Identidades in English No 4, December 2014 | Page 34

The Hights and Lows of attention to the disabled in Cuba Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez Professor and civil activist Artemisa, Cuba Upon entering an inhabited batey outbuilding at the old Orozco sugar mill, located in the municipality of Bahía Honda in the Artemisa Province, my senses picked up on a subhuman environment: strong odors resulting from insufficient hygiene - because the income is insufficient to buy detergent and soap. In addition, no water came through the pipes; requiring that the tenant purchase it at 80 cents a can. The faded walls, ceiling, and floors were the final touches in this Dantesque environment that three generations of a family call home: Agustina Rodríguez Díaz is the mother of Violeta Arozarena Rodríguez - who is blind - and Elena Rodríguez Díaz, who is herself the single mother of 20-year-old Bárbara Isaura Rodríguez Díaz, 34 who has been blind since birth and has severe mental retardation. These women declare that they receive no attention from Cuba’s social security. According to Violeta, “they do not take care of us here; they have given me nothing. Nothing has ever been given to me in this world.” Her mother adds that Violeta burned herself to see if that would get those of social services to give her something and, on another occasion, that she found her daughter trying to hang herself. Violeta confirms: “I have to open my legs to all the men who come here for just twenty dollars, so we can eat. Why? We are like a pastureland for social security.” She says she went “two months without eating to be able