Small World

When you hear the word, Caribbean, you think of a large body of water south and east of the Gulf of Mexico, but when you visit the Caribbean, you think of a chain of islands that define the northern and eastern limits of the Caribbean.  Those islands, some huge like Cuba, and some tiny like St. Thomas, are where we vacation, dance, drink, swim, surf, and listen to steel drums and Bobby McFadden impersonators.  Oh yes, and some people go to educate themselves.

This year the Caribbean Animal Welfare Conference (CAWC) was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the most far-flung of Caribbean islands.  Trinidad is at the extreme southeast corner of the Caribbean Sea.  In fact, on a map it doesn't even seem like part of the chain of islands, being well separated from the rest and, at its closest part less than 10 miles from Venezuela on the South American mainland.  But enough about geography.

Nora Garcia, Aniplant's President, traveled 1600 miles from one end of the chain to the other to attend CAWC earlier this month to take part in lectures and seminars on whales, turtles, farm animals, animal shelters, and sterilization.  CAWC is sponsored and produced by three main organizations, Humane Society International (HSI), World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), and Pegasus Foundation.

Years ago as a late teenager, Nora had attended CAWC with her adoptive mother, nationally known Cuban singer/songwriter/author, Maria Alvarez Rios, the woman who encouraged Nora to make a career out of helping animals.  Unfortunately, Cuba then was entering a long period of economic problems, and travel in later years to CAWC became prohibitive.

This year, thanks to substantial assistance from HSI and The Aniplant Project (TAP), Nora's expenses for herself and one other Aniplant Director were donated, and she could bring her substantial experience with large sterilization campaigns to the conference.

While at the conference, Nora ran into a friend she had first met in 1962 at another CAW conference with her adoptive mom.   These two ladies are roughly the same age and were born in the same small town in central Cuba.  The meeting was a surprise to both of them, especially after more than 50 years.  Here's my translation of Nora's email account of this grand coincidence:

I saw a friend from the year 1962 who lives in Puerto Rico.  Incredibly it became evident that my parents and hers knew each other.  We were both born in Caibarien in the center of the island only a block between our houses, and we are almost the same age.  She knew much about me through your blogs, and she was so surprised to meet me personally.  It was very emotional—they called us "The Cubans."  She is President of ALL SATO RESCUE in Puerto Rico, and we are much alike—thin, active, dedicated, and with much love for the animals, especially dogs.

Nora

I've long had a theory that love of animals is an innate characteristic of human lives.  It's born into us, and if it can't be found in an adult, it was probably lost by action of the person's environment.  But absent such a loss, one could say, "once an animal lover, always an animal lover."  I think the paths of Nora and her friend in Puerto Rico certainly lend weight to this idea. Frankly I'm impressed with this story of two girls who liked their dogs and grew up to make parallel careers out of helping thousands of them.

No wonder I like animal lovers so much.

Les Inglis