#99

Ursa Major is no stranger to tragedy.  At approximately 3 days of age, she was simply dropped off at a convent/orphanage in Baracoa, the oldest city in Cuba.  No name, story or explanation was attached to the poor child or the tattered towel she was wrapped in.

The nuns of the orphanage did not bother to give her a name, calling her simply 'kikiriki' ('peanut' in Serbo-Croatian as the Mother Superior was from that area of the world).  As Kikiriki grew, the abandoned child struggled to form a family of her own.  She cared for and watched over the smaller and even more fragile children than herself.  Each night, she would gaze out the window, finding the North Star, reciting prayers for all of the little children in her care.  Because of her fierce 'mama bear' attitude and her focus on the North Star, she was christened 'Ursa Major' by the nuns of the convent.

Ursa Major grew sturdy, strong and well educated.  However, she never quite got over the abandonment and tragedy that surrounded her.  At the age of 17, she left the convent, taking with her a used pair of skates that were her only birthday present the year before.  Armed with her skates, her attitude and her intelligence, she made her way to Havana where she joined a group of freedom fighters.  It is with these women that 'mama bear' continues her fierce fight. . .

“Viva La Revolucion!”