Community development in the mountains of Holguin province: Guamuta community (Original)

Abstract

Community and community development represent fundamental elements in the development model currently implemented in Cuba. This article presents the main results of a community development strategy, applied between 2021 and 2023, in the mountainous community of Guamuta, Cueto municipality, Holguin province, with the purpose of contributing to the transformation of its social actors into subjects of sustainable community development. For the diagnosis, an interview was applied to the members of the community group, documents were reviewed (the health diagnosis and the family clinical sheets of the medical office, as well as the report of the Municipal Commission of the Mountain Development Program). A community workshop was also held in which, with the use of participatory technologies, the community's problems were prioritized.  The research revealed objective problems such as the decrease and aging of the population, the insufficient dialogic relationship between the schools and their environment, as well as the entrepreneurial conception of the worker as a productive entity. It also made it possible to confirm the existence of an indigenous community work, sustained by more than thirty years of leadership by the delegates of the People's Power; the cohesion between social organizations and community institutions; as well as the political and governmental will to strengthen it. The proposed strategy aimed both to dialogue and articulate with the projects carried out and to favor the implementation of projects addressing objective and subjective problems not yet recognized by the community actors.