Dayami overfulfills President of the Council of State and of Ministers, Armed Forces General Raul Castro Ruz paid a visit recently to a young mother of eight from Guantanamo. At a time in Cuba when it is unusual to encounter a woman with so many children, the case of Dayami Reyes Puarie is somewhat remarkable. Yisell Rodriguez Milan. From Guantanamo. There are children and toys everywhere in the house. Despite the incessant racket from perpetual laughing, weeping, jumping, running and scraped knees, 28 year old Dayami Reyes Puarie and 38 year old Diosdelvis Garcia Lores manage to control the troop that roams about their home and have, as a result of their marriage 8 children, came to the attention of President of the Council of State and of Ministers, Army General Raul Castro Ruz. It is a rare thing nowadays in Cuba for a young woman in her reproductive prime to have so many offspring. Statistics speak for themselves, indicating a decline in the population since 2006. There are fewer births than there were 30 years ago. Life expectancy of 77 years, professional development and massive participation by women in the workforce are in some ways responsible for the “ageing” nature of our population profile. In order to ensure balanced population growth and to ensure that the number of working age citizens does not decline as is presently the case in Cuba, each woman would need to have 2 children one of which should be female. In That Context Dayami has Overfulfilled. Having first given birth at age 16, she has not stopped since. Lieti 9 years old, Lieter 8, Lieterine 7, Liyani 6, Leyani 4, Lecina 3, Liuba 3 and Livan of 3 months are the proof. Oddly, and for no reason other than that their mother simply likes it that way, all have names beginning with the letter L. Raul Came to my House. When we visited her house at number 067, 7th Street in the village of El Salvador, she told us that “I never imagined that our President Raul could possibly be here, in my living room, or that my children would be the reason for his visit. It is true that they are many but that’s the norm in my family, my grandmother had 11 and my husbands’ mother also had plenty. Besides, I don’t like abortion”. Hers is a small home with only three bedrooms for the 11 who reside there and almost all the children sleep in one room. Three sleep in one double bed and the other 4 double-up in two singles. Only the infant sleeps next to her parents and the third room is occupied by a grandmother. Dayami said that Raul walked around the small dwelling asking about how co-habitation was managed. He spoke with the children and told stories about how ladies of old had large families and how unusual that was today. He also reflected on how low birth rate would impact on the workforce of the future, a phenomenon of which the most tangible consequence has been the reform of Social Security legislation. “I was surprised by 6 year old Liyani´s ability to answer when Raul spoke. She responded to everything which is why Raul said she would be the family lawyer or spokesperson” added the mother who was described as a hero by the president for having so many and so well-brought-up children. Dayami, who for the entire duration of our visit combed the hair of one of her children and said to her eldest son, Lieter, that this was not possible just now to help with his homework, was asked if her husband had seen the President. “He had been working and on arrival home he could barely get into the house because so many people were trying to see Raul. One of those who accompanied our President asked who he was as he came through the door and my husband replied that he was the “chief of this troop”. He then entered and stayed with us. But believe me it was only a lack of time that prevented him shedding tears of excitement”. First Secretary of the Party in the municipality of El Salvador, Marisel Tito Tejeda said that, having conversed with all members of the young couple’s family, that the President of the Councils of State and Ministers exchanged views with other neighbours from the village about challenges faced by the nation arising from national demographics. Eight Children and Lots of Patience. Leaving the surprise and excitement aside, Dayami confessed that it really is not easy to bring up 8 children saying that “for better or worse they are all fed and dressed, and even though this small army can be very restless, we have learned to control them with the help of their grandmother Maxima” We were not long learning for ourselves how difficult it can be to keep the family together and supervised. In less than an hour questions that such a number of little bodies demand such as “why did you undress yourself?” or “where are you off to?” and orders like “get dressed” and “get ready to wash” were heard frequently. In this household in the village of El Salvador things are always spoken about in the plural and the day is carefully planned to make sure that the needs of one child are not colliding with those of another. Mother has a good memory. “I explain to neighbours who ask how I do so much work that I get up at five in the morning to clean and organize the house so that if I should need to go to the hospital with one my eldest daughter can ta tkehe rest to school. That’s about it”. The Provincial Government is building Dayami and Diosdelvis a house. It will have six or seven rooms, be two storey dwelling and a good reward for their devoted parenting, humility and the contribution their eight children represent to the Cuba of today. They will be part of the rejuvenated workforce that our nation needs for the future. |
||||
|