Tips for Cuban Researchers working in Cuba
This post is for those who may have friends or family members who wish to earn a bit of money by visiting churches, cemeteries, and Municipal Registry offices.
Tips for doing research
in Cuba
Discuss with the client exactly what it is he/she wishes you
to obtain for them. Do NOT accept
research that says, “Send me everything you can find on the Garcia
family!” Many clients have only a vague
notion of what they are hoping to find.
Because they don’t understand the basic principles of genealogy - work
from the present, back one step at a time into the past – they think that you
will be able to produce a complete 4 generation pedigree for $25! You need to help educate them and set their
expectations.
They are accustomed to the US, where it’s easy and fast to go
to a municipal office and obtain a document in minutes. A client who knows what to expect will be a happy client. So, help them to understand that:
A. You will need some basic information to
locate what you need, and the client will have to provide this to you. In smaller places, sometimes the church
secretary (for a fee) will be willing to look through the old records and indeed “send
everything she has on the Garcia family” but that is very, very rare! Usually church secretaries and civil registry
clerks will need:
● Full name (both surnames, if
possible),
● Specific dates for birth, or marriage,
or death -
● Specific locations for these events
(especially in la Habana, which currently has 15 different municipalities
within the city boundaries, each with its own registry office!)
B.
It’s *different* in Cuba! Things move much more slowly, glacially
even! It’s going to take you time to
locate, photograph, and transmit a document.
Often, church secretaries are unpaid volunteers, so a small part of your
document fee will go to the secretary for her assistance in obtaining the
record for you. These secretaries work one or two days a week, sometimes only
every alternate week. They can be absent
from the office for a variety of reasons: Local Fiestas, health problems,
weather (hurricanes, remember!!!) - and so forth.
C. You may not be able to obtain the
document that the client needs, even after looking for it. But you will have to absorb the costs. This is because you are unknown to the
researcher. And people are very
concerned about being scammed. I have
been scammed by people to whom I sent money and received nothing, even some
people who were recommended by other members of the group. So, only charge for
the actual document.
D. The going rate is around per $30
document. If you wish to charge a bit
more or less, that’s fine. But the group
members are accustomed to paying about $30 or a little more. If you have been asked to look for more than
one document, you might consider giving the client a price break.
E. Don’t send the document to the client
until you receive payment. Some
researchers take a picture of part of the image, to prove that they have the
actual document in their hands. When
they receive payment, they then send the entire image of the doc. You will find that some clients are very
trustworthy. But others will try to scam
you – take the image and not pay for it.
You
might consider keeping an envelope for each client and writing on it the
client’s name and physical address.
Inside, keep a list of what the client has asked for. Then, as you acquire documents for the
client, you can put the original into the envelope. When a friend or family member goes to the US
for a visit, the friend can take the envelope with him, purchase US postage,
and can mail the envelope to the client.
I
received some original documents 8 months after I ordered them - which was
totally fine with me, because my researcher scanned the docs and sent me the
scans. That worked perfectly for me.
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