What a family saw when they went to visit a sick relative in Cuba in March 2010

April 6 - The sister of a very good friend of therealcuba.com passed away in Havana on March 10, 2010.

Her niece, who used to be a nurse in Cuba and now lives in the US, went to Cuba to visit her mother and to take medicines that were not available to regular Cubans in the island.

Her son, who also lives in the US, went with her. 

We will call them Ann and Paul, not their real names, since they still have relatives in Cuba.

She was able to see her mother while she still was hospitalized and stayed in Cuba for her funeral.

Some of the stories she tells and the photos she took, demonstrate the incredible suffering of the Cuban people at the hands of this gang of common criminals who has been running Cuba for 51 years without ever been elected.

The family sent me these photos because they want the world to see the reality of Cuba's health care for regular Cubans, very different from the lies that Michael Moore portrayed in his documentary "Sicko."

When Ann went to visit her mother at La Benéfica, a hospital in Havana, she was horrified to see that she was suffering from a terrible skin infection that she had caught during her hospital stay.

Ann's daughter defined it as "sarna" (mange), something that normally affects animals, not people.

Ann's father had stayed at the hospital a couple of nights to accompany his ailing wife and had caught the same skin infection.

When Ann saw the doctor, she complained about the skin infection that was affecting her mother as a result of the lack of hygiene at the hospital.

The doctor looked at Ann, lifted his shirt and showed her that he also had "sarna."

"Everyone working here has it," was his response.

Ann was able to treat her mother's infection with several creams that she had brought  with her from the US. They were all purchased over the counter here and brought a much needed relief to her mother's itching.

This is the "cafeteria" at La Benéfica.

The sign next to the frot door reads: "Welcome. Working for a better service with meticulousness quality."

The sign was probably painted more than 51 years ago, when this hospital was really proud of the service it provided to its patients.

The "Emergency Room Desk" at La Benéfica Hospital.

The sign on the wall reads "Urgency and Emergency."

As you can see, they were well prepared and ready to manage whatever emergency could come.

At the funeral home

When Ann mother died on March 10, 2010, she and Paul went to a funeral home to make the necessary arrangements.

The funeral director told her that since she was paying with dollars, she was going to get the best chapel that also had acces to the best restroom facilities at the funeral home.

The "best" restroom didn't even have a toilet seat or cover. Imagine how the one for regular Cubans who pay with pesos would look like!

The other wall at the "best" restroom available.

You could wet your hands, those days when water was available, but there was no soap or paper towels available.

This is the "lobby" at the funeral home. Not a single couch or even a chair was available for sitting.

Tomorrow we will have photos of the funeral at Colon Cemetery in Havana.

At Colon Cemetery

The funeral home told the family that the burial would have to take place during the next two hours, because they did not have what was required to embalm the body.

And they were told that the coffin didn't have a side handle to carry it, because the bottom would come off since it was made of cardboard and cloth.

It had to be carried by holding the bottom, as it is shown in this photo.

As you can see, the bottom of the coffin was almost separated from the rest of the box.

The destruction caused by the Castro brothers has reached the Colon Cemetery.

The majority of the mausoleums are in a state of semi-destruction, like the one shown here, that has sticks of wood preventing the roof from caving in.

Photos taken inside the Cemetery indicate the deterioration after years of complete neglect.

There was a police presence all over the Cemetery, in case people began to complain about its condition and also because many graves have been opened and vandalized by people trying to steal whatever they could find.

Life in Cuba today

The average monthly salary in Cuba is 245 pesos or about 8 pesos per day.

And what are all these people waiting in line for?

To buy a hot dog for 10 pesos, or a little more than one day's salary.

According to the person who sent me the photo, the hot dog was not only expensive but also cold.

And here is the menu of that cafeteria.

Hot dog 10 pesos. Mayabe beer 18 pesos. Cacique beer 20 pesos.

Cigarettes 7 pesos. And a condom 1 peso.

A condom? In a cafeteria?

Maybe it is because the lines are so long that some people can't wait until they get home.

Here is how many onions you can buy for15 pesos, or the equivalent to your salary for 2 days.

This is what's left of the once famous "Esquina de Tejas" (Texas' Corner)

One thing hasn't changed: Almost every corner has been turned into a garbage dump.

The old Radiocentro theatre, now called Yara