How prison language has penetrated the lives of Cubans

“Cleanliness as found”

A ration of personal hygiene items reduced to soap, toothpaste and perhaps a little detergent for washing clothes.

By Yoani Sanchez (14ymedio

HAVANA TIMES – I approach the building where I live and see a line outside the grocery store. Most of those waiting this Tuesday are elderly and have the long, almost expressionless face of someone who has not smiled or hoped for improvements in their life for a long time. I ask the reason for the crowd and a pensioner answers categorically: “Cleaning supplies have arrived.” Three words that are more telling for their meaning than for the number of products they contain.

The concept of “The Aseo” (cleaning kit) in Cuba refers to a module of personal hygiene items that are limited to soap, toothpaste and perhaps a little detergent for washing clothes. It is something that has to fit in a small bag and is given to the prisoner or soldier so that at least the cell or shelter does not smell too bad.

The family of the prisoners in the police stations must bring “The Aseo” to the arrested person and to the pre-university student in the country where I studied; my parents did everything possible to “the Aseo“…now, as a prisoner in a larger prison, that's what they call the meager quota that comes in through the rationed market.

“At least we can bathe,” the same neighbor told me sarcastically. A pensioner sitting in the shade quickly responded to this sentence: “That is, if they turn on the water.” Problems with the pumping system, power outages and broken pipes have meant that in our neighborhood, in recent months, there have been more days with dry pipes than days when some water came out of the taps. People go through weeks in which they can barely wash, in which their houses are not sufficiently clean and hygiene is a possibility that only exists in the announcements on official television.

As in prisons across the island, today we receive “the Aseo.“But even in Cuban prisons, a bar of soap and a tube of toothpaste can hardly alleviate the hardships of life behind bars.

Translated by Translating Cuba.

Read more from Cuba in the Havana Times here.