“It is a pride, to be chosen among several for the results achieved in the year. To tell the ancestral society that there I will defend them in their duties and rights, in their approaches and in everything that has to do with disabled people. We will be attending to all their concerns and worries”.
This is how Maikel Merino Ruiz expressed the satisfaction and pride he felt when he was elected as a direct delegate to the Ninth Assembly of the National Association of the Blind (ANCI) representing the municipality of Contramaestre and the province of Santiago de Cuba. This assembly will be held in Havana in November of this year.
How long has Maikel been a member of ANCI in Contramaestre?
“Since 2009, after a tragic accident I had in the revolutionary armed forces that totally affected the vision of my right eye and partially affected my left eye.
At this moment I am retired from the FAR because my visual disability does not allow me to work and the medical commission retired me, so I am a pensioner. I am a high performance athlete of the national baseball team for the blind. Until 2016 I was attending the sports secretariat in the province where there were achievements and results at national and international level in blind baseball.”
Recently in the assembly of renewal and/or ratification of the ANCI leadership in this municipality Maikel, was elected to attend the rehabilitation activity.
“This is the most difficult part. The blind are taught to write, to read with the Braille system, they are also taught to sew and to wash. It is a way for the blind to be rehabilitated so that they can continue their normal life. With this rehabilitation they can improve their quality of life in society. The objective is to include visually impaired people into society.
The government of our country, our Commander in Chief, who was one of the most responsible for the existence of this association, did it to include us in society, not only in Cuba but also in the whole world.
Despite being visually impaired and retired from working life, Maikel does not stop. In addition to his constant work in ANCI, he supports other government tasks in the territory.
“When the government and the party have asked me for help I have been present, as in the COVID years when I was in a confrontation group together with the INDER boys . Right now the people elected me as a delegate to the municipal assembly of the people’s power of Contramaestre in the 14th constituency of the People’s Council America.”
Being a member of the National Association of the Blind has a special meaning for Maikel , because despite being young, athlete and with a suitable preparation to perform a profession , he is limited by his visual impairment but his energy and strength , his determination and daring make him, indispensable in every task to which he is called.
“It was like being born again, I met other siblings with disabilities, the relationship we have is that of a family. Every day we try to sensitize people who still do not understand what it means to have a family with disabilities, to tell them that providing help to these people is the greatest thing they will ever feel in their lives, it is the most beautiful thing there is, we are people who need a lot of love, affection and understanding.
