Julia Maria Can’t Go Far

By Laura Gomez

HAVANA TIMES – Julia Maria Rojas is 64 years old and suffers from advanced myopia. Until recently, she didn’t have many problems, but in the current crisis that Cuba is going through, and which is affecting the elderly more severely, getting new glasses has become a long and arduous journey.

How do you manage your day-to-day life with glasses that don’t have the prescription you need?

JULIA MARÍA ROJAS: It’s difficult because I’m very limited. When my granddaughter can’t come to cook, I have to manage to light the stove or carry hot water to the bathroom. After burning my fingers more than once, I started bathing with cold water, and I cook in the electric pot when there is power. As for my social interactions, I can tell you that I go out very little. Initially, many of my neighbors or former colleagues would comment: yesterday, I waved at you from afar, and you didn’t respond. People saw me walking on the street as usual. I had to accept it and then explain to some that my vision had deteriorated.

I imagine it’s also difficult for you to buy food.

If I don’t go accompanied, I have to buy whatever I can find nearby because I don’t dare to cross the avenue. At first, I would wait for someone to help me, but I’ve stopped doing that. I’m afraid of falling or being hit by a car. At 60, in perfect health, I have my outings restricted due to a deficiency that the State should guarantee, especially in a country that prides itself on being socialist and putting the people’s welfare first.

How long have you been trying to buy new glasses?

I’ve been trying to buy them for over two years; these glasses I’m wearing have my 2018 prescription. I finally got my eye test done and confirmed how my myopia has worsened; I need new lenses. That’s when another stage began. I was not only seeing poorly, but I also had to start visiting places to see where I could order my glasses, given the huge scarcity. The stress has been immense, and I still haven’t found any relief.

What have you found in your visits to state-owned optical shops?

I visited all the optical shops with my granddaughter in Centro Habana, Habana Vieja, Plaza de la Revolución, Marianao, and La Lisa, even those in East Havana, and the situation is the same everywhere. Due to a lack of frames and lenses, some optical shops have put other types of merchandise in the windows, like personal hygiene and cleaning products; it seems they rent the space to some private businesses. At the Centro Habana optical shop, which used to have such good service, the administrator told me they hadn’t received supplies since the start of the pandemic, so even if I brought my frames, nothing could be done due to the lack of lenses. Then she recommended that I go to a private optical shop. I didn’t even know such places existed here. That night, I thought a lot about the elderly people in my neighborhood who walk around with their glasses held together with strings or wires or the lenses glued with any adhesive they can find; I also thought about all the nearsighted children in Cuba. I felt very depressed.

What about the international optical shops that used to charge in foreign currency?

Well, it turns out that people told me not to go because it wouldn’t solve my problem. Later, I found out that at the one on Obispo Street, they are measuring eyesight, and it costs 500 pesos, but I would still need to go to a private optical shop because even those that used to be in foreign currency and had everything don’t always have materials anymore.

Did you find a solution at the private optical shop?

Fortunately, I have my granddaughter. She immediately offered to help me with the money, and we started a new search. The service in these optical shops varies. In some places, they only sell pre-made glasses. Where I finally went, they not only offer eye tests, but they also sell bifocal and progressive lenses in various colors, several frame models, sunglasses, and all kinds of accessories. The environment is welcoming and very clean. Both the receptionist and the other workers were extremely kind. But… the price for the glasses I need is 12,000 pesos in national currency.

How did you feel when you heard that high price?

It was a mix of emotions because, for thirty minutes, I had felt treated like a human being, which is very difficult in this country. On the other hand, I live in Cuba and I know how the cost of living has risen in general. I knew the price would be high. I had to pay for the whole package: the lenses and the frame. Anyway, I was in shock.

Look, I had started smiling as soon as I entered and was greeted with good morning, and I couldn’t stop because the service was so pleasant. But that continued smile marked the end of my dream, a dream from which I had just woken up with the certainty that I would keep stumbling, burning my fingers, and endlessly wandering my neighborhood in search of sustenance. My pension is only 1500 pesos a month, and my granddaughter is not a millionaire, no matter how much she wants to help. Her nurse’s salary is not enough, nor are the croquettes she sells to her coworkers at the hospital.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.