Herb and Babs Kaufman with Maria, the girl they befriended in Cuba.

Previous sales excluded

home]," said Steve Victor of
Bloomfield Hills. "Culturally, at least,
they are living a level above the rest of
the population."
The participants learned that there
is no anti-Semitism in Cuba, probably
because everyone is suffering in the
same way.
A once-beautiful city in the '50s
before Castro's takeover, Havana now
is crumbling, said the Detroiters. They
noticed paint peeling on the buildings
and that nothing is being repaired.
Public transportation in Cuba consists
of exhaust-spewing ancient buses that
run on a random timetable.
While the education level is better
than in South American countries,
Cuba still suffers from 37 percent
unemployment.
Well-trained doctors average $30 a
month in salary, and there is no medi-
cine. Most people make between $10
and $20 a month; gasoline costs $4 a
gallon and food is rationed. A Cuban
citizen can expect to eat chicken only
four times a year; meat twice a year.
"There's nothing to do, nothing to
see, the food is mediocre," said Babs
Kaufman of Franklin. "The only rea-
son to go is to meet the people."
During the Friday-night service in

Harry Kirsbaum can be reached at
(248) 354-6060, ext. 244, or by e-mail
at hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com

the cramped Petronado Community
Center chapel' in Havana, Herb
Kaufman noticed a little girl proudly
singing her prayers in Hebrew. After
the service, Kaufman approached
her with an interpreter and told her
that he had a little granddaughter
her age.
The girl, named Maria, had no
father or grandparents, said Kaufman.
"She took my wife [Babs Kaufman]
and I to meet her mother and we
spent the rest of the evening sitting
with them."
The following night, Maria spotted
the couple at the center's dance con-
cert, ran up to them and made them
join in dancing the hora.
"She didn't leave our side the rest of
the evening," he said. "Before we left
for home three days later, she wrote a
translated letter to my granddaughter
and gave it to me."
According to Kaufman, the two
girls have become pen pals.
Diane Klein said that on the last
day of their trip, the group held a
spontaneous fund-raising session,"
with donations going directly to the
community centers.
"Obviously, we brought goods
here," she said. "But our group was
strengthened emotionally, too. The
trip showed us the need to give sup-
port to Jews around the world, wher-
ever they're in need." El

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