Mom, what is heritage?

A question that is not new resounds in my ears; but she makes me reinvent the answer so that a 5-year-old can understand.

She hears so much about the care of heritage, children and heritage, what we can do to maintain the condition of Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Camagüey; that the questioning was taking longer.

Answering…

My love, heritage is not just the stuffed animals you play with and the pencils you draw with; that is part of what you have to build your dreams; heritage is much more: it is learning your grandmother’s stories to tell your grandchildren, it is keeping a beautiful building that speaks in every brick, stair and roof, of a rich history; it is to take care of your city.

But what does the city have to do with heritage? I really like the summer tours they do at the Historian’s Office, there is a lot of talk about history and heritage; but I still do not understand …

Sofi, you yourself are the bearer of heritage. Your generation carries codes that will be added to those that we have inherited from others that preceded us. Let me say it in a better way…

There are several types of heritage, as well as you can observe different flowers, to give an example. There is the heritage that you cannot see, that cannot be touched; but it influences your way of speaking, dancing, singing, telling a story or dressing up and the one you see, whether created by nature or man; of all of them your city is an accurate exponent.

Reflecting…

She fixed her little eyes on me and slowly raised an eyebrow in astonishment. Sometime later, she returns with another question: And what can we do so that the coronavirus does not destroy all that is heritage, what is seen and what is not seen?

Well, it is a difficult task, because long before the coronavirus entered our lives; there were already people who did not value heritage, much less cared for it; But do not be scared, there were also many people that were watching over them.

In these times, I believe my little girl, that we must multiply the hope of a better dawn. You yourself yearn to run through Carmen Square, to then rest when you are out of breath; right on the chair provided by the gossipers of the sculptures.

Not giving up on our dreams and admitting that we are also part of that heritage that is activated when we carry out a positive action in favor of the city, from our own neighborhood, taking care of the environment or telling your friends over the phone that must take care of every to save a bit of history so you never forget where we come from and who we are; It will be a way for the virus to not erase from the memory and the heart that heritage that continues to wait for us, that heritage that we cultivate first in our traditions and way of being, that heritage that is a reflection of our culture.

I understood mom, not everything; but something … I am also heritage.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García