Raúl Ferrer Pérez, a modest teacher and poet, participated in most of the events held in Cuba in 1961 to declare the country free of illiteracy. He served as national vice-coordinator of this historic undertaking and later led its continuation and the National Reading Campaign.
Of the extensive literary work of this poet-teacher, or teacher-poet, who died in Havana 33 years ago, on January 12, 1993, many are familiar with his famous "Romance de la niña mala" (Ballad of the Bad Girl), which he wrote in 1941 when he was just over 20 years old.In it, he reflects on his beginnings in 1937 as a rural civics teacher, arriving at the small school in the batey of the Narcisa sugar mill in the former province of Las Villas: “A neighbor from the mill/says that Dorita is bad. / To prove it, he tells me / that she is sullen and ill-mannered / and that a hundred times a day / the whole batey scolds her. (…) When affection is rewarded / and the rebelliousness of the soul, / when laughter is understood / and grace is sung to; / when justice breaks / its march among my people / and the tender bud of a child / is a flower of hope, / we will have to place a medal / on my girl's chest / even if the malicious batey / gives her such a bad reputation, / and you –my poor neighbor– / don't understand a word.”
But few know the anecdote revealed by Bohemia magazine about those early days: “If many people were told that, to erase differences and disdain some of the ugly things in the world, a teacher gave his classes barefoot, they would doubt it.”Except that this was a very special teacher, someone who made pedagogy his guiding principle.The best part of this story is that the teacher did have shoes;it was many of his students who lacked them.
It was the beginning of the school year, and on the first day, Raúl's optimism was somewhat shaken when he noticed that a considerable number of the children were absent because they didn't have shoes.After quickly thinking about what to do, he found the solution: everyone barefoot!That gesture ensured that the children attended, but also that, in the presence of this man born to teach, the inequalities that extreme poverty has always generated were less noticeable, as he told them all, “The riches of the earth penetrate through the feet and help to solidify knowledge.”
This was Raúl Ferrer, who was born in Meneses, Yaguajay, on May 4, 1915. In his 78 years, he worked as a laborer, was a union leader, and was associated with Jesús Menéndez. He wanted to enroll in medical school, but was unable to, and, through self-study, trained as a teacher. During the off-season, he earned a living tutoring the children of well-off families.
In 1954, he was publicly accused by the leaders of the National College of Normal and Equivalent Teachers of engaging in communist activities. The corrupt leadership responded swiftly with a demonstration by the Socialist Teachers' Committee, entitled "The Dilemma is: Patriotism versus Submission to Foreigners."In 1956, he was arrested by the Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (BRAC), along with Salvador García Agüero, Eduardo Corona, Alfredo Guevara, José Massip, and others.His imprisonment lasted five days.Upon his release, he was arrested again by the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) and taken to the Picota Street prison in Old Havana. He was later released, but his criminal record remained.
On January 2, 1959, along with comrades from the Socialist Teachers' Committee and members of the Teachers' Opposition Party, he participated in the revolutionary takeover of the Normal and Equivalent Teachers' College. By agreement of the teachers' assembly, the corrupt, Batista-aligned Mujalista leadership, which held the position, was removed.
From 1959 onward, Ferrer held important positions in the Ministry of Education;he played a leading role as national vice-coordinator of the Literacy Campaign.He participated in the Constituent Congress of the National Teachers' Union, held between November 22 and 24, 1961, where he was elected Secretary of Organization.He was later appointed National Advisor for Worker-Peasant Education and then Vice-Minister of Education.Among the activities he led were: the Follow-Up Program, which continued the literacy campaign, the professional development of workers and peasants, and the campaign to ensure access to the 6th and 9th grades, among others.
In 1981, he was appointed Cultural Attaché at the Cuban Embassy in the USSR, and upon his return, he headed the National Commission for the Promotion of Reading, whose campaign was launched at the “Luis Fernández Roig” tobacco factory on January 28, 1985, under the slogan “We don’t tell the people to believe; we tell them: read,” inspired by a thought of Commander Fidel Castro.
“The classroom is a dove, in the crystal school. In the sea, it would be the salt, and in the flower, the fragrance.”This is how Raúl Ferrer summarized the essence of teaching, a profession to which he dedicated himself until his death 33 years ago.Deserving of the grateful remembrance of his people, this teacher and cultural promoter will continue to inspire new generations of educators with his proverbial Martí-inspired vocation, his comprehensive culture, and his loyalty to the Revolution and the Homeland.