Pastor Teaches Rural Communities in Santiago de Cuba to Earn Income by Recycling Cans Amid Economic Crisis

Amid the deep economic crisis facing Cuba, Catholic pastor Leandro NaunHung from Santiago de Cuba has discovered a creative way to help his community generate additional income: by recycling aluminum cans.

Through social media, NaunHung shared a video encouraging residents of rural areas to collect empty beer cans and other products as a means of supporting both the parish and their own families. "The streets are filled with beer cans. Even if there's no money for food, there's money for drinking," commented the priest, who has established a collection and sales system for the cans to fund small community needs, such as snacks.

"By selling those cans, you can also contribute to having snacks and things like that. It's a little, but it's a help," he noted.

NaunHung emphasized that no one is too poor to contribute and highlighted that the initiative aims to foster collective awareness about collaboration and self-sufficiency.

The pastor explained that the cans collected by community members are crushed, stored, and then sold, an effort that, although small, helps cover basic needs in a context where money is scarce and food prices continue to rise.

Additionally, in his video, NaunHung stressed the need for people to strive for resources at a time when the regime increasingly fails to meet the distribution of rationed staple products and emphasized the importance of community action in times of crisis.

Through his social media, Cuban priest Leandro NaunHung sheds light on the often overlooked realities of rural communities in Santiago de Cuba and the issues most affecting this population.

Recently, the pastor shared the story of a mother using purslane leaves. NaunHung posted a video on YouTube showing a mother preparing what he called a "survival recipe."

In recent days, the pastor distributed bread during a Sunday mass in a rural area of Santiago de Cuba, highlighting this gesture as a way to share joy and resist the harsh reality faced by Cubans.

In a video posted on Facebook, NaunHung expressed a message of hope and solidarity while distributing bread in a rural area of Santiago de Cuba: "We bring you a gift, we bring you bread," said the priest, highlighting that in the midst of the crisis affecting so many families, sharing food is a way to bring joy.

"Now that the bread comes so small, and it comes or doesn't come, or will come someday because of the crisis," he added, underscoring that celebrating mass is a reason for joy and strengthening faith, especially in times of great hardship like the current one, when people tend to turn to religion.