By: Yusarys Benito & Alejandro García 

The Literacy Campaign was one of the great tasks undertaken by Cuban youth after the triumph of the Revolution. However, little is said about the fact that twelve men and women from Camagüey, high school students, were the first to build a brigade to show the people that it was possible to fulfill the mission.

In the early morning of January 1st, 1961, they left for Cayo Coco, at that time an area of ​​charcoal burners cut off by land, who had the first experiences of literacy in revolutionary Cuba.

There they understood the magnitude of the task and prevailed over the unforeseen. Due to the name of the site chosen for that initial experience, they were called the Coquitos.

“The first thing we learned is that we had to work to earn the respect of the inhabitants of the Cayo. They told us that they were exhausted and that they did not have time to study. So we had to work alongside them and we taught classes even in the time of rest or when watching over a coal oven.

It was also necessary to review the amount of study material that had been arranged for the task, for example, they had no skill with the pencil and broke the ends very often. In addition, many had eye problems and that made the process even more difficult. All these experiences, once we left Cayo, we presented them in Havana, to the direction of the Campaign, so that they knew what they were going to find.” – Pedro Pino Estévez, one of the members of the brigade, tells me.

Important challenges

The success of the mission that the poet of the Revolution Raúl Ferrer and the pedagogue Marcelo García had given to the Coquitos, not only lay in the work in Cayo, they also had to demonstrate to the rest of the families that their children were ready to leave for the most intricate areas of the country.

In this regard, Pino Estévez reflects:

“At that time it was almost impossible for a girl to be allowed to go alone to carry out a task of this type, it was not well seen, that’s why it was important to show that they were going to be safe. Nothing happened to the three women who went to Cayo Coco and then they asked to go to the most difficult places to continue with the mission. Our work was important for the farmers in those intricate places, but also for the families in the cities.”

Just one month later, the Coquitos returned: the first literacy teachers, the 12 young people from Camagüey who continued the path towards the most important educational feat of the Cuban people.

On December 22nd, 1961, they also hoisted, with the pride of having been pioneers of such a task, the flag that declared Cuba a territory free of illiteracy.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García