CAPE GIRARDEAU RESIDENTS VISIT CUBA ON HUMANITARIAN MISSION

Driving down the streets of Havana, Cuba, is a little like stepping back through time with 1950s-era vehicles traversing the roads. But it's a journey well worth it, a Cape Girardeau couple said.

People who don't travel to Cuba are missing out on friendly people, great beaches, beautiful architecture and history, say Barbara and Larry Haertling of Cape Girardeau.

The Haertlings, a friend, Bill Green, also of Cape Girardeau, and four others boated from Key West, Fla., to Barloventa, Cuba, to deliver humanitarian goods and visit the island. The group worked through a Key West-based humanitarian group and delivered nearly 200 pounds of goods to the islanders.

Most of their weeklong trip was spent delivering necessities like toothpaste, razors, and medical and school supplies to medical clinics and schools on the island.

The trip was partly designed to satisfy a curiosity about what life was like in Communist Cuba. "I had an interest in going," said Larry Haertling, a real estate developer who owns a 28-foot trawler that was docked in Florida during the winter months. "Partly it was the mystique of it."

The Haertlings don't have another trip planned but would consider returning to the island.

It is not illegal for Americans to visit Cuba, but spending money is. "It's hard to visit anywhere and not spend money," Barbara Haertling said. She was adamant about not taking the trip but now says it was worth it.

The island is home to a history that can't be found anywhere else, she said. The people are warm and friendly -- and curious to meet Americans. Many Europeans and Canadians visit the Cuban beaches just as they do other Caribbean islands, she said. Cuba is just 90 miles from the Florida coast.

Using the humanitarian efforts let the Haertlings "spend some money and do something good," Barbara said.

"This makes it easier to go, but you have to be willing," Larry Haertling said.

Americans are welcome in the island because they are known to be generous with tips. The average monthly salary is just 200 pesos, or something equivalent to $20, so a $5 tip for a cab ride can "do wonders," Barbara said.

Although the Cubans are happy to meet Americans and welcome them to the island, few Cubans want to emigrate to the states. People would say that if the U.S.-imposed trade embargo were lifted "they'd have a better lifestyle," Larry said.

"They aren't unhappy with Castro. He's a leader -- good or bad," Barbara said.

Under Fidel Castro's leadership, the Cubans are allocated their necessary clothing and food items. There are little extras available and even less money with which to buy them.

"It's like going back to the basics of the basics," Barbara said. Schoolchildren sit in desks missing chunks of wood. Neighborhood medical clinics must wash out gloves for reuse because supplies are so low.

The children at one school in a village several hours from the capital of Havana had to erase their daily lessons so they could reuse the paper. Some of the children were working with holes in the paper because it had been used and reused so often, Larry said.

Armed with construction paper, pencils and crayons, the Haertlings and others in their group delivered supplies to schools where children were delighted to see them. Bringing candy and Polaroid cameras, the Haertlings made quick friends with the children. Although some were shy at first, that stopped the minute the camera flashed.

"When you'd take their picture they'd just pass it around," Larry said.

Next time they visit the Haertlings will be sure to take more film. They quickly went through their three rolls of Polaroid film taking pictures of the children.

One child that few people talked about was Elian Gonzalez, a Cuban-born boy who created an international controversy by landing on American soil last year.

The Haertlings soon realized if they wanted to know anything about Elian Gonzalez, they had to ask about him. "One man said, We are tired of Elian' just like we are tired of Elian," Barbara said.

Yet photographs of the child are displayed in every school. The Cuban people "feel like he's being held in jail or being held in custody. They don't blame us about it," Barbara said.

Actually, the Cubans were very happy to have American visitors. About 170,000 Americans travel to Cuba each year, according to figures from the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council in New York.

Once visitors arrive in Cuba, officials from the coast guard and customs board the boat. It takes about two hours to pass through customs, but once they arrived the Haertlings said no one placed restrictions on where they could travel.

Going through a humanitarian group gave the Haertlings a somewhat greater clearance. Their application to the Conchord Cayo Hueso group secured a license and permission for them to enter the country. They had to get permission to leave the U.S. territorial waters and were subjected to customs searches upon re-entry to the U.S.

"It's about a two-hour ordeal" to get customs clearance, Barbara said. But a mariachi band at the Marina Hemingway entertained the boat and crew while they waited.

On the island they were able to dine out, although there are few restaurants or shops or even convenience stores. The government allows people to open their homes as restaurants because there are so few, so the Haertlings enjoyed a meal in a Cuban home. The menu was mostly red beans and rice and seafood.

Most Americans think that Cuba is a land without freedom or any happiness. Yet the people seemed to enjoy their lives and families, the Haertlings said. "They don't want to leave; that is their land," Barbara said.

Yet it is a land where engineers and architects -- and people with a college education -- are forced to work as taxi drivers because there are no other jobs available.

The people aren't planning a revolution. "They are not unhappy with Fidel, but they want it a little better and a better quality of life," Larry said. "Lifting the embargo could help them."