Vanessa Vasquez Sanchez

            On Tuesday’s we have people come into our Roundtable discussion class and expound a little on what Cuban life is like.  This past Tuesday we had the opportunity to have a recently graduated PhD from the University of Havana come and talk to us.  Vanessa is the daughter of Pepe Vasquez, the man who knows all of Havana and is the number two man in the Historian’s office, and her doctorate is in Anthropology.  It was literally one of the most informative talks that we have ever had.

            First of all, the University of Havana does not even offer an Anthropology degree; you have to obtain your Biology degree with a concentration in Anthropology.  While she was working on obtaining her degree she did a lot of work researching various health problems that are prevalent within Cuban society and looked at a lot of the demographics of this country.  In order to receive a degree in International Relations from the University of Alabama you have to take quite a few anthropology classes, so the things that she talked about I was very familiar with.

            In the last 237 years, Cuba has only taken a census 17 times!  The major factors influencing the process are the economic burdens that it places on the governments and the need for political constancy.  Up until 1959, the volatile nature of the Cuban government hindered the process and since the Revolution, economics have hindered it to the point that it has only been taken twice.  Interestingly, the health problems that Cubans have are the problems that are normally associated with the “first world” countries instead of those commonly found in “third world” countries.  Obesity is actually a big problem here because fats and sugars are cheap and there is not a cultural foundation for consuming lots of vegetables.  Rice and beans literally comprise the majority of every Cuban’s diet.  Pizza is another common cheap food that a lot of people eat because they can get it easily on the streets.  Something that Vanessa mentioned that really surprised me was that children who are overweight are actually seen as healthier than skinny children.  And, instead of the oldest in a gathering being served first, it is custom for the youngest to be served first.

            The single most astounding thing that Vanessa shared with us was the abortion rate in Cuban society.  23.8% of all women in this country have had an abortion, 16.8% have had two, 8.4% have had 3, and 12% of women have had more than 4!  One of the major contributing factors is that abortion is a free service provided by the state since 1965 and there is no precedence for it being a taboo subject.  In fact, many parents, no matter how religious, encourage their daughters to get an abortion if she is still in school because they worry that it would interrupt her studies.  Sex education is a high priority here, so the government does encourage preventative measures to try to counteract the fact that most of the people over the age of 15 are having sex.  In a country where sexual promiscuity is a commonplace thing, contraceptive measures are high on the list of Cuban priorities.