Not quite three years ago, I made what, to me, is the best post on this blog, "Cousins." My cousin Kyler, who was 11 at the time, wrote a report for school entitled "Ernesto Che Guevara, My Hero." The picture to the left was taken not long after he wrote that report. I'm posting the entire report here again (with the original pictures he used) because it's awesome, and so is Kyler, who is now much, much, much taller."Ernesto Che Guevara, My Hero" by Kyler
Ernesto Guevara was a great man. He had a lot of nicknames. One was when he was little his aunt called him Teté. Most of his friends called him Che. One day a miracle was born on May 14, 1928, and that miracle was Che. He was born in Rosario, Argentina. He was not able to start school until the age of seven because he had serious asthma problems. Then it got better and he went to school but since he was still so sick sometimes he went back to home school.
His parents were Ernesto and Celia. Celia was the mom and Ernesto was the dad. He had two sisters and one brother. The older sister was named Celia after the mom and the younger sister was named Ana Maria. His brother was named Roberto. His hobbies were to read and play soccer. And when he was eleven he went on strike to help the electrical workers because he heard they were not getting paid. So he got a bunch of his friends and they threw rocks at the electrical company.
When he was twenty-three Che and his buddy Alberto went on a motorcycle ride all over South America because they wanted an adventure. While they were on the adventure they saw poor people and sick people everywhere. On their way they stopped at a leper colony. Che was very sad when he saw the people. It was sad because they had the Amazon River separate the lepers from the doctors so the doctors would not get leprosy but Che did not care if he got it. He would hug them and not wear gloves. He would treat them like normal people. Leprosy is where somebody loses their body parts and skin and it is contagious.
This is a picture of a woman with leprosy.
After the motorcycle trip Che knew how many sick and poor people there were and he wanted to make everything equal. He finished medical school so he could be a doctor and help people. His parents had split up and he decided to live with his mom during this time. Then he met Fidel Castro and they decided they wanted to start a revolution. They started a revolution in Cuba in 1959 and the rich people did not like that. So Che had to go into the jungle and stayed there for a year. Che and the other revolutionaries were training and making plans in the jungle. Some bad things about being in the jungle were that he always had to watch his back and he was always having asthma attacks. This was not an easy time in his life but then they fought and succeeded in Cuba. He also had good times in his life. The things that were good were that he liked helping people and he liked fighting alongside his friends and he got to travel.
Che also had his own families when he grew up. He had married a woman named Hilda and they had one baby in 1956. They named her Hilda after the mom. Then they broke up and he got married to a woman named Aleida in 1960. They had four children. Their names were Celia, Camilo, Ernesto, and Aliusha. He also had many jobs. He was a doctor. He was a revolutionary and he was a president of the Cuban National Bank. Some of his heroes and friends were Fidel Castro and his Aunt Beatriz. Fidel Castro was the leader of the Cuban revolution. His Aunt Beatriz was someone who always gave him attention.
There are some historical things about the time when Che was a revolutionary in the 1960s. First of all the mambo and tango were popular dances in South America. The boat Che and his buddy rode after they went to the leper colony was called the Mambo-Tango. Second of all they won the revolution in Cuba. And finally rock and roll music was popular all over the world.
After the Cuban revolution Che went to the Congo and other countries. He had to wear disguises. One was as an old man. He had to pluck all of his hair out.
This is a picture of Che’s false passport with the photo of him in disguise.
But he did not succeed in the Congo so he went to Bolivia. He was trying to start another revolution but the CIA and Bolivian army caught him in a church and they put him in an old school house and tied him up by the hands and feet and asked him questions. One question they asked was, “Are you Argentine or Cuban?” He said he was Cuban, Argentine, Bolivian, Peruvian, Equadorian, and etcetera so he was a man of every country. They killed him on October 9, 1967.
The reason I would want to be like Che is because he didn’t just care about himself and he did things not just to help himself but to help others too. Another reason is he always wanted for people to be successful and not to suffer. He was not like the rich people who controlled everything and just cared about themselves and did not give money up to the poor. The reason I would want to do and act like him is because I could help people and also not be greedy.
