Children are the hope of any country and we are naturally drawn to them, their joy, their innocence, their ability to adapt. Cuban children are no different and everywhere we encountered them we found them to be inquisitive and quite willing to put up with our incessant picture taking. It was especially fun when Sako used her little remote photo printer to produce a few photos from her phone to give the kids right away. The look on their faces was priceless. (I must get one of those printers – slightly bigger than a pack of cigarettes.) It was fun to see a group of girls heading to school in the early morning near the main square in Trinidad chattering away like little girls are wont to do. Then there were the boys clowning around in Havana and the little bright eyed boy who was the son of the carbonero. As we enter into a new year let’s keep the joy of children in focus and strive for a better world in which they can grow up.