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<a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/hurlich09192008.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/hurlich09192008.html<br><br>
</a></font><font face="Verdana" size=2>September 19, 2008<br><br>
</font><h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>A Dispatch from
Cuba <br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">
Storm Survivors
</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>By SUSAN
HURLICH <br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=6 color="#990000">T</font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>he TV coverage here in Cuba on the impact of
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike is very instructive, not just in showing
clearly the extent of damages, but in giving a sense of the
feelings and spirit of the people through many, many different
testimonies. I notice that in much of the reporting outside the
country, there's not much commentary on this aspect, which is as
important - if not more so in the long run - as the statistics on
damages.<br><br>
One comment repeated over and over by men, women, old, young, often
while standing in front of a pile of rubble that was once their
home, often in tears, is that they know that their country, their
Revolution, won't abandon them in their time of need. For instance,
as of yesterday (Tuesday) noon, some 88% of the population was
receiving electricity - in many areas by generators (part of Cuba's
Energy Revolution as well as preparing for disasters - although
many parts of Las Tunas, Holguin, Camaguey, Pinar del Rio and Isla
de la Juventud are still with difficulties.<br><br>
Yesterday, I was also struck by another comment made by an elderly
gentleman in Holguin, I think it was, who said (on TV) that Cubans
have long known how to help other people in need elsewhere in the
world, and that he's confident that they won't hesitate to help
each other in this great time of need.<br><br>
And this is indeed what is happening. For example, in Havana, the
entire city is in the process of being organized at the grassroots
level to give people-to-people assistance to the provinces of Pinar
del Rio and Provincia Habana, with different municipalities being
"twinned" with designated areas in these two provinces.
This is happening elsewhere in the country, with provinces and
areas that are less affected helping those provinces and areas near
them that are more affected. It's a "people's response"
above and beyond the professional brigades of electricians,
construction workers and others who are being sent from one area to
another, and it's being done through the mass organizations such as
the Committees in Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), the Cuban
Women's Federation (FMC), zonal groups, residents' groups, etc.<br><br>
Meetings are starting to take place at the circumscription levels,
such as what happened Sunday night (14th) in La Ceiba, located
along the Almendares River in the Puentes Grandes areas of Playa
Municipality here in Havana. My friend Caridad, who lives there and
who is a social worker and local community organizer, told me about
the three different meetings that were held throughout the day,
with three different circumscriptions. Some 60 to 70 people
attended each meeting, with discussions ranging around the need for
solidarity, the need for local clean up as quickly as possible, and
the need to help others. The first task to be done was cleaning up
the neighbourhoods of rubble and fallen branches. Some days earlier
trucks and tractors had passed through residential and other areas
collecting the heavier debris, but there was still lots of leaves
and smaller branches all over the place. After the clean up, a
clothing drive will take place in La Ceiba (and elsewhere)
organized by the Women's Federation. And today, Caridad told me that
in the municipality of 10 de Octuber, people are starting to
organize donations of household goods for communities in the
municipality of Alquizar, located in the central southwestern part
of Provincia Habana.<br><br>
In my own neighbourhood, Vedado, located in Plaza Municipality, we
did the final clean-up on Sunday, and now we're waiting for
notification of when the circumscriptions will be meeting.<br><br>
It's small stuff, eh? The immense needs all over the country - some
people being evacuated at the last moment because of flash floods
in areas that don't traditionally flood, and having only the
clothing on their back to show for the home they used to have - and
the few things that any given Cuban family can turn over to others.
