An eight-year-old Cuban girl from Bayamo named Lía, who suffers from chronic respiratory illnesses, survives in conditions that the Cuban regime is unable to remedy.
Right now, she has gone more than 50 days without a drop of water, with an empty and rusty refrigerator, and her only toys are dolls rescued from the trash, for which she sews little clothes herself.
His case was reported on Facebook by the Cuban journalist and activist Guillermo Rodríguez Sánchez, who coordinates solidarity campaigns for families in critical situations on the Island from Mexico.
The call did not come from the mother herself, Lariatne Gamboa, but from a neighbor who sometimes brings them a meal and who pleaded for help on their behalf.
"He's ashamed that he can't do more for this cheerful girl and her very resilient mother, he's ashamed of everything, he's ashamed that such good people suffer so much misery," wrote Rodríguez Sánchez about the neighbor who alerted about the situation.
"Let no one come to embellish it; not having anything to eat or the means to find proper food, even if you work, is the worst kind of misery," he emphasized.
The activist described the interior of the family's refrigerator as "a mass of sludge, rust, crusts from unfinished freezing cycles, and food hastily thrown in to rot between outages."
The photos confirm that picture: the empty appliance, with rusted grates and barely a couple of containers with no visible contents.
"Just like Lía and her mother, there are thousands of mothers and girls in Cuba," acknowledged Rodríguez Sánchez, who in previous campaigns managed to raise more than 215,000 pesos in 24 hours for a family in Júcaro.
Those who wish to contribute can do so via the BPA card 9238 1299 7955 8725, in the name of Verona Bonce, a friend of the family, as Lariatne Gamboa does not have a bank account.
The contact mobile number in Cuba is 59659518. Those who wish to communicate directly with the mother can call +53 55056528.
For shipments from abroad, Rodríguez Sánchez coordinates cash delivery directly to the home through his Messenger profile, with photographic evidence of the delivery.
"Let's see if amidst all this desolation and hunger, we can nourish a bit the innocent spirit of a girl who has not experienced the wonderful and simple moment of receiving a gift of a toy," wrote the activist, who also specifically requests a new doll for Lía.
The case of this girl reflects a systemic crisis that the regime neither acknowledges nor addresses.
According to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, 89% of Cuban families live in extreme poverty, earning an average salary of just 13 dollars a month.
More than 100,000 Cuban children do not receive daily milk, a figure acknowledged by the Ministry of Food Industry itself, and 48.5% of students aged six to eleven do not receive food at school, according to the World Food Programme.
On the other hand, the water crisis that Lía is experiencing is not an isolated case. In Bayamo, prolonged blackouts render hydraulic pumps inoperative, and almost three million Cubans suffer from water scarcity without regular access to the resource. A private water truck costs up to 20,000 Cuban pesos in the area, an amount unattainable for most.
The Electric Company of Granma admitted in June that it was only generating one-third of the energy the province needs, with circuits accumulating over 45 hours without service. This energy collapse serves as the backdrop to the misery that Lía is experiencing.
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