Mailin and Bladilien are a couple. They met on the street, and they’ve now been together for three years.
Photo Feature by Idania Cardenas
HAVANA TIMES – They live in the abandoned How Yueng restaurant on Infanta St., in Havana. Their ages range from 38 to 43. They explained that they live by collecting things from the garbage and selling them: books, used clothing, television remotes, vinyl records, old shoes, and other things. They’ve been on the street for five years.
The number of homeless people on the Cuban streets has been increasing. Family estrangement, social problems such as alcoholism, drugs, emigration, and aging are some of the problems of those now living on the streets.
In many cases, relatives who needed money to leave the country sold the house they were living in. Or they themselves, sold their home but didn’t reach their goal and were then left up in the air.
Mailin and Bladilien are a couple. They met on the street, and they’ve now been together for three years. When there’s money, they buy whatever then can, then cook it on a small electric burner in this shuttered state establishment. Initially, they slept in the doorway, unt