Adinay Peña Díaz

* 1989

  • "Because this is how it is here, because if they tell you: ‘We're going to put you [to work]’, it's totally annoying. That's why I quit nursing and I don't work in nursing again, and I like it, but I won't do it again. That's why I left, because they make you… Look, the whole story, from when I started nursing until the end, my whole story there for you to see, is the following: ‘Say what they want.’ And you have no right to anything. They always look for an excuse for you, they look for something for you to do what they want. And in the end, why would you argue, why would you do anything, if you are always going to lose out? The ones above are the ones who are going [to win], and what are you going to do? You are always losing one thing for another.”

  • “What are the functions of nurses?” “Of nurses in an office... infinite, infinite. I'm just going to tell you, with the daily duties, what you have to do to pregnant women, to children under one year of age, any patient you have at that moment who is sick that you have to go see, with this is more than enough. And now I can't even imagine how many things more, due to the coronavirus pandemic… how many more things they have to do. And those duties that you have to fullfill daily, those you have to write in the daily notebook. It’s more than enough for the time you get for work. It's putting lies there, to all the papers you have to do.”

  • “There were holes in the shelter, they climbed through the eaves of the shelter, and sometimes there were broken slats from the shelters and people from the street also got inside. At that age we were a little less afraid, but it was also difficult.” “How were your friends? What was the group like, how did they support each other?” “We were almost always a little group of friends, who shared the shelter, who took care of things, who took care of each other, but you always had a closest friend, with whom you shared everything, all the problems and so on.”

  • “I remember that they took us to the field school to pick potatoes, around noon we were there picking potatoes. Sometimes they took us in the afternoon, when the sun was even stronger. And we had to comply, because we had to comply with a rule, you know. That's how they had us, like 'you have to pick this and this standard smount', I don't remember well, 'we’ll give you this and this encouragement and a thousand another things'. And they were always controlling us and we worked hard. Another thing was that they took us in some cars, the cars full of boys, you can imagine. I was always one of the smallest. And one of the last numbers in the classroom, because the first ones to mount take the railings in cars along the shore and those come, and go a little more comfortable, but when I arrived, oh boy, the road was terrible down there, the road was bad. And we had a lot of work, and we had to work.”

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    Cuba, 01.11.2021

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Why to argue or do anything? You are always going to lose out with the communist regime.

Peña Díaz Adinay, 2021
Peña Díaz Adinay, 2021
photo: Post Bellum

The story of Adinay Peña Díaz is not a story about the politics or intrigues of the communist regime towards the Cuban people, but Adinay in her testimony tells about a girl who grew up in a marginal town in the mountains, without electricity or drinking water; about a pediatric nurse who had to deal with drug shortages or insufficient personal protection; about a single mother with a small daughter and, above all, about a strong Cuban woman. Adinay Peña was born in 1989 in the city of Trinidad in the Republic of Cuba, but she comes from a rural area located in the mountains. She grew up on her grandparents’ farm in Pitajones, which is why she has had a childhood of hard work. After her high school studies she decided to dedicate herself to the health sector and studied pediatric nursing, however, in the fourth grade she was expelled for an unexcused absence. Adinay worked in various pediatric clinics, until she had her daughter. During her work as a nurse she faced complicated situations, when she did not have the corresponding medical team to carry out check-ups on pregnant women or small children. The situation worsened even more with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021. In Cuba, there are shortages of basic medicines, personal cleaning and disinfection products. Today Adinay works as a hairdresser, since in Cuba there is a lack of pediatricians and doctors and the responsibilities for patients fall on the nurses, without resources or corresponding education. She resides with her daughter in Banao City.