The Hungry Dog Index
I visited Cuba several years ago as a “medical missionary.” I’m not part of the medical profession nor am I a missionary. It’s just that it seemed to be the easiest way to get a visa to travel there and the group I was traveling with did distribute donated medical equipment.
When I returned home to the U.S., however, I did become a missionary of sorts for I had seen first hand some of the things that Fidel Castro had accomplished, during his 50 year rule.
These included universal education Kindergarten through College for all Cubans. With a 95% literacy rate, Cubans are some of the best educated people in the world.
If they choose, they can even receive free medical training to become a doctor or nurse. In exchange, these medical students must agree to spend two years after graduation, working in a barrio in a poor country somewhere in the world.
Under a long standing embargo, Cuba trades this intellectual capital for goods, services worldwide, and Venezuelan oil.
Cuba has survived more than 40 years under a U.S. led embargo, and survived the loss of oil from Russia in 1989. Several films have recently been made that depict how this tiny country, living under the shadow of the U.S., has made the transition to life without oil, chemicals, or pharmaceuticals.
Lacking access, chemical companies have had to sell their GMO and other fertilizer products elsewhere. Today, Cuban farms remain chemical free and organic. Lacking access, pharmaceuticals companies have had to sell their pills and prescriptions elsewhere. In modern day Cuba, most medical treatment is based on preventative medicine and herbs.
And yes, they also live with a limited food supply, in fact, you can measure the well-being of any Cuban community by looking at the condition of their dogs. I call it The Hungry Dog Index. In Cuba almost all dogs are small dogs. In Havana, they are bone-thin and hungry, because there is very little surplus to share. In the countryside, the dogs are also small, but find enough for a daily meal.
As the leadership in Cuba now passes from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul Castro Ruz, one can only hope that the U.S. doesn’t get the urge to rush in and annex it to Miami.