Dear Friends,
As 2020 comes to an end, we reflect on the year we are leaving behind and look forward to what lies ahead. This year has been difficult and frightening, but it has also given us time to think about the practices, narratives and visions that keep us hopeful. Today we look back at Cuba Platform’s 2020 highlights and wish you a New Year full of good trouble and deep connections.
- Sarah, Justine, Mariakarla
Seminar in Oxford: How to Create More Caring Societies
On January 23, the Cuba Platform and collabo rators sat down for a round table seminar at the Atlantic Institute in Oxford. We had no idea it would be our last opportunity for international travel in 2020, but Daybel Pañellas (University of Havana, Cuba), Beverley Skeggs (Lancaster University, UK) and Saida Ali’s (Senior Atlantic Fellow, Kenya) comments on the urgency and importance of creating more caring societies and economies now feel prescient.
Tracking Cuba’s Response to COVID19
When COVID19  hit, Cuba responded in three important ways: immediate implementation of a national containment plan; deployment of Cuban medical professionals to global hot spots; and a spontaneous outpouring of creativity, resilience and solidarity from within communities. We have worked to closely track Cuba’s response, analyze it with Cuban colleagues and document best practices.
Caring in Crisis Newsletter
On March 20 we launched a bilingual newsletter to share some of these findings as they emerged and examine the question: “what does a caring response to pandemic look like?” We’ve highlighted Cuban experiences in vaccine development and medical internationalism; shared messages from the island about caregiving, self-care, positive masculinity and the movement for Black lives; examined themes of responsibility and creativity; and looked at insights from Cuba on topics of climate change and food security. Past issues can all be read here.
Virtual Screening of Martica, a family doctor
 In May, we hosted a virtual screening of our short film, Martica, a Family Doctor, followed by a discussion on Cuba’s response to COVID-19 with Rodney González of the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. The film follows a family doctor who lives and works in the Plaza de la Revolución neighborhood in Havana and offers a window into the human dimensions of a community-based medical system. As Mr. González explained, “The large platform of health professionals allows for a community-based approach to public health in which medical providers interact with patients, not just as patients, but as family and community members.”
Survival Skills Podcast
In July we launched the pilot episode of Survival Skills, a  podcast of great conversations between strange bedfellows sharing ideas for a better world hosted by our director Sarah Stephens and produced by Cuba Platform and CARE LAB. Episode 1, “Compassion and Belonging with john a. powell and Tania Singer”, explores how we can use both storytelling and neuroscience to expand circles of tolerance and belonging and pathways to compassion and care.
Trabajo de Amor (Labor of Love)
 In September, we released Trabajo de Amor (Labor of Love), the final installment of our short film series on Cuban Visionaries who are working toward healthier, equitable and more sustainable futures. The film’s subjects, Ismar Garcé and Roger Santiestaban, reveal the enormous existing capacity for small plots of land to sustain a community, a family and a life project.
CARE LAB 
As we look to 2021, we are excited to carry many of the lessons learned and relationships developed during our work in Cuba to a new initiative called Care Lab. We invite you to sign up for our mailing list, and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter to stay tuned.
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Next year, the Caring in Crisis newsletter will transition to a monthly installment format. As always, we invite you to reach out, share your stories about caring in crisis, and share your questions about what’s happening in Cuba.
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