[Marxism] Women and Housing in Cuba (Interview)

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: Richard Fidler [mailto:rfidler@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 2:11 PM
To: Walter Lippmann
Subject: Interview on Cuban housing

Easier to read and with nice photos and charts:
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs673.html

Reading ?Cuban Women: History, Contradictions and Contemporary
Challenges?, an excellent book produced by some Carleton U. profs in
collaboration with the Women?s Studies Department of the University
of Havana, I came across references to articles by Regula Modlich.
Below is one. (Some of her earlier work is not on-line.) It seems
Regula is or has been a contributor to this journal, Women and
Environments international magazine, published by the U of Toronto.
Thought you might be interested. From Issue 50/51, at
http://www.utoronto.ca/iwsgs/we.mag/

-- Richard Housing and Women in Cuba

Interview with Teresa Vigil, Habitat-Cuba

Cuba never ceases to fascinate ? this Caribbean island that goes on
fighting the odds and doing things differently from the rest of the
world. In November 2000, Regula Modlich, Women & Environments (WE)
was in Havana. With little more than a name to guide her, she
searched out Habitat-Cuba to find out how Cuban women tackled their
housing issues. She met Teresa Vigil who was willing to answer our
questions.

WE: The Cuban revolution had promised to eliminate slums. What has
happened to this promise?

T.: In the first years of the revolution many slums were indeed
eliminated. The ?special period? following the collapse of the Soviet
Union and the virtual end of her aid to Cuba changed all that. Cuba
had little oil or other energy to produce cement, so necessary for
the ?prefabricated units,? the type of housing introduced under the
influence of the Soviet Union. Our economy suffered greatly and
construction of new housing slowed down. In recent years, however,
general economic conditions in Cuba have recovered, though not
completely.

Housing construction in Cuba is a national responsibility. The
government builds the housing and after 20 years of
?rent-geared-to-income? (typically 10 % of income), occupants come to
own their units. This applies to apartments and detached houses. A
few people do build their own houses. In recent years, most new
housing is built in conjunction with economic development goals of
the country, such as agriculture, mining or tourism, and the need to
house workers near their jobs.

1959 2000

Population 8.0 million 11.0 million

Housing Stock 1.5 million 3.5 million

Household Access to Electricity 10% over 95%

WE: How come so much of the existing housing stock appears in
disrepair?

T: Shortage of materials makes repairs difficult. Much is left to
individual initiative and the unofficial economy. It is a recognized
problem. Yet, the initiative to rehabilitate ?Old Havana? with its
outstanding Spanish architecture is both promising and exciting.
Initially the project had international sponsors. Today it is a
self-sustaining, multifaceted (architectural, social and economic)
project.

WE: What does Habitat-Cuba do?

Habitat-Cuba?s Motto is: collective action for sustainable habitat.

Implementation Criteria:

- complement and support government policy and action

- active participation of all partners and particularly the community
in the production and social management of habitat

New Housing Development, photo by I. Leon, Arch.

- technological, energy, economic and environmental sustainability of
solutions

- social and gender equity

- democracy and transparency

- efficient and effective management

(Estrategia de Desarrollo (Development Strategy), Habitat-Cuba, Aug.
2000)]

T: One of Habitat-Cuba?s programs is to eliminate slums and build new
communities. With the agreement of local governments Habitat-Cuba has
initiated projects in six of 14 provinces. International agencies
from countries such as Norway, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and
even the Global Ministries of the Methodist Church in the US provide
funds. These are used exclusively for materials, which need to be
paid for in dollars. The provincial governments, in coordination with
provincial housing offices finance nationally produced materials. To
pay for staff and administration Habitat-Cuba offers services such as
professional courses such as the use of clay as a construction
material and the method of participatory design, created by Argentine
architect Rodolfo Livingston.

Deteriorating Rural Housing, photo by I. Leon, Arch This is the
method used by Community Architect. (Ed. Most staff, including the
president, are women. Teresa herself is a retired architect and
volunteers much of her time).

At least half of all architects in Cuba are women. ?Community
Architects? is one of Habitat-Cuba?s more exciting programs, and my
favourite. It started in 1995 and received a ?Best Practices Award?
at Habitat II in 1996. Since then about 500 architects, most of them
women, have been advising owners who wish to improve or renovate
their units. The whole family, including children over 10 years,
gather with the architect for an initial discussion. When the
architect returns with alternative concepts a second family gathering
takes place before plans are finalized. Since 1998, the National
Institute for Housing has administered the program.

Habitat-Cuba started a movement exploring alternative local
materials, especially clay and bamboo. Through the ?special period?
architects have had to adjust to available materials. Bamboo promises
to be useful for housing carpentry and furniture. Cuba needs to
import all wood, as she has no indigenous wood. The program is even
looking for plant species, which could adapt to the conditions of
Cuba?s different regions. Such construction materials are more labour
intensive yet require no energy or oil. They are suitable for
particle board, windows, doors and furniture, but are suitable only
for constructing small-scale housing projects. Building five storeys
makes sense in major cities, but not in rural areas. The people there
prefer lower-scale housing and it is there that clay construction is
most efficient.

