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Returning to Cuba After 40 Years
ORT and the Cuban Jewish community have concluded an agreement
that will bring the Jewish high technology leader back into Cuba
for the first time in 40 years. Robert Singer, Director General
of the World ORT Union, visited Cuba in late June at the invitation
of the Cuban Jewish community. He was accompanied by Dr. Gaby
Meyassed, Director of ORT Mexico and Dr. Miguel Jusidman, who
heads the Cuban Jewish lobby in the Mexican Jewish community.
Following their meetings with leaders of the Jewish community
of Cuba including its President, Dr. Jose Miller Fredman, ORT
agreed to provide a fully-equipped computer lab and set up a computer
training program for children, teens and adults. The objective
of the adult program is to improve employment opportunities and
salaries for Cuban Jews. In addition, a CD-ROM library of Hebrew
language instruction and Judaica will be available at the computer
lab to encourage young Cuban Jews to study Hebrew and Judaism.
ORT's Cuban history goes back to 1935 when an ORT committee was
established there. An ORT school was opened in 1943 to help meet
the needs of recently-arrived refugees from Europe. It closed
in 1945 when the war ended and many of the refugees went to new
homes. In 1947, following a visit by former American ORT Executive
Director Philip
Block,
an ORT Vocational Center was founded in Havana to teach watchmaking,
dressmaking, and leather work. Although the program proved popular,
political changes and a dwindling Jewish population led to its
closure in 1959. ORT's new Cuban program will be funded by ORT
Mexico. The World ORT Union will also explore the establishment
of ORT International Cooperation projects in the country to assist
other segments of the population.