’t belong

Kudos to Tavares Mayor Troy Singer and Pastor Mike Watkins for their stand against bringing the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith to the Lake County Historical Museum (“Church to march in protest of statue,” June 10). Smith has no connection to Lake County, and as far as we know, he never stepped foot in Lake.

Some would argue that history is being denied by refusing to accept this symbol of hate. Well, I say that the only thing this statue would bring to Lake County is more division. We need to build bridges, tear down barriers, and begin healing. Smith’s likeness won’t heal old wounds, it will only serve to open them.

I hope that every mayor in Lake will join Mayor Singer in Tallahassee to gain the support of Gov. DeSantis in the quest to keep Smith’s statue out of Lake County. I plan to be walking along side Pastor Watkins on Aug. 8 as he marches down Main Street in Tavares toward the Historical Museum, where we will gather to protest the statue and what it represents. Even though it’s unlikely, it sure would be nice if a few of our county commissioners would take a stand against this statue and join us.

The Lake County Historical Museum is not a Civil War museum, nor is it an American history museum. It is a museum that represents the rich, and often tragic, history of Lake County. The statue of Edmund Kirby Smith doesn’t belong in the Lake County Historical Museum. Mount Dora

Paying child-care workers

Elizabeth Warren, through her universal child care plan, wants child care workers to be paid comparable to public school teachers. Realistically, that’s not going to happen. Her plan is to make day care and preschool affordable for all children. I agree with that wholeheartedly, but it doesn’t give specifics on how an estimated 2 million people working in child care will be making more money. Child-care workers like me often can’t even get past $10 an hour, even after taking a mandatory 40-hour DCF training course and earning other certifications. Until we provide funds for all caregivers getting this necessary training and more, and give them a living wage, we will always fall short of what a public school teacher makes.

Mount Dora