The writing on the black shirts worn by Gerardo Sanchez Ortega’s family and friends as they marched in Havana on Dec. 4, 2007, made their position clear: “I do not cooperate with the dictatorship,” they read.

Sanchez had been put in prison for pushing for the re-opening of Cuban universities, and his family and friends were marching to demand his freedom.
The authorities did not react well to the activists. Police entered a church sheltering them, beat the marchers and sprayed them with pepper spray.
Among the activists was Sanchez’s son, Idalberto Sanchez Hechavarria, who was born with cerebral palsy and has difficulty walking and undertaking other tasks.
Sanchez, then 35, led the Movement of Cuban Youth for Democracy in presenting a 5,000-signature petition supporting the re-opening of universities free from government control.
That petition closed all employment opportunities for him in Cuba. Sanchez was fired from his clerical job in a government office and labeled untrustworthy.
Four years later, he, his wife and his disabled child left their home country and arrived in Jacksonville as refugees. Since last August he has managed to get a construction job at JEA, and the family has received temporary support from World Relief and the Dept. of Children & Families.
The family receives $315 monthly in food stamps, but Sanchez worries about having enough to make ends meet. Hechavarria briefly worked as a housekeeper at a La Quinta hotel, but was forced to quit to care for her son.
On top of its financial struggles, the family also needs help locating a school that will accommodate Idalberto’s physical disability and let him learn English. Though literate in Spanish, Idalberto’s inability to walk without assistance prevents him from enrolling in school.
Idalberto (18) becomes extremely nervous when he is left alone due to the violence he endured in Cuba. He lives in fear of the unknown land his parents have brought him to.
They would like to learn English and are looking forward to the day their daughter, who had to file for refugee status separately, can join them in Florida a year from now.
“I’m not here for anyone to maintain me,” Sanchez said. “We are grateful for whatever help we are offered.”
As the family gathered on the couch, Hechavarria put one of her hands in Sanchez’s hand and one over Idalberto’s. “Smile,” she said. “ we are in America and at least we are free here.”