Cabanas (Cuba) School by Mrs. S. H. Carnahan

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 6, 1909

Cabanas (Cuba) School

By Mrs. S. H. Carnahan

THIS is a beautiful location, and the school farm is an excellent one. The land company has been most generous, and is willing to do all it can to help us. We shall have both the English and Spanish departments, thus affording

our Cuban children an opportunity to become well conversant, by association with the Americans, with the English language, and also giving the American children an opportunity to become excellent Spanish workers. God certainly has called us to a most sacred work, and I do not see why, either, when there are others who are so much more able, it seems to me, to do the work; but inasmuch as he has called us to this place, we are determined in his strength to do our best to make the school all that he would have it be.

Mr. Carnahan is in touch with some of the leading government officials in the States, and has opened up correspondence with some of them here, and they are granting us favors in regard to plants and fruits for the school farm. Some plants from Africa, Asia, South America, and other tropical foreign countries, have been sent us by the Department of Agriculture in the States, and so far all are growing nicely. Others have been promised, such as budded mangoes, and Aguacates; and six camphor trees came to-night.

I have now my Spanish third reader ready to run out on the hectograph. It consists of one hundred six lessons, following the plan of combining spelling, reading, geography, physiology, and Bible, as in True Educator readers. Also the second Spanish reader is ready for copying; and the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh Nature Studies are almost ready to be copied. I have been working very hard with these lessons, to group properly the tropical plants and animals and those of the temperate zone. If we only had some kind friend who would donate the school an old hand-press, good enough to run, we could set up the type, thus teaching our students to do the work, and we might develop some good Spanish typesetters and printers among our students.

Since we bought the school farm, five farms have been bought in this community, four of these by outsiders. It is only a question of time when this will be a growing place, well settled, with a thriving school here for both the natives and Americans. We do not know of any American boarding-school on the island, and we believe our school may be well patronized.

MRS. S. H. CARNAHAN.