Small stuff compared to the latest official statistics - still
preliminary - that show over 444,000 houses affected of which over
63,000 are totally destroyed, over 4,000 tons (preliminary figures)
of warehoused foodstuffs affected nationwide - not including
destruction of crops in the fields and significant losses in
poultry rearing, with hundreds of thousands of animals literally
gone with the wind (!), and damages to electricity, water systems,
in short, the entire infrastructure of the country including
schools, clinics, hospitals. Just imagine an entire country hit by
Katrina from one end to the other and you'll get an idea of the
devastation! Preliminary estimates by Cuba is that losses are in
the range of $5 billion.<br><br>
And Cuba itself has said, very clearly, that its own reserves won't
begin to cover the country's needs for recuperation and
reconstruction, let alone for feeding the population in the short
term. That's another point, by the way, that should be kept in
mind: inside the country we're being kept very informed about the
situation. We know what kinds of reserves Cuba has and how they're
used, as well as the decision-making process for their
distribution. We know the extent of damages, which are updated
every time we turn on the TV and/or radio or read the newspaper. We
know about the assistance that's already coming into the country
and where it's going, and about which I won't say much here as I
know there's lots of information about this available in the
international media. We know about the "offers" from the
US, first of a paltry $100,000 and then of $5 million, and why Cuba
has said a categorical NO as it's not aid but "aid with
strings", that is, the US will only give it if Cuba accepts a
US inspection team - something which no other country or
organization in the world makes as a condition to hurricane
assistance. (Plus Cuba has its own proven capacity to make its own
assessments.)<br><br>
So it seems like small stuff when one talks about neighbourhood
clothing drives and cooking utensils drives and so forth. Except
that it's NOT small staff, as this kind of mobilization within the
country is what shows, more than anything else, the spirit and
determination of the Cuban people to not only survive, but to
eventually surpass the very difficult blow that the country has
received.<br><br>
For the past week, or rather since the weather has calmed down and
turned once again to hot and clear days and we're starting to get
the full dimension of the terrible damage that has been done to
Cuba by two back-to-back category 4 hurricanes, I've been thinking
about numbers. Here in Cuba. In Haiti. In Jamaica. In the Dominican
Republic. In Galveston.<br><br>
Numbers. Statistics. Percentages. They can be overwhelming. They can
be so overwhelming that they can sometimes, without our wanting it
to happen, distance us from the very human face of the disaster.
It's a normal reaction. It's a self-protective reaction.<br><br>
But if we distance ourselves from the very human face of calamity,
we also distance ourselves from the very human face of what people
are doing to try to recover from such great losses. Ultimately, we
distance ourselves from ourselves.<br><br>
We must also always remember that what we are seeing in Cuba or Haiti
or Galveston or anywhere else in the world is directly related to
the damage that is being done to the planetary environment, to
climate change. Just looking at where I live and work, Cuba,
there's no question but that hurricanes have become more frequent
and more intense in the past decade. People living along the
eastern and Gulf coasts of the United States know this as well. The
world's ecosystem has been damaged and is screaming out its pain in
hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, inundations, Arctic
meltdowns...<br><br>
It's large, isn't it - the problem that faces us. It's overwhelming
too, the dimension of the task. But it's also imperative that we
see, and talk about, and mobilize around, the crisis not just here
in Cuba, but the worldwide crisis that is affecting us
all.<br><br>
But now, to return more directly to Cuba: I see the damage. I hear
the numbers. And I try to humanize it, to feel the human face
behind the numbers. Because today it's Jorge and Anabela and Luisa
in Baracoa and Pinar del Rio and the Isla, but tomorrow it can as
easily be George or Elizabeth or Steven in Toronto or Winnipeg or
New York or San Francisco.<br><br>
I'd like to tell you a few individual stories.<br><br>
As mentioned above, over 63,000 houses have been completely
destroyed, meaning at least 200,000 people homeless. One of these
houses belonged to the daughter, Yannara, of a very dear friend on
mine in Baracoa, on the northern coast of Guantanamo province and
one of the first areas affected by Ike. Yannara is 27-years-old and
is in her fourth year of socio-cultural studies. Here husband
Giomanis is 29-years old and works in a state structure repairing
computers. They have two small daughters, eight-month-old Ingrid
and two-year-old Isabel (known as Isabelita since she was born).
They lived in a simple house located behind Hotel La Rusa - for
those of you who know Baracoa - about a block and a half from the
Malecon or seawall. After Ike, only the front wall remained of
their house, and all the other houses between them and the Malecon
were also destroyed. The only things Yannara and Giomanis were able
to salvage from the rubble is some clothing, a couple of fans, four
chairs (but the table was lost). Everything else disappeared: the
air conditioner, all kitchen pots and pans and utensils, all
bathroom fixtures, etc. Even the fridge was carried away by ocean
swells, etc. The day after Ike passed, two government commissions
came by, the first to make note of damages and destruction to
houses, and the second to make note of what people lost from inside
their homes. Yannara and her family are now temporarily crowded
into her parent's home. Others without immediate family in Baracoa
have been taken to evacuation centres in the area. Nuns from the
local Catholic Church gave out some detergent, tooth brushes and
toothpaste to people who were affected. Yannara says that the
agricultural markets are largely empty and that some people who
have small farms on the outskirts of Baracoa are walking around
selling tomatoes and onions and a few other things. The government
is already distributing doors and windows to people who had lesser
damages to their houses, and roofing sheets have also arrived.
