Educational Media Reviews Online

Cubans have become famous for their resourcefulness in the face of a U.S. embargo on trade with their country. All kinds of products are recycled and repurposed to get through daily life. Jesus Manuel Lorenzo Moya, known as Lency, is an all-purpose handyman whose inventions have enriched the lives of his family and neighbors in rural Escambray, Cuba.

Lency tells his own story as he demonstrates his homemade craft. The video includes intermittent moments of fanciful animation of Lency as he copes with problems and seeks solutions. The viewer can certainly admire Lency’s grit and creativity, but doesn’t come away with a lot more.

It’s possible there’s a veiled criticism of the government. Lency says he built a hang glider, but no one would fly it. “It’s dangerous to float and fly around in this country,” he says. “It could be misinterpreted.” A small power station that could generate enough power for a few homes is abandoned because the focus is on a national electrification project, even though Lency says the area probably will never get a big plant. “It’s like the big concrete bridges that replace the rickety makeshift ones over rivers,” he says.

Perhaps made as a tribute to a man who is a local hero, this is the kind of story that would occupy a few minutes on a local news broadcast. The video as it exists has limited international appeal.