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Wandering people are protected

The treatment they receive and the follow-up given to people with wandering behavior in Las Tunas. They have been further protected in the face of the COVID-19.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Juan was a normal man. He came years ago to Las Tunas from his native Holguín, but once sick, the family he lived with abandoned him. Faced with this situation, he decided to return to his province, hoping that his sister would welcome and help him, but that did not happen. Juan is currently one of the wanderers identified in the main municipality of the province, who, due to the complex housing fund situations, has not yet been able to grant a home or premises.

However, although this is a harsh reality, it is attended by the social workers of the Municipal Labor Office, who care about the places where he usually spends the night. He receives his food through the Family Care System and also a pension to cover some of his expenses.

Although there is no specific center in Las Tunas dedicated to the care of people with wandering behaviors, during 2019 in the territory 39 people with this problem were identified that were treated in a prioritized manner. Thirteen entered health institutions, 14 returned to their family nucleus and 12 to their provinces of origin.

A WORK OF EXTREME SENSITIVITY

«There is an organized work system, with a Provincial Prevention Group, which coordinates everything related to the care of these people. This allows that when a wanderer is detected, the factors of this group are activated to make decisions,” says Miguel González Velázquez, provincial deputy director of Prevention, Assistance and Social Work.

«The first thing is to try to locate a family member, not to find that person, or if you are not in a position to receive it, other alternatives are evaluated. In our case, not having a center specifically for them, we go to the Psychiatric Hospital or nursing homes. The province had a center of this type, but it was closed for not having the necessary conditions. What we can say is that it is an issue that has a follow-up and that institutions care about and take care of, ”added González Velázquez and stressed that the group has similar structures at the municipality level and that there is also close communication with the other provinces.

Adrián Ramón Hernández Carballo, municipal director of Labor and Social Security, is one of those people who attends the issue very closely, and that on few occasions has accompanied these people to the health institutions or the PNR for their identification if they don't take it.

«We have a database of years where people identified as wandering are collected, and updated periodically. When we find them we pick them up, they are given the necessary attention and then, if they are from another province, their transfer is coordinated in a patrol car if they do not present any special condition, or in an ambulance; but they are always accompanied by one of our social workers and health personnel. They are not aggressive people, and I say this from my personal experience. They are usually docile because they have adapted to the state of isolation, of solitude,” explains Adrián Hernández.

The director also points out that the so-called “obligated family members” are related in the Family Code and in the Manual of social assistance procedures, which in order not to provide help have to show why before the law.

A clarification made by specialists is valid: there is another group of people who are called walkers. Those, although they spend most of their time touring the towns or cities, do have their homes to where return and in many cases, they have the support of social assistance, so they are not included in the category of wanderers. They are properly identified; among them are, for example, some alcoholics.

Emilio Reynaldo Pérez Larrudet, the first head of the prevention, assistance and social security unit of the municipality of Las Tunas, says he has seen many difficult cases, with really hard stories. “In the treatment of these people there is, first and foremost, human sensitivity, and on the other hand our duty to enforce what is established to address their situation; both things must go hand in hand,” he says.

On the other hand, Carmen Ramírez Formigo, the deputy director who attends the activity from the Municipal Labor Directorate of the main city, with more than 30 years of experience in the sector, explains that love is indispensable. «We must first understand that they are, in many cases, people who feel rejected, who are not loved by the family because of their physical or mental conditions, or who at one point left from one province to another. When they are assisted, when they are bathed, their dirty clothes are removed, that transformation is really touching because the gratitude is reflected on their faces,” she says.

THE CHALLENGES IMPOSED BY HUMANISM

Las Tunas does not have a Social Protection Center for the Care of People with Wandering Behavior, which is no more than the place destined to give them careful attention until it can be defined where they should go.

For this reason, it has been determined that the Psychiatric Hospital of the territory assumes that responsibility and, logically, those with such disorders are admitted until they receive the necessary treatment. But the fact that not all of them have disorders complicates the work of that institution, which nonetheless puts the value of a human being above any difficulty, as explained by Dr. Idelmis Rodríguez Martín, deputy director of the Clodomira Acosta psychiatric hospital.

«While it is true that some of these people have psychiatric disorders, there is also another reality, there are many who, even though they wander, or are dirty or poorly dressed, are not mentally deficient, nor do they have symptoms of madness or psychosis, and their disorders more than psychological are of a social nature. Therefore, they have no criteria to be in an institution like this, which has an atypical character, and they recognize it and tell us. Sometimes we do not have beds, we have had to look for internal strategies to receive them and that is a reality that we cannot ignore.

«But beyond all that, and although we know that we are not the ideal institution, we have set out to do whatever it takes to give them the attention they need, so that they are not helpless, and it is a commitment that we assume with all the seriousness that it implies".

Her words are corroborated by Dr. Niovys Núñez Baquero, a first-degree specialist in Adult Psychiatry: «Before arriving at our institution, people who are detected with wandering behavior go through the provincial hospital, where they are given a complete examination of all specialties because it is assumed that if they have been on the street they may have undiagnosed diseases, they may have been mistreated, suffered falls, among other problems. When it is finally determined that there are no risks to life, they are transferred here, where psychiatrists evaluate them. If they do not have any psychiatric involvement, they are still admitted, receive all the attention, and remain here until they decide or until they are searched for a location ».

That's how big Cuba is, that's how our social system is. We know that it is not perfect, we know that it still does not reach all the standards that we would like in terms of quality of life, but it is undeniable that we work with boldness so that the pain does not go unnoticed so that the misfortune of some is the constant concern of others, so that the dignified existence is not a privilege, but an inviolable right.

WHAT TO DO WHEN A PERSON WITH WANDERING BEHAVIOR IS DETECTED?

First, locate a law enforcement officer, by telephone number 106, or in person, by going to the police unit closest to the individual.

Municipal government officials can be notified.
The officials of the provincial governments of each territory are able to respond to the detection of a person with wandering behavior.

You can also locate the telephone numbers and addresses of these municipal and provincial authorities of the territory through the Citizen Portal (each province has its own web page). The contacts are also available on the official pages of these entities in the social network Facebook.

Source: Cuban Ministry of Labor and Social Security