Inbetween her tears she kept saying "but we'll come out of
this, we're already getting assistance," This was the
situation as of last Sunday (14th).<br><br>
Multiply this story by 200,000.<br><br>
Another friend in Baracoa, 78-year-old Cuca, didn't suffer damage to
her house. But the five-hectare family farm in Maisi, which in
addition to growing coffee for the state is also a source of fruit
and vegetables and meat for the extended family, was seriously
damaged. All the coffee plants were knocked down as well as many of
the large fruit trees that shaded the coffee plants. She says that
everyone in that area has similar losses. Then she paused for a
moment on the phone, and said "There is the United States it's
individual, but here at least everyone helps each other. People
share the little bit of kerosene or alcohol that they have for
cooking, and we also share our food so that no one goes hungry
while we're trying to get back to normal."<br><br>
The culture of collectivism. I've talked about this before. It's
another thing that helps Cubans get through tough times like this -
and there's nothing "little" about it! No one needs to
make "individual claims" to private insurance companies.
They're in it together. And so is the state.<br><br>
And a final story I'd like to share with you, this one from
beautiful Vinales in the province of Pinar del Rio. Last weekend I
got a call from my dear friend Jesus. An extraordinary man. He's a
poet, artist and researcher - as well as a member of the Municipal
Historical Commission - who, motived by his love of nature, has
dedicated the past 40 years of his life to investigating fossils,
animal life and medicinal plants throughout the Vinales valley
area. Alongside his home, located just a stone.s throw (baseball
throw?) from the local Baseball Stadium, he has developed a
wonderful, magical garden where he displays endemic plants and
fossils that he.s collected from all around the area, and where the
entry is .guarded. by a three-metre-high cement baby Tyrannosaurus
rex. Locally known as the Parque Prehistorico de Referencia
National, some years ago his garden was declared a National
Reference Site by the Ministry of Agriculture as a model of a
creative way to use a small bit of land surrounding one's home. His
garden is regularly visited by students, researchers, UNESCO and
European Union representatives and interested Cubans and
international tourists.<br><br>
Then came first Gustav and then Ike, and Vinales was without
electricity for over two weeks. I tried calling Jesus but couldn't
get through, as his phone goes on and off with the electrical
supply. Finally, the rains stopped and some small generators were
brought in, giving people at least some electricity during the day.
It's still not constant as the generators can't meet the full-time
needs of everyone at the same time. So it rotates. Jesus lots of
zinc roofing sheet on half of his house. His daughter Luisa who
lives next door lose her entire roof. During the cycles, while
Jesus was trying to save the plants, the family was trying to keep
the house in one piece, as there was lots of water entry through
the window shutters and doors. All the large trees - avocado,
mango, other fruit and ornamental - were lost, but some of the
smaller plants managed to survive. The damage inventory commission
has already been by, but it'll take years for Jesus to get his
garden back to what it was.<br><br>
Which brings me to another face of the crisis which we must also keep
in mind. In addition to seriously damaging a built infrastructure,
a hurricane also damages dreams, rather, the realized efforts of
making dreams a reality. For me, Jesus's garden is a perfect
example of this. As Luisa said, if Jesus were going through
this alone, he would be as devastated as his garden. But he's not.
He's already making plans for replanting while they wait for the
new roof for his daughter's house and some construction assistance
for his own.<br><br>
This - the spiritual and psychological impact of the destruction -
is one of the reasons that well-known Cuban singers,
troubadours, musicians, comic groups and actors / actresses have
been going around to the cities and small towns that have suffered
the greatest devastation. When they arrive, the people, who have
been informed beforehand, are already waiting for them.
Performances are given to one and all, with the artists spending a
full day in each location they visit. While these performances
don't solve the serious material situation in which hundreds of
thousands of cubans find themselves, they provide a kind of
spiritual help, and are yet another concrete reminder to those living
in remote areas that they're not forgotten.<br><br>
Again, an apparently small thing. And yet resistance and
reconstruction - indeed the Cuban Revolution itself - has been made
by seemingly small things repeated over and over again. Because, at
the end of the day, it's only with the energies and willingness of
the people themselves that, as Jose Marti said, the impossible
becomes possible!<br><br>
<br><br>
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