“I went to the sea for water, to the river to see it run, to the field to see the flowers and here to come and see you”. This is the last song included in a medley of old rhymes that Ruth Eugenio recited this Friday for her grandmother Otilia Rodríguez López, rural woman of the municipality of Tías 2021. Otilia Rodríguez, 90 years old, starred in the tribute event with humor, affection and gratitude in the plenary hall of the Tías City Council.
The small recital, the congratulations, the viewing of a video, flowers, parchment and photos were part of the recognition carried out this morning by the Tías City Council on the occasion of the third edition of the International Day of Rural Women that is celebrated in the municipality.
The event was presided over by the second deputy mayor and councilor for Equality, Nicolás Saavedra, the councilor for New Technologies, Kalinda Pérez, and the councilor for Youth, Christopher Notario, who excused the absence of the mayor for being at a congress outside the island.
Nicolás Saavedra highlighted “the living treasure” of the municipality, referring to the great living memory and historical memory of women like Otilia Rodríguez. Kalinda Pérez highlighted the transmission of traditions and the value of women's work. And Christopher Notario highlighted the contact between young people and the elderly to learn about the rural world and work at sea.
Otilia Rodríguez López
In addition to the medley of old songs, Otilia Rodríguez's granddaughter dedicated a few words to her grandmother, emphasizing that “she will leave a good legacy simply by being”. She described her as a lover of nature, focused on the here and now, a great conservationist, grateful, humble, kind and sincere, “a sensitive soul full of light”.
In addition to this special day, in which she has also been accompanied by her family, the image of Otilia Rodríguez will be the protagonist of the promotional banner for the next International Day of Rural Women 2022.
Through the laughter of Otilia Rodríguez you can guess a life closely linked to La Tiñosa, the place where she was born and where she has remained all her life. She was born at the dawn of spring, on June 7, 1931. Her parents, Hipólita López Rodríguez and Manuel Rodríguez Robaina, raised 11 children, six boys and five girls, among whom is Otilia.
Daughters and grandchildren have been able to hear some of her anecdotes, fondly remembering a time when life required much more work but was easier due to its simplicity. She remembers when she went to the field with her relatives to pick tomatoes and upon returning she did not miss the opportunity to stop next to a prickly pear tree and eat prickly pears with joy.
Her family says that she can spend hours telling stories, like the one about the day she fell from a very high wall of her mother's house and spent at least seven months without walking. Or when they went to Playa Grande to fish and ran to arrive before the boat and be able to play in the pipe, where the water rose to form the marsh. On another occasion they went to Playa Quemada to fish, climbed onto a very high teste and then rolled down, giving laughter to the sky and the earth
