Boulder-Cuba Sister City Organization

What's New

Great Cuban Music Friday August 29 at the Boulder Theater!

 Orlando "MARACA" Valle world renowned flautist, composer and bandleader of Latin Jazz, Afro-Cuban and Salsa music will be playing at the Boulder Theater Friday, August 29, 2008. Doors open at 8pm.  One of the few top-level Cuban musicians able to tour in the United States, his infectious songs will bring you to the heart of the tropics this Labor Day weekend.    "MARACA" Orlando Valle, represents the new generation of Cuban musicians equally versed in jazz and indigenous Cuban styles.
MARACA started his musical career studying flute at age of five. By age sixteen, in 1988, MARACA was asked to join his first professional group, IRAKERE, led by Chucho Valdés and Paquito D'Rivera. At that time, MARACA worked as a flutist, keyboard player, and arranger and through the group he was introduced to a host of internationally known jazz and Latin musicians, including Dizzie Gillespie, and Chick Corea.  Later, one of his first tasks as a solo artist was writing and arranging several hit songs on the first Cubanismo album, which in turn led him to create his own group in 1996, MARACA & Otra Vision. One of the finest modern Cuban artists on the music scene today, his album 'Tremenda Rumba' was Grammy nominated for "Best Salsa Album of the Year".   
Opening the night for MARACA is local favorite salsa band QUEMANDO. Afro-Cuban and Salsa dance performances will be performed by local and visiting artists. Booths and information on dance and music and supporting organizations in the community will also be available.  

Come and visit with Boulder-Cuba Sister City members at our booth!

• GOOD NEWS

Since 2006 the Boulder-Cuba Sister City Organization has been raising funds to help sponsor the shipment of medical equipment and supplies to Guantánamo province in conjunction with Denver-based Project C.U.R.E. www.projectcure.org .  We are pleased to announce that the first THREE 40’ cargo containers have arrived at their destinations: the main hospital in Guantánamo which serves the entire province including Yateras; the main hospital in Baracoa, and the hospital in Palenque, Yateras.

We would like to thank all of the donors, sponsors and volunteers who have brought this project to fruition.  Thanks to everyone’s efforts and generosity, we have been able to provide one of the poorest provinces of Cuba with such supplies as an X-ray machine, anesthesia machine, mamography unit, operating tables, stethoscopes, microscopes, laboratory supplies, defibrillators, and much more.  Please visit our HEALTH committee page to learn more about health care in Yateras and our health related projects. THANK YOU!!

About the Boulder-Cuba Sister City Organization

The Boulder Cuba Sister City Organization (BOCUSCO), is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-political, all-volunteer citizen network which exists to create lasting partnerships to promote cultural sharing, understanding and exchange between citizens of Boulder, Colorado and the municipality of Yateras, Guantánamo, Cuba. Yateras, located in the mountainous easternmost Cuban province of Guantánamo, became Boulder’s sixth sister city in 2002. Although many of our exchanges and activities involve the community of Yateras, we are also involved in projects, such as health and environmental projects, in other areas of Guantánamo Province including Guantánamo City. Boulder has other sister cities in Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Tibet, and Tajikistan. BOCUSCO organizes activities, with support from the Boulder community, through its five committees: Arts and Education, Environment and Sustainability, Health, Music and Dance, Sports.

Current Projects

Since 2005 BOCUSCO has been working in collaboration with U.S. government-licensed organizations to ship mountain bikes, wheelchairs, medical equipment and supplies, school supplies, athletic equipment and footwear to Yateras.

In addition to those ongoing shipments, we have prioritized projects for 2008 for which we are currently raising funds. We will continue raising funds to sponsor the delivery of 40-foot cargo containers of medical supplies and equipment to Guantánamo province in conjunction with Denver's Project C.U.R.E. www.projectcure.org; help Yateras to renovate their community library by providing donations of supplies and Spanish-language books, and work with environmental organizations on educational campaigns to protect endangered and endemic species in eastern Cuba.

BOCUSCO is also dedicated to bringing more awareness of Cuba to the Boulder community through speakers, music, film, food and dance, including our annual Cuban Connection fundraising dance, and our participation in the SOBO street festival.

(updated March 2008)

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