This area on the outskirts of Havana
started as a social housing project in the 70's.
These Soviet-style pre-fabricated apartment
blocks are home to thousands of Cubans.
An abandoned hotel near Alimar
ORGANOPONICOS
An organic community garden where locals
grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for their
own consumption and local sale. There
are very few resources available to these
farmers. For instance, to determine
the PH of the soil, they track the rate at which
earthworms die in a controlled setting.
This could be accomplished
in seconds with a strip of litmus paper.
We saw many more oxen teams in the fields
of Cuba than tractors.
The redness of the dirt is attributed
to the high iron content in the soil.
This is the farm director with an 80+
year old worker. They are displaying one
of his most prized possessions; a photo
of his meeting with Pope John XXIII.
The director has travelled to the US
several times to examine farming
techniques here. When asked what one
thing she would bring to
Cuba if she could, she answered "Amazon.com."