American Group Builds Playgrounds in Cuba


American Group Builds Playgrounds in Cuba
By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press WriterFri Sep 30, 5:11 AM ET

A group of Americans has found a unique way to work in Cuba despite tough
U.S. restrictions on travel to the communist-run island: building
playgrounds for children.

Forty-nine volunteers led by San Diego real estate investor Bill Hauf are
spending the week digging holes and assembling modern park equipment in four
Havana neighborhoods.

But they aren't talking about politics, particularly the U.S. trade and
travel restrictions aimed at squeezing the communist-run island's economy
and pushing out President Fidel Castro.

"We have been very successful with this project because we have been
apolitical," Hauf said. "Both governments seem to understand this program is
to help children - in this case, they happen to be Cuban children. Our
objective is to not take political sides."

Hauf led his first group of American volunteers here two years ago to help
construct three playgrounds.

The Treasury Department grants Americans licenses to travel to Cuba for
humanitarian, religious and academic trips. The U.S. travel ban prohibits
all Americans from ordinary tourism in Cuba.

As the government has tightened those limits, the numbers of Americans
visiting has dropped. And those who do come seem increasingly reticent to
speak out against the decades-old U.S. policy.

The number of Americans coming to Cuba fell 40 percent from 85,809 in 2003
to 51,027 last year, according to a Cuban government report issued this week
in protest against U.S. sanctions. The numbers fell further in 2005, the
report said.

So-called "people-to-people" travel was encouraged under former President
Clinton to plant democratic ideals in Cuba. But President Bush's
administration has sought more stringent enforcement of the restrictions
forbidding most travel here.

The Bush government complains many American travelers and institutions given
U.S. licenses abuse them by engaging in "disguised tourism."

New U.S. rules purportedly aim to cut down on tourism under academic or
humanitarian pretenses and ensure Americans see more than white-sand beaches
and salsa concerts. Those coming without permission are being fined in
record numbers.

"We have to be extremely cautious and make sure that they really want to
come and work every day," Hauf said of the volunteers for the
playground-building trip. "So far, we've had 100 percent participation."

Americans in shorts and baseball caps set up brightly colored climbing
equipment on a recent scorching day in a corner park in a western Havana
neighborhood while passers-by peered through a metal fence.

"How lovely!" exclaimed 65-year-old Candidad Gallego, an umbrella shading
her from the sun's intense rays. "We are really happy with this - my
granddaughter can hardly wait to come."

The Americans came from more than a dozen states. A dance instructor from
Illinois and a retired military officer in Oregon were among them.

"Some of the buildings look really old, it's so different," Katie Roberts, a
17-year-old from Arlington, Va., said of Havana. "But it's good just to be
outside the little bubble we live in. This is a lot more rewarding than the
beach."

The high school senior's father, Mike Roberts, said he was seeing a
different side of Cuba than the one presented by the U.S. government.

"We are so isolated from the Cubans," said the older Roberts, an attorney
who represents a shipping company with service to Cuba. "We have impressions
that tend to be distorted because of the rhetoric our governments throw at
people."

The group - It's Just the Kids, Inc. - was constructing four new playgrounds
on the weeklong trip ending Saturday. They can return to Cuba in the spring
to build four more under its two-year U.S. license.



http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050930/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_us_playgrounds_1


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