Another program is Community Development. In 1999 alone, Habitat-Cuba
was involved in 19 projects. Introducing a gender perspective in all
of its projects is another mandate of Habitat-Cuba. A Spanish
professor who came to Cuba offered a course on how to incorporate
gender sensitivity into projects, which greatly helped to implement
this objective. When we build houses to replace a slum, many of the
women household heads prefer not to marry the men they live with, so
as not to have to share ownership of the new units.

WE: How about co-operative housing?

T: Cuba?s Housing General Law does not provide for housing
co-operatives. Habitat-Cuba has experimental co-operative projects.
We have obtained a special provision for two experimental
co-operative projects in two towns: Sancti Spiritus and Ciego De
Avila. These are now in development and if successful, the Housing
Institute may evaluate the experiment and reproduce it.

WE: Is there a homeless problem in Cuba as there is in the rest of
the world?

T: Seeing the homeless, when I was in Canada, greatly concerned me.
While many Cubans live in poor housing conditions, practically none
are homeless, except may be a very few who are mentally ill and have
wandered away from the hospitals where chronically insane are
institutionalized at no cost to their families.

WE: Support services in neighbourhoods are very important for women.
How are they developed?

T: Primary and secondary schools as well as day care centres are
built at the same time as housing. Some day care centres accept
children from the age of three months, but generally, children enter
when they learn to walk. Children of women who work in priority
areas, such as health care, research or education, have first right
to public day care centres. The fee for childcare is also geared to
income. There are many informal caregivers, who are licensed; they
serve children up to the age of five years. Children in such care
receive additional education two to three times a week. There is also
a network of special schools for children with disabilities in Cuba,
though the goal is to encourage children with special needs to be
integrated into the normal stream.

9.2% of pre-school children are enrolled in a pre-school program in
contrast to only 15% in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Almost 100 % of primary school

graduates continue into senior high school or technical school, while
only 73% of children in Latin American and the Caribbean region reach
fifth grade. [Gramma Nov.26,2000]

WE: Cuba responded to the ?Special Period? with a campaign
encouraging urban agriculture. Is this continuing, and if so are both
men and women participating?

T: Yes, this campaign continues. It is a slow process. Both men and
women find employment in the vegetable gardens in the cities. These
enable you to buy fresh vegetables.

WE: How are general conditions for women in Cuba?

T: Wages for men and women are the same. Women aged 15-60 in the
labour force in Cuba increased to 68% in 2000 from 42.2% in 1990. The
divorce rate is very high - women head over 35% of households - and
the birthrate is very low. With rent, and childcare geared to income,
free education and all medical services for children free, the
economic burden on single mothers is greatly eased. Women are
entitled to three months? maternity leave at full salary, from 1 ½
month before to 1 ½ month after delivery. After that a mother has the
right to six months of leave at half her salary while she retains the
right to return to her job for up to one year.

WE: Is there domestic violence and child sexual abuse in Cuba?

T: Domestic violence exists, but it is not a very serious problem.
Women know their rights very well and feel they can get protection
from police who will prosecute and evict any man accused of domestic
violence. Similarly, women feel safe in most public places. Theft is
more likely than physical assault. Sexual abuse of children exists
but is very rare. It is considered such a great crime, and so frowned
upon by people that it is punishable with long jail sentences or even
with death.

WE: Has the Family Code, which requests men to share domestic
responsibilities, been effective?

T: It has had considerable influence, and most men understand their
duties. Yet is not easy to implement, because Cuba - like the other
Latin American societies - still exalts ?machismo?. Schools do
include the Family Code in the curriculum and it is read at wedding
ceremonies.

WE: How about older women?

T: While there are some senior citizen buildings and nursing homes,
most older women live with the family of one of their children, as do
I. As everywhere, care-giving falls almost totally on women. Some
neighbourhoods are starting to have day care centres for seniors.
This allows working children of seniors who need supervision to hold
on to their jobs. It is recognized that with declining birth rates
and increasing longevity, this problem will grow.

Conclusion

In spite of the serious challenges of the US Blockade, the "Special
Period," and some natural disasters, Cuba adheres to a housing policy
unlike any other country. While there are no special policies aimed
at women and their housing needs, women do benefit from Cuba?s
socially very progressive policies. The projects of Habitat-Cuba, and
the efforts of the many women leading, working for, and benefiting
from these projects, have a significant impact. The goals, processes
and projects of Habitat-Cuba involve communities and families in
finding and developing innovative solutions, making decisions and,
most important, in providing housing. In this way Habitat-Cuba
nurtures a sense of common ownership, control and initiative at the
grass roots level, so important to socialist ideals, yet so neglected
in previous socialist experiments.

Further Sources:

Estrategia de Desarrollo (Development Strategy), Habitat-Cuba, Aug.
2000

Perfil Estadistico de la Mujer Cubana en el Umbral del Siglo XXI,
Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas, ISBN 959-7119-07-2

Teresa Vigil is an architect who worked for many years in housing
design and research. Though she is officially retired, she continues
to work as assistant to the President of Habitat-Cuba, Selma Diaz,
who is an architect too. Habitat-Cuba works in strict collaboration
with the Cuban Housing Institute and International Development Aid
Agencies to help implement some of the social goals of the Cuban
Revolution. You can contact Vigil at: vigil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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