Cayo Granma, in Santiago de Cuba, was one of the areas devastated by Hurricane Melissa in October, leaving a landscape of sadness and desolation.
However, a group of young people from Avila reached the islet with the idea of providing some comfort and bringing smiles back to the children in the area.
“Here I share one of the most beautiful moments of today with the children of Cayo Granma, as we tried to brighten their day with some soccer balls. We ended up really tired, tomorrow we will be in Guamá, so this is awesome, old man, awesome,” wrote the jeweler Mijail García, one of the driving forces behind the initiative along with his friend Leandro Guerra.
The writer and activist Yasser Sosa Tamayo, who has documented this solidarity journey on social media, described in Facebook the visit to the small islet.
In her text “Toti and the Islet That Resists,” she narrated how young people brought donations, hugs, and hope to a community that lost almost everything.
There they met Toti, a nurse who lost his belongings during the hurricane, but not his calling to serve.
"We brought her a television and a multi-purpose pot. When we handed them over, Toti said nothing: she just cried," Sosa wrote, describing a moment that, according to him, symbolizes the strength and nobility of the Cuban people.
Days before, the activist had recounted on Facebook the departure from Ciego de Ávila of the two young jewelers, who gathered donations with the support of neighbors and friends.
"They are not coming to sell anything, they are coming to spread love," Sosa wrote, emphasizing that his initiative was born from the entire Avileño community, driven by empathy for those affected in Santiago de Cuba.
The day at Cayo Granma, characterized by football, laughter, and the excitement of the little ones, concluded a day that showed that solidarity also heals wounds and restores faith where the hurricane left emptiness.
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