A Cuban mother has gone viral on social media after showing how she chose to clean the hospital bathroom where her daughter is admitted with her own hands, due to the poor hygiene conditions of the facility.
The video, posted on Facebook by Suramy Cuba on July 18, has surpassed 418,000 views and has generated thousands of reactions and comments from Cubans who claim to have experienced similar situations in hospitals across the country.
"Many mothers tell me, 'You're crazy, you're going to clean the bathroom.' But it doesn't matter. At least I'll feel a bit of comfort on the days my daughter is hospitalized," the woman explains as she scrubs the toilet.
The images show Suramy using improvised materials: a nylon bag, detergent, a sponge, a blanket for the floor, and an old broom.
She even makes a homemade plunger with a stick and a cut plastic bottle, a method she says she learned from another mother who is also in the room.
The Cuban woman clarifies that the hospital has cleaning staff, but considers that the conditions and resources are insufficient.
"They just do a quick clean of the place and that's it," he notes, though he avoids directly blaming the workers and acknowledges that low wages are not helpful either.
"I'm here doing my part, contributing to make everything cleaner for our children, for the mothers who are here now, and for those who will come later," she states.
At the end, show the result.
"It doesn't resemble a home's bathroom, but at least it's a bit more inviting, cleaner, and more fragrant."
About the cockroaches, she admits resignedly: "There's nothing I can do about them."
The post sparked an avalanche of testimonies from Cuban women who reported having experienced similar situations in hospitals across the country: the Juan Bruno Zayas Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, Calixto García, Celia Sánchez in Manzanillo, the pediatric hospital in Pinar del Río, Guevara in Las Tunas, and the maternal Clodomira Acosta, among others.
One of the most shared comments reflected the persistence of the problem over decades.
"That was 28 years ago, and today you are living the same thing as my mom... two generations of mothers," wrote a user.
Another summarized the sentiment of many Cubans with a phrase that garnered dozens of reactions: "Cubans have been normalizing everything for 67 years. How much longer?"
A crisis that repeats itself
The case brings attention back to the deterioration of hospital infrastructure in Cuba.
In recent months, reports of a lack of hygiene, water shortages, insect infestations, and the deterioration of numerous health centers have increased.
In June, relatives of patients reported the presence of bedbugs, cockroaches, clogged bathrooms, and lack of water at the Matanzas Maternal Hospital. Days later, similar reports emerged from another hospital facility in the country.
The health crisis has also been documented by international media. France 24 recently warned that the Cuban healthcare system is "on the brink of collapse," affected by shortages of supplies, malfunctioning equipment, and an increasing patient care overload.
Meanwhile, Suramy's gesture has been interpreted by thousands of users as a reflection of the everyday reality for many Cuban families: caring for a hospitalized loved one often means taking on basic cleaning tasks to try to ensure minimal hygiene conditions.
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