08/09/2026
Our Trustee Lindsey Metcalfe is back from Cuba and here below she shares the story of her trip.
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🇨🇺 52 families helped — but this time, the desperation we witnessed was the worst I have ever known it. ❤️
Donations received: £2,162, plus medicines and additional donations of essential items. Where we couldn't source everything through donations, we also covered additional food purchases locally to ensure we could stretch the support as far as possible.
With this, 52 families and individuals were reached — some families, some single people living alone, and many with dependants.
This time was, without doubt, the most difficult visit I have experienced in all the years I’ve been going to Cuba.
The situation has now become so desperate that you see it everywhere.
You see it in the exhausted, saddened faces and skeletal bodies. You feel it in the eerie quietness where normally music would fill the streets. You see it in the mountains of rubbish blocking entire streets.
The roads are increasingly empty, except for the state-owned vehicles and those belonging to private business owners — often the only people able to afford the crazy prices of privatised petrol that only business people can import.
You can genuinely feel the hopelessness in the air.
When night comes, the streets become almost desolate, apart from the occasional bar or restaurant lucky enough to have solar panels or an EcoFlow.
The Malecón is often the only busy place, where families go to get some fresh air and escape the stifling heat of homes without electricity.
But when the power goes out — often for entire days or longer — one or two hours of electricity is now considered a luxury. The streets become so dark that you genuinely cannot see your hand in front of your face.
This is the reality of everyday life.
We continue doing the small amount of aid work that we are able to do — and we can only do it because of the incredible contributions from you.
This time, getting the food together was a huge challenge.
Normally, we can bulk-buy essentials such as eggs, cooking oil and protein, allowing us to make the money go much further. This time, those basic items weren't available in the quantities we needed.
We bought as many one-litre bottles of oil as we could find, but it was impossible to get enough for everyone.
The same happened with the cartons of eggs. We couldn't source enough.
In the end, one of our only options was to buy 3-litre bottles of oil, which we then divided into smaller bottles so we could portion it out between families.
And those 3 litres were costing around $20.
Only a month ago, they were around $7. 😒
Just think about that.
$20 for 3 litres of cooking oil.
For an ordinary Cuban family, that is completely unaffordable.
And even with the money we had raised, we had to stretch every single dollar as far as we possibly could in order to reach as many people as possible.
But despite those challenges, WE MANAGED TO DELIVER FOOD AND PROVISIONS TO 52 FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS.
Some were living alone. Some were caring for children or other dependants. Some were disabled, elderly or sick.
And none of them had anywhere else to turn for help.
We also bought additional packets of biscuits and other easy-to-eat foods, which we handed out to people on the streets.
Generally, this method isn't recommended — but sometimes the heart rules the head. 🤷♀️❤️
Alongside the food, we were able to provide 22 rechargeable torches and lights, 6 fans and 4 solar power banks, helping people through the darkness and relentless heat.
We also received a donation of inhalers — which are desperately needed in Cuba — along with other medications. These were all appropriately distributed to people in desperate need.
The thing that really broke my heart this time was seeing the amount of tears.
Not from one or two people, but from many.
Tears of sheer relief because they finally had basic food that would keep them going for a while.
Tears over a simple bag of rice, because even rice is becoming something they cannot reliably get.
One person told us they hadn't eaten an egg for two years.
Another told us he couldn't remember the last time he tasted milk.
The joy on the kids faces when they saw biscuits was surreal.
Many couldn't remember their last hot meal.
Others told us they had gone days eating nothing more than a piece of bread.
The sad fact is that statements like these became almost normal to hear and that should never be normal anywhere.
We cannot solve the situation, and we cannot reach everyone.
But if our donations can put food on the table for 52 families, provide a little light when the electricity isn't there, give someone a fan to help them through the heat, or provide medication that they otherwise couldn't access — then every bit of effort is worth it.
52 families and individuals reached.
Food delivered.
Essential items provided.
Medicines distributed.
And 52 reminders that someone, somewhere, cares. 🇨🇺❤️
Thank you to everyone who donated, shared, supported us and trusted us to put your money where it was needed most.
Every single contribution made a difference.
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🇨🇺 THE PEOPLE BEHIND THESE PHOTOGRAPHS
The people in these photographs have expressed that they want their stories to be heard.
They want the world to see the reality they are living through and the unbearable suffering that so many are enduring.
Every person we meet has their own story, and often an unthinkable amount of suffering behind it.
We don't simply deliver food and leave.
We spend time with them. We talk with them. We listen.
And sometimes, being able to sit with someone, hear their story and let them know that somebody cares can mean the world — particularly to someone who feels trapped in a situation where they genuinely believe they may die without ever seeing things improve.
But we always respect their wishes.
Nobody is ever forced to have their photograph taken.
There are also a couple of videos so you can see the living conditions.
Some people prefer not to have their photos shared, and some fear repercussions. Whatever their reason, their decision is respected completely.
The people you see here want you to see them. They want you to understand. And they want their reality to be heard. 🇨🇺❤️
