By Esther Zoza
HAVANA TIMES – The garbage inevitably reaches my doorstep, and with it, the flies: they invade the house, settle on the kitchen tiles, and threaten to enter the refrigerator. They drive us crazy.
Although it may seem uncertain, the flies change the family dynamic. My father gives up the closet where he keeps the parts of his motorcycle, to store plates, glasses, and other kitchenware. My mother dusts off her sewing machine and begins to make plastic sheets, while my little sister spends the day recording our madness.
The flies arrive in my neighborhood and enter the homes after days of feeding on garbage and feces. Some children in the building fall ill with diarrhea, and no one knows what to do. The neighbors gather and decide to set fire to the trash heaps without considering the consequences it would generate, but fortunately, some neighbors convince them to desist.
There’s no doubt that the flies have mutated. Immune to bleach, chlorine, and other disinfectants, they continue their invasion. Could it be that, worried about their offspring, something we can’t do, they have developed a genetic sequence that alters their habitat? Could it be that, filled with these disinfectants, the future flies will forever enjoy the hygiene that is impossible for us to have, no matter how hard we try?
Cuba has become a giant trash heap where we remain surrounded. The time when the containers were emptied has been lost in the failure to act of officials. They don’t seem to care if diseases proliferate or if an epidemic breaks out. Living like animals without realizing it has become a routine for most. Cornering the trash, walking over it, even stepping on it, is our daily bread. It’s inevitable to think that we live on a floating trash island in the Caribbean, where soon we will cease to be human animals.
Read more from Esther Zoza’s diary here.
