Mayabeque, Cuba: Vivian Rosa Perdomo Leyva is proud of her green and prosperous patio, above all because, according to her, it has the virtue of healing, rejuvenating and making her happy.
Almost a decade ago, this 73-year-old woman decided to plant a plot at the back of her building in the Escaleras de Jaruco Community, better known as Mendoza, in Jaruco, Mayabeque.
“I love to sow, my son reprimainds me, but I ignore him, I like this and it entertains me?, she says, while getting rid of the fire ants, which she is not afraid of, and assures, “I am braver than them “.
Mango, lemon, sour orange, avocado, soursop, fruit bomb, coffee and banana are some of the species blessed by her hands and her patience.
She also has linden and yerba buena, ah! And a mamey tree and some chili plants, but without giving birth yet, she laments.
Vivian is not afraid of the hard work, it is what she has done all her life, because she skillfully handles the machete and the guataca.
“Wherever a small tree fits, you have to plant it”, warns this lady of the countryside from her wisdom and common sense, who makes the birds, butterflies and the forest happy with her bustle.
She says that she worked as a cleaning assistant and cook, without ever leaving the furrow, or stopping to huddle the earth.
She assures that her parcel was not born from a campaign, an invitation or a call, nevertheless, she invites to taste the sweetness of a furrow and savor, what she considers, the best of works.
In love as she is with her garden, she usually spends there several hours almost every morning, and returns in the afternoon if nature does not help and her plantation is thirsty.
And that is how I found her, planting a new species of banana on her stony and hard soil, which she has defeated with her sweat.
Her coffee tree has some fruits, still tender, and newly hatched leaves appear on the lemon tree that laugh at the world that this woman conceived for them, a kind of artist who plays the song of life on the strings of nature.
