A mother, her partner, and their three young children live in an makeshift ranch built with sticks and materials gathered from the area, with not enough space for everyone to sleep inside. They survive on what they can barely afford: a chicken bone for 50 Cuban pesos and a sweet potato.
Her story was documented by the Cuban content creator @melissahabla_ in a reel published on Instagram, where Mayolín Joaquín Coy, 48 years old, candidly recounted her family's situation at the time of the recording: "We have been two days without lunch and without eating, and I am not ashamed to say it."
She has been living in that ranch for about a year and a half after being evicted from her previous home because the money they earned working was needed for food and medicine.
His partner, aged 53, suffers from a hernia that has not been operable and prevents him from working. The man, who has accumulated eleven sugar harvests and years in agriculture, does not qualify for retirement because he had to leave his job before meeting the requirements.
"I can't have surgery, there’s nothing available. This is a mess," he stated in the video. "Everything I did was for nothing. Eleven sugar harvests for nothing."
Mayolín works in communal services, but his salary is not enough. Previously, they used to supplement their income by selling chlorine, but that product is no longer available either.
The family built their ranch with their own hands using sticks and materials they found in the area, and everyone—parents and children—sleeps in the same space because the interior room is not big enough for all of them.
@melsissahabla_ provided a contribution of donations received from her online community during the visit, so that the family could acquire food, and she promised to return.
"Seeing this family's situation completely broke my heart. I promised these little angels that I would return. I begged them not to lose hope," wrote the creator.
This case is not isolated. The IX Report of the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, published this month and based on over 1,300 interviews conducted across the 15 provinces of the country, estimates that 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty, using the World Bank's reference line of $1.90 per day.
That figure represents an increase of five percentage points compared to the 89% recorded in September 2025.
Eight out of ten Cubans have had to skip a meal due to lack of money or food, and 63% of households are facing difficulties in acquiring essential goods, according to the same study.
The housing crisis exacerbates the situation: the housing deficit in Cuba exceeds 900,000 units, there are 961 informal neighborhoods, and 37% of residential properties are in fair or poor condition, circumstances that force entire families to build makeshift shelters like the one Mayolín lives in with her children.
@melissahabla_ has documented similar cases in Holguín with concrete results: a mother with three children who lived in a cardboard structure without electricity or a postal address received, thanks to the donations coordinated by the creator, a concrete house just one month later.
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