Those who met Celia Sanchez Manduley were impressed by her affable manner. Her simple image conveyed confidence. She was born 104 years ago in Media Luna, Manzanillo, in Granma province, on May 9, 1920. She was the daughter of Dr. Manuel Sánchez Silveira and Acacia Manduley, a native of Manzanillo. Her father directly influenced her patriotic education.
In March 1957, when she joined the Rebel Army, her guerrilla legend began, since she started to share with Fidel the main decisions of the war.If it were not for the clandestine network created by her, with peasants from the Sierra Maestra, from the days prior to the landing of the Granma in 1956, the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz would not have been able to reach Cinco Palmas and history, perhaps, would have been different. If it were not for his patriotic and rebellious temperament, the bust of José Martí would not have been on the summit of Pico Turquino since May 21, 1953,
Had it not been for her courage, Celia could not have survived death when she was surprised in a cafeteria in Campechuela, by the soldiers of the Batista dictatorship who were looking for her to assassinate her. With her, Cuban women had their first combatant in the incipient guerrilla group in the Sierra Maestra. To her example we owe, to a great extent, the creation of the Mariana Grajales women’s platoon, formed in September 1958,
Always with Fidel and under his immediate direction, she assumed the very important function of organizing the rebel logistics: weapons, projectiles, food, clothing, medicines and other items necessary for the struggle and subsistence in the harsh conditions of the mountains. Soon after, she became the coordinator and executor of all the rearguard work in the guerrilla territory. Without Celia it would not have been possible to preserve the history of those glorious moments, since her backpack was the embryo of the Office of Historical Affairs.
With the victory of January 1, 1959, Celia became a heroine of peace and, always at Fidel’s side, she developed a quiet and crucial work, sparing no energy until her last breath.Celia was great in her heroic abnegation and unconditional loyalty, great in her identification with the people, in her love for the work of the Revolution and in her passionate interest in others, great in her concern for the most concrete and decisive aspects of each work of the Revolution, great in her modesty and simplicity.
The imprint of his sensitivity and passion for the details that characterize a well-done work is all over the Island. Her presence is there, in the children’s circle, “Celia’s little friends”, located on 3rd Street # 387 in the Popular Council of Los Negros in the municipality of Contramaestre. It was inaugurated on March 7, 2019 by Lázaro Expósito Canto first secretary of the PCC of Santiago de Cuba province at that time. Thus, a long-standing desire of the community to benefit working mothers of this demarcation became a reality.
Eumelia Torres Cedeño, who has been the director of the educational institution since its foundation five years ago, feels Celia’s presence in every activity that is carried out with the 113 children that make up the enrollment of this educational center.
“For us it is a source of pride that the institution bears this name. We always have her present day by day in all the activities that are carried out. Celia loved children, Celia fought for children to be happy. Celia, as well as Vilma, founder together with our Commander of these beautiful institutions deserve all our recognition, our homage. On the ninth we have planned an artistic and cultural gala to pay tribute to her. The children, the workers, the parents and representatives of the community.”
