The Office of the Historian of Camagüey city (OHCC, by its acronym in Spanish) since its beginnings incorporates in its projects the training of young people, in different specialties related to the preservation of heritage.
The Francisco Sánchez Betancourt trade school is a reliable example and its work is followed by university studies, where many of its teachers are employees of the institution and other places belonging to the OHCC.
The interest in training the youngest to love our identity is reflected in the first batch of Graduates in the Preservation and Management of Cultural Historical Heritage, held recently, of which three of the first graduates are workers of the entity: Patricia Gamboa Torres, Diana Ross Iraola and Víctor Alejandro Landa Cruz; with new knowledge today they perfect their work.
The chronic
We approach the motivations of Víctor Alejandro, a young man with dreams and a desire to work, who has not stopped yet because he is already a graduate.
We went to visit his workplace, the Historical Archives of the OHCC, a beautiful and illuminated place, with a lot of peace, sometimes interrupted by the passage of the train, located on the Railway Museum, an old railway station. He welcomes us to talk about everything that is kept there and that fascinates him.
That’s why my colleagues accompany me: the journalist Sheila Barros Fals and the photographer José A. Cortiñas Friman, we sit around him and he starts to talk.
Close up
Víctor danced as a child with the Arlequín Artistic Ensemble, his mother is the head of the accounting department of the Office, this together with the Archeology studies at the School of Trades, made him approach the heritage, not through any of those edges, but for those of documentary conservation.
He had been working for several years when he began his studies in Camagüey, he prepared himself along with the other boys and once inside he discovered beauty in urban planning, museology and conservation.
That is why he reveals interesting documents while he repairs and digitizes them, a specialty in which he works today, to keep papers as old as the Title of City granted by King Felipe VII to Camagüey in 1817 and that of Cultural Heritage of Humanity. , that although it is not so old, being in digital format avoids manipulation, it is preserved intact and offers the opportunity for many people to access them.
Computing
As a young man of his generation who loves technology, digitizing documents keeps him close to them, while he investigates history in a different way.
First in the House of Diversity he learned to appreciate each piece, then the archive came up and he saw a way to venture into novelties, his restless character led him to try different specialties.
Although he still has his dreams and goals of studying computer science at the UCI as a second career, he wishes to remain linked to history and its values, in them there are fascinating things, which he thinks should be made known, another of his goals for improvement is waiting for a master’s degree.
Gratitude
He is very grateful to the OHCC for his professional development; there have been many opportunities for courses and workshops, which contributed to his training, as to that of many other workers, because that is what the institution offers everyone: opportunities to increase our cultural background.
On this path to 25 years of the institution, it should not be overlooked that for the 15th anniversary of the OHCC he danced with Harlequin, for the 20th he was already working in the Office and hopes to celebrate this quarter of a century with the creativity of his work, which is anonymous, but vital for researchers to keep going forward.
Almost as we say goodbye, I insist on the influence of Víctor’s mother on her professional path, because in addition to resources she puts a lot of love into each work in the city and says no directly, but discreetly she always showed him the right way.
We know that for sure that Leticia Cruz was with Víctor when he received the Bachelor’s degree in Management and Preservation of Heritage, with all pride, and it is nice to see that pair united in a single love: the one they profess to the City of Waterpots and its hisstory.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
