International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

In honor of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 26 shares the anonymous testimony of a woman from Las Tunas who decided to defend her personal growth at all costs, trying to leave behind a complicated past.

Evacuees from Río Cauto arrives in Jobabo.

- “Mom, how can you donate all your new housecoats? Keep these two, they're nice and cool.”
- “They make me too hot, and the ones I like are the ones I'm wearing. Honey, didn't you see the photo of the girl with five children who lost everything? I'm not going to keep any old rags.”

Evacuees from Granma return home.

Faced with extensive flooding caused by the rains associated with Hurricane Melissa, which struck the eastern provinces, the defense councils of Las Tunas and Granma implemented a plan to protect the families in the Cauto River basin.

María Elena could have her 15 birthday party.

At the Simón Bolívar Mixed School, amidst questions and arrangements, many volunteers approached to offer help. When asked what she needed, her answer was simple and repeated: “I don’t want anything; the only thing I want is for my dad to be with us. If my dad is here, my happiness is complete.”

Rescue in Guamo.

A distress call mobilized rescue teams from the Red Cross and the Las Tunas Fire Department to the municipality of Guamo, one of the areas hardest hit by flooding that followed Hurricane Melissa in eastern Cuba.