In a rural community of Santiago de Cuba, seemingly affected by the precarious access to drinking water, a woman managed to fill her cistern with jars during the recent rains, on the eve of Hurricane Melissa, in a scene that reflects the harsh daily reality of many Cubans.
The moment was captured in video by Father Leandro NaunHung, who was visiting the area and shared the account of a local resident, proud of having stored enough water.
"Did a lot of water leave you for the farm? Did you fill the cistern? She's as happy as can be then," the priest is heard saying, while the woman replies with laughter, "I have enough water."
With a tone of relief and resignation, the woman recounts how she improvised the method for collecting rainwater.
“There it fell and filled up, I would remove the zinc and it would fall again. I came with my jug, with patience, and that's how I filled that cistern completely, because it was dry,” he explained while showing the tanks and containers used for the task.
He placed a piece of zinc to collect the water falling from the roof. The liquid was then directed into a tank where it was stored, and from there, it was carried by a hose to a cistern using jars.
In the video, the lady details how she repeated the process over and over, loading jars, emptying tanks, and refilling them, until she managed to make the reservoir overflow.
"The rain took me by surprise; I thought it was going to stop, but I kept going, little by little, until it filled up," he/she recounted.
Amid laughter, he also mentioned the challenges he faces each day. “A few little plants and the mosquitoes that are wreaking havoc, yes indeed,” he said, while the priest humorously celebrated his efforts: “Ah, we can make a stew now.”
The testimony, which has been widely shared on social media, highlights the precariousness of access to water in rural areas of eastern Cuba, where many families rely on rainfall or makeshift solutions to meet their basic needs.
The video was recorded days before Hurricane Melissa, a Category 4 storm, approached the east of Cuba, where it is expected to bring heavy rainfall and local flooding.
For many residents, that rain—though dangerous—also represents a temporary opportunity to collect the water that is scarce for weeks.
The water crisis in Cuba continues to reveal its most critical face, with reports multiplying from various provinces. In Matanzas, residents have described the charging of thousands of pesos for an irregular supply service, which rarely reaches homes, as a “great scam”.
Families assert that, despite making payments, they still do not receive water through the pipes and must resort to private solutions or informal resale to meet their most basic needs.
In the capital, a broken valve has turned a corner of Havana into a permanent river, symbolizing the wastefulness that contrasts with the scarcity faced by other areas of the city.
Residents report that for months, water has been lost without any permanent solution from the authorities, while thousands of people continue to store water in buckets and tanks due to the prolonged service interruptions.
In the eastern part of the country, the situation is no different. In Holguín, entire communities have gone for more than five months without running water, forcing residents to improvise rainwater collection systems or travel long distances to obtain a few liters.
The testimonies agree on the lack of concrete responses from local authorities, who attribute the problems to breakages and droughts without providing sustainable solutions.
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