Charity Kitchens in Havana Feed Growing Lines as Cuba's Crisis Deepens: A Carton of Eggs Costs a Month's Pension
Every night in central Havana, hundreds of people line up outside a charity-run community kitchen operated by the Asociación Quisicuaba, some sleeping on the sidewalk while they wait for what may be their only meal of the day. When the doors open at 7 a.m., people rush in carrying numbered plastic containers for a serving of rice, eggs and pasta, sometimes with a little chicken, the Associated Press reported from Havana.
Fernando Fernández, a 71-year-old retiree who once worked as a cook and a security guard, is a regular. He now comes alone, because his 80-year-old wife, Josefa, is ill. The couple gets by on her monthly pension of 3,200 Cuban pesos, a little more than three U.S. dollars, plus the kitchen's help. "We're having a truly bumpy ride," Fernández told the AP.
As Cuba's long recession deepens, compounded by U.S. energy restrictions, inflation and shrinking government resources, a growing number of Cubans, including retired doctors, teachers and former public employees, are struggling to feed themselves. Charity-run kitchens and food banks, supported by religious groups, international aid organizations and United Nations agencies, have multiplied across the island in recent years, often housed in religious buildings. The Quisicuaba Association says it has identified about 12,500 vulnerable people in Havana.
Prices show the collapse in purchasing power most starkly. In private markets, a carton of eggs costs 3,200 Cuban pesos, roughly a retired person's monthly pension, while a bottle of cooking oil costs 2,700 pesos. A doctor's monthly income can reach about 15,000 pesos, equivalent to roughly 18 U.S. dollars. Inflation reached 28 percent in September from a year earlier. Cuba previously spent about two billion U.S. dollars a year importing food to sustain its rationing system, which provided households with staples including rice, beans and powdered milk, a system now under severe strain.
Enrique Alemán, a physician who heads the association, told the AP that for many of those in line, the kitchen provides their only guaranteed hot meal.
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(Source: Associated Press)
Source: Associated Press
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Photo: 图：古巴首都哈瓦那的国会大厦与街头老爷车（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons，本图已裁为 16:9。 / Photo: The National Capitol and classic cars on a street in Havana, Cuba (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped to 16:9.
