Duniesky Contreras: Training as an art instructor changed me

When asked to remove his braids and the belt and new uniform he had been issued, Duniesky Contreras Madrigal—then on the verge of turning twenty—did not even suspect what lay ahead.

“Something’s up here,” he simply told himself, while strictly following the instructions given by the director of the Vladislav Volkov School of Art Instructors, located in the heart of the rural community of Tres Palmas in Cabaiguán.

He focused on experiencing a moment he had longed for over four years: the first graduation of a program born from the “Battle of Ideas.” Gathered in Santa Clara’s Ernesto Che Guevara Plaza were the soon-to-be graduates—trained at the fifteen new educational institutions of this type established across Cuba—along with invited guests.

“Before leaving, I was told I was being considered as my school’s most well-rounded graduate. That meant receiving my diploma directly from Fidel. I called my mom but told her not to get her hopes up. About five hours before the ceremony on October 20, 2004, I was notified that I had been selected to represent Sancti Spíritus.”