These episodes transport us to life in the Colonia through the eyes of a 10 year-old Carmelina. Her father, Miguel Gastón, ran a Colonia or sugar cane plantation in the province of Oriente. The Colonia grew sugar cane and supplied the cut sugar cane to the Central Manatí sugar mill. Sugar had been the main economy in the island since the 18th century and the harvest or “zafra” was an important socio-economic yearly event that mobilized thousands of people.
The “zafra” lasted several months, from November to May. During the “zafra” Carmelina’s father hired laborers from the area and brought in cutters from Haiti. Miguel needed to closely supervise all the workers at the Colonia. The Haitian migrant workers had to be housed and fed during the weeks the sugar cane had to be cut.
To transport the cut sugar cane, the Gaston family had arranged for the railroad company to lay a railway line from Central Manatí to the Colonia. This station was called the Parador Gaston. Local Cuban peasants or “güajiros” were contracted to drive their ox carts and transport cut sugar cane to the Parador Gaston for loading unto the trains. After the sugar cane was harvested workers had to get the fields ready for planting next year’s crop.
Carmelina’s family moved to the Colonia during harvest months and life changed radically from the house in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood to the house in the Oriente countryside! Although Carmelina was at her boarding school in Havana, she visited the Colonia during holidays and vacations.
These episodes of the early years spent in the Colonia, watching the harvest hustle and bustle and her sister Elena’s birth, left vivid memories in Carmelina.
The Manrara Family History Video and Web Platform is based on Carmelina’s recollections, the matriarch of the Manrara Gastón family.