Carol worked as a bilingual (Spanish/English) kindergarten teacher in
Redwood City, California for 21 years until her retirement in 2001. She was
active in the local chapter of the California Teachers Association as well
as serving on innumerable committees dealing with bilingual education. She
also served on the Northern California Kindergarten Conference Committee for
14 years.
Carol visited Cuba for the first time over Christmas of '92-'93. In spite of
the suffering of the Cuban economy, and therefore of the people during that
"Special Period," she was struck by the warmth, pride,
independence, and friendliness of Cubans. She became convinced that the US
policy toward Cuba is wrong-headed and mean spirited; she remains convinced
of that to this day.
Vowing to help in the work to end the inhumane and morally corrupt
embargo, in the summer of 1993 she joined the second Pastors for Peace
Caravan, when a little yellow school bus was impounded for 23 days by the US
customs authorities. That trip -- the people she met, and the experiences
she had -- made her a Cuban activist for life.
Carol has gone on five other trips with P4P. She is very active in
working with P4P to promote the Latin American School of Medicine, and has
produced a Power Point presentation for use by people wanting to benefit
their community by recruiting students to obtain free medical training in
Cuba. In addition, she has twice challenged the Travel Ban with Global
Exchange, attended various conferences in Cuba, and traveled there on her
own as well, making a total of over 15 visits (so far) to that island.
She first became interested in USCSCA when she heard Lisa Valanti speak. She
attended the USCSCA Conference last year in Havana, and upon returning home
began working on a project to establish a Sister City relationship in
Redwood City. Although that project is just in its infancy, she recently
assisted the Santa Cruz County delegation, on its trip to seal the
relationship between their county and Guamá municipality in
Santiago.
Carol is also producing a Power Point presentation for USCSCA to help
peoples work in their communities. She is convinced that the
people-to-people relationships formed are the most effective mechanism for
eventually bringing change in a divisive and harmful foreign policy.
She and her former husband have three children, all grown, and one
grandchild.
