A Cuban mother of two, who had been living amidst a lake of filthy water for three months, has finally found a resolution to her problem after making a public complaint.
Residing on a corner house in Centro Habana, the woman’s home was completely surrounded by sewage water due to a clogged drain. After activist Yamilka Lafita (known as Lara Crofs) highlighted the situation on her Facebook profile, the state company Aguas de La Habana reached out, and by Saturday afternoon, their workers were on-site conducting cleaning and unclogging operations.
"Now, the key is to ensure it stays this way and that they clean the rest of the city, which continues to suffer from neglect and the injustice of an obsolete, decaying, and unequal system that has plunged the country into its deepest crisis," emphasized Lara.
The activist shared photos showing the stark contrast between the family’s dire living conditions and the now clean street after the state company intervened.
"What astonishes me is that problems get resolved only when they are posted on Facebook or other platforms. Did it really have to come to this when that desperate mother had already sought help from every possible place?" questioned one user in the post’s comment section.
"They only act when publicly shamed; they are like milk of magnesia, needing a shake," remarked another.
"Let them get their act together because every corner here has an overflowing cesspit, and they do nothing," stressed a third commenter.
The affected family, consisting of the mother, her husband, and their two children, lives at the intersection of Desagüe and Oquendo streets. With a massive pool of sewage right at their front door, surrounded by stagnant water, mosquitoes, and accumulated garbage, the father and one of the children contracted dengue fever.
Despite repeated complaints to the relevant authorities, both the director and inspectors from Aguas de La Habana in the municipality ignored their pleas. The mother also reached out to a brigade responsible for cleaning drains, which promised to send a high-pressure truck to clear the blockage but never followed through.
"They told me they would send the truck, but it never arrived. The worst part is they laughed when mentioning my situation. I no longer know where else to turn," the distressed woman declared.