“The Least We Can Do is Share What We Have”

Hurricane Melissa left a trail of destruction in eastern Cuba. But it also unleashed a wave of solidarity across the island. Cubans are donating to help those in need.

This video was made in collaboration with the production company Caminos at the Martin Luther King Memorial Center in Havana.

TRANSCRIPT

“The moment we heard a hurricane was coming, we started thinking about how we could help, because we knew it was going to hit hard,” said Leonardo Pérez, a donor from Havana.

“Every day we go out to collect the resources that organizations have gathered,” said Avigail Pérez, from the Havana chapter of the Cuban Workers Union. “There are different pieces of clothing, things like that. We then send the aid to the eastern provinces.”

“There has been a positive response from grassroots leaders, from women, from families who have all collected clothing for women and men, footwear, underwear, toys,” explained Marisol Pérez of the Cuban Women’s Federation. “It shows people’s love.”

“This is our meeting space that we use for education,” said Loyet García, coordinator at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center. “But as it's our biggest space, we turned it into a kind of warehouse. We have lots of food here that we are preparing.”

“We have tuna, oil, rice, and sugar,” García added. “We also have pasta and tomato purée.”

“There are still a lot of people in evacuation centers,” García continued. “We are coordinating with provincial authorities. We want to get aid to people directly, without intermediaries.”

“We are donating ten solar-powered lamps that are part of our photovoltaic renewable energy projects,” said Carlos García, project manager at the SITMIC Cooperative. “With these lamps, you just set them up and install them; the solar panel converts solar energy into light for night-time.”

“We can’t depend on help from abroad, even though many good people are sending aid,” Pérez noted. “We have to help each other. So we’re donating the little we have.”

“We don’t have any spare clothes — we have very little,” Leonardo said. “But the least we can do is share what we have.”