by Roy Laird
What if a set of go equipment cost $2500? That’s the situation Cuban go players face today. The Cuban peso is worth about $.04, and no local game stores sell go equipment in Cuba, so to purchase a $100 go set on the Internet would cost 2500 pesos – when the average monthly income in Cuba is 750 pesos. In addition, shipments weighing over 1.5 kilograms require a surcharge of $10 US or 250 pesos per kilo.
Cuban Go Association president Rafael Torres estimates that there are as many as 2000 go players in Cuba, mostly playing on homemade sets or donations from abroad. Scarce equipment is the main thing holding back the Cuban go community, he said. In response, The American Go Foundation has established the AGF Cuban Go Development Fund, kicking it off by arranging to send small shipments of equipment to Havana and Camaguey, the two main Cuban go communities at present. Each site will receive ten “Club Classic” full size go sets from The AGF Store. In addition, Slate and Shell has generously agreed to kick in ten each each per site of their two Spanish language books, Como NO Jugar al Go by Yuan Zhou and Sube a Shodan by Rin Kaiho. “Helping the Cuban go playing community to grow is good for the US too,” said AGF president Terry Benson. “As our nearby neighbors develop, we can look forward to stronger international ties, more cultural exchange, and lots of friendly time over the go board.” Click here to contribute to the Cuban Go Development Fund, then click on “Send special instructions to the seller and type “Cuban Go.” Tax deductible earmarked contributions to the fund are welcome, and will be applied to an equipment drive planned for later this year.
photo: Laird is at left front during the recent visit to Cuba
