Carmelina attended Colegio Sagrado Corazón (School of the Sacred Heart) boarding school from first grade through 12th grade. She lived at the school throughout the academic year with spending weekends and holidays with her family in Havana. Summers were spent at La Colonia, the sugarcane plantatio n run by her father, in the Oriente Province.
The school was located in the Cerro neighborhood in Havana. Many Cuban families sent their children to Catholic schools during the period of the Cuban Republic from 1902 to 1960. The strict Catholic education and discipline practiced by the nuns influenced Carmelina throughout her life. She made lifetime friends and was active in the alumni association. The school instilled a love of reading and the arts, which she enjoyed all her life.
In this episode Carmelin a shares memories about life in school. The School was run by the Society of the Sacred Heart, a religious congregation founded in France by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat in 1800. Although the nuns imposed strict rules, they were guided by the founder’s humanist philosophy.
Student life at the boarding school was guided by the five goals of the Sacred Heart education: a personal and active faith in God; deep respect for intellectual values; social awareness that compels to action; building a community with Christian values; and personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom. Carmelina actively practiced the Sacred Heart principles during her life. She instilled these values in her children and left a legacy to her grandchildren and great grandchildren
The Manrara Family History Video and Web Platform is based on Carmelina’s recollections, the matriarch of the Manrara Gastón family.