"How could I have imagined that someone would remember me, that they would come to see me this afternoon!" exclaimed José Agustín Farray Ponce, known as "Tito," when he saw the volunteers arriving at his home in Cuatro Caminos, in the province of Matanzas.
The man lives barefoot in a place that has never had electricity, at the foot of a hundred-year-old ceiba tree. To deliver supplies to him, the team had to walk along a dirt path.
The scene is part of the distribution events documented by Cáritas Matanzas on its social media, following the arrival of the first shipment of humanitarian aid at Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport in Varadero on October 14.
The modules, donated by the American people, include food and hygiene products for families in situations of extreme vulnerability.
In El Estante, volunteers visited Emenejilda León Padrón, a woman who has been bedridden for years, whose care has been provided by her husband for more than three decades, Orlando Núñez León.
"She was one of the most beautiful women in the area; I spent six months insisting until she finally said yes. If I were to be born again, I would choose her again," Orlando recounted. Emenejilda, her voice trembling, expressed her gratitude for the support and asked that God and the Virgin of Charity be with those who made this possible.
In that same community, assistance was received by Alfredo Molina Pérez, 59 years old, who has severe visual impairment since birth and is the sole caregiver for his 82-year-old mother. This was the first time he had received help of this kind.
"Sometimes despair takes over me, but I try to recover and keep going. It's hard not being able to go out and work, especially with how difficult it is to maintain a household," he recounted. Before saying goodbye, he loaded the food module, the heaviest of the packages, and left behind a phrase that summed up his resolve to persevere: "There is always a light."
The deliveries also arrived in Alacranes, where the container with supplies reached the vicinity of the San Francisco de Paula parish at four thirty in the afternoon, during a brief rain. Father Naydel Echazabal organized a human chain to unload the modules before nightfall.
The packages are marked with the flag of the United States and the Caritas Cuba logo, along with a label stating that they are a "Donation from the people of the United States of America to the citizens of Cuba."
The food modules contain rice, beans, oil, brown sugar, pasta, sardines, and tuna. The hygiene modules include soap, detergent, toothpaste and toothbrushes, water purification tablets, and a rechargeable lamp.
The aid is distributed without the involvement of the Cuban government. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) purchases the products in the United States, and Caritas delivers them directly through its parish network and home visits.
The beneficiaries were previously identified by volunteers, with priority given to those over 60 years old, people with disabilities, individuals with chronic illnesses, pregnant women, and children under five years old.
In this first phase, 700 of the 2,100 families selected in the Vicaría Nuestra Señora de la Caridad will receive the modules. The area covers municipalities such as Alacranes, Unión de Reyes, Bolondrón, and Güira. In total, 18,200 family units from the diocese of Matanzas are included in the program.
The distribution is part of a humanitarian aid plan of 100 million dollars announced by the administration of President Donald Trump. Out of this amount, 60 million are channeled through Cáritas Cuba and Catholic Relief Services.
The documented scenes in Matanzas show how assistance reaches people facing isolation, disabilities, and difficulties in meeting essential needs. In communities where some beneficiaries do not even have electricity, the arrival of volunteers represents direct support amid the economic crisis affecting Cuba.
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