Ivett de las Mercedes

Located on San Nicolas Street in Central Havana, San Judas Tadeo church is suffering social and state indolence, like many other institutions are. As I write, a garbage dump is growing on one of its corners. Dalia Echemendia, one of the neighbors, tells us about the sad situation.

Reaching 64 years with a good quality of life, in the company of someone you love, with new projects, isn’t very common. The elderly in Cuba get by with a thousand things they need to “resolve” every day, and plus they are victims of prejudice from people who question their utility in society, their understanding and even their sexuality.

In Cuba, physical therapy cannot be limited to a series of procedures and techniques. Yeney Guevara Garrido, 34, works at a rehabilitation center belonging to the Havana municipality of Cotorro. She studied this degree thanks to a call for students who had graduated high school. She is currently getting ready to pick up studying again.

Esmeralda Rojas Soto, 65, belongs to a cooperative in the Artemisa Municipality. She has been rearing cattle for 40 years now and she sells them to the National Meat Company. Like many other farmers, she has experienced discrepancies with the manager of the slaughterhouse when it comes to the weight of her cattle.

Ernesto Jose Reyes Morales is 45 years old and he was in a prison in Quivican, located in Mayabeque province, in 2001. He was charged with misappropriation of funds and he had to serve this unfair sentence. State resources, in the area that he was responsible for, disappeared.

On March 24th, in the town of Perico, Matanzas province, there was a fire which destroyed seven homes completely and two homes were partially damaged. There weren’t any fatalities or people injured. Here’s what happened.

Maria Teresa Alvarez Martinez tried to take her own life when she was 23 years old. In Cuba, suicide is closely linked to wishes of wanting to be independent and thinking differently, not being accepted, being discriminated against or bullied.

Jorge Luis Torres (42 years old) is the only shoe shiner in the Candelaria municipality and he has been working ever since he was 14 years old. A friend taught me in 1990. It’s a job I enjoy and people are happy with what I do.

Many professionals are still asking themselves why security guards earn more than them when they had to study for years; and as a result of the existing financial crisis, some have left their jobs to become security guards.