Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church hosted three lay leaders from its partner church in Camajuaní, Cuba, during the summer. About 20 miles inland from the northern coast, Camajuaní was established in the latter half of the 19th century as a railroad town, serving as a hub for the tobacco and sugarcane industries.
Led by Deborah Baer, Brown Memorial has been building its Cuba Partnership for over a decade, entering into an agreement with the Camajuaní church in 2019. Although Brown Memorial members had traveled to Camajuaní, the June visit to Baltimore was a first by any member of the Cuban partner congregation. The success of the journey is due in large part to the determination of Bolton Hill resident and Cuba Partnership Committee leader Morgana Kinlan.
Equally essential to the trip’s fruition was the courage and patience of the three Cuban church leaders. Our visitors navigated logistical setbacks and traveled to multiple interviews to obtain their long-shot travel visas. Changing State Department policies made the likelihood of a visit feel uncertain. Until the message came that they were leaving, I was not going to believe it, but Jorge, lay minister, Yaqueline, church administrative leader and English translator, Maykel, were confident that the partner visit was God’s intention.
I asked our Cuban partners to name some favorites from their visit. Yaquelin said while staying with Rev. Andrew Connors in Union Square, they learned about what she described as Baltimore’s “culture, customs, and community contradictions.” Maykel agreed, saying “to know the history of certain neighborhoods as well as their challenges really struck me.” Live music in the park, an Orioles game, lunch at the Hutzler house on Eutaw Place, and the natural beauty of the Greenspring Valley were some of the other memorable experiences. Yaqueline really enjoyed the historic sites of Washington D.C., describing the spectacular views from the Washington Monument of “the United States Capitol, the seat of the U.S. legislative branch, also a landmark.”
Jorge said the tour of Baltimore’s Mitchell Courthouse, including its museum and library, led by appellate court judge and Cuba partnership member, Mike Reed, was a special experience. “One beautiful thing that really impressed us was the inclusion of the LGBTQ movement,” Jorge said, noting, “the entire city was filled with flags celebrating diversity.”
It’s good to consider your town from the perspective of a visitor, and I loved helping to host our Cuban Presbyterian brothers and sister. In the future I will remember that our friends from Camajuaní were not charmed by our steamed crabs, but I probably won’t be able to resist trying again to interest them in crab cakes.
— Sarah Ramirez Cross
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