Red tape in Cuba: A struggle to change

Red tape in Cuba: A struggle to change hotels in Havana

By Nick Caistor Havana

Cuba has declared war on inefficiency. The state is preparing lay off half a million people, and novelties such as income tax are on the way in. But inefficiency has put down deep roots.
I made the mistake in Havana recently of trying to change hotels.
The first young woman I asked about this was very charming. She telephoned her main office, was told the person responsible was at lunch, and said I should come back in an hour.
When I returned, another charming young woman was sitting at her desk. She told me that her colleague had now gone off to lunch herself, and had left no instructions.
I waited for half an hour, then went back to my hotel.
A couple of hours later, I received a phone call in my room from reception.
This time there was not one but two equally charming young Cuban girls waiting for me downstairs.
The first of these said I was to hand over several hundred euros and she would give me a voucher for the new hotel.
I had to pay up-front, because that was how it was done in the state tourist firm.
I pointed out I had never seen her before, and so had no guarantee she was who she said she was. Would she mind using her large rhinestone-decorated mobile phone to call her office and let me speak to them?
"Ay, no mi amor," was her instant reply. "This is my private cell phone. I would never use it for work. That costs money".
I said could she please come back in an hour with some sort of official document proving she worked for the travel firm?
Of course, she said, then she and her friend disappeared.
Two hours later, when they had still not re-appeared, I decided to go down to the tourist office myself.

Six people had taken up to eight hours to change a single booking

Here, another two charming women professed no knowledge of my request at all.
It took the pair of them another half an hour to ring the new hotel, locate the manager, and extract a promise from him that there was a free room for me.
Satisfied with this, I went back to my first hotel.
By now it was early evening, and I thought the matter was closed.
But no, another hour later the two charming young ladies rang up to my room again. They said they had come back earlier, but had been unable to find me, did I not want to change hotels after all?

CUBA'S ECONOMIC REFORMS

I went down to the lobby to confront them with my signed voucher from head office.
Far from appeasing them, this seemed to cause even further problems.
They knew nothing of the visit I had made to what was supposed to be their main agency, and again would not phone there. They have all gone home at this time of night, they said.
I still had to hand over euros for the exchange, but had lost the chance just to give it to them, they insisted.
The next morning I would have to go personally to their office - which it turned out was not where I had been, but another one dealing with money transactions
I set out bright and early for this second office to pay for my voucher.
Once again, the two charming young women were there.
This time, things went more smoothly, and I was able to hand over the euros and get my receipt - except that it took them half an hour to write all this down longhand, then get the receipt stamped in yet another office.
I calculated that by going through the state tourist agency, six people had taken up to eight hours to change a single booking.
Broken model
It is this kind of bureaucratic inefficiency that President Raul Castro is trying to stamp out by announcing that at least half a million jobs in Cuba's state sector will have to go over the coming months.
Those who no longer have a job will be expected to register as self-employed, and be taxed on their earnings.
Both paying tax and not having a job are complete novelties for Cubans. Two of the gains of the revolution were meant to be that there would be work for everyone, and that the state would generate enough revenue for workers not to have to pay tax.
Now, as Raul Castro himself has admitted, that model has completely broken down.
Cuba now faces the challenge of what will happen when its citizens have to try to earn a living on their own.
It seemed to me that just one competent person could have dealt with my transfer in a couple of minutes - but when I asked one of the tourist women if she was concerned about the coming redundancies, she proudly announced that no, tourism was a productive sector, and that if anything, they would need to take on more staff.

Natural Cure For Eczema - Become Eczema Free, The Natural Way!

With a disease like eczema, there is little more a doctor can prescribe than some skin creams and ointments to help ease the condition. This often comes as little comfort to sufferers hoping for some kind of miracle cure. In the absence of this magic pill, we can look at the alternative option of a natural cure for eczema.

The main reason that a medical cure does not exist on the market, is that eczema is just not very well understood. Common schools of thought on what causes it tend to revolve around hereditary factors, poor immune function and allergic reaction.

So, how can we use nature as a weapon against the disease?

There are many natural remedies for various ailments that do work, and they tend to revolve around taking a holistic view to treating the cause of the problem. This is also true of a natural cure for eczema. By holistic, we mean that in order to tackle the problem we need to take a look at the bigger, or whole picture. This means looking at how various different aspects of our lives interact to cause problems like eczema, aspects such as physical, social, psychological and mental.

Before we get too new agey, let's look at some practical ways of applying this approach in a natural cure for eczema. It has been well documented that cases of eczema have increased in the past 100 or so years. Now, this could be just down to more people having access to a doctor, and actually getting a diagnosis, but we shouldn't ignore other explanations.

It is believed that many aspects of our modern lives have left us more susceptible to conditions like eczema. There are more pollutants in the air we breathe and chemicals in our food than ever before. These have the ability to interfere in our immune systems and cause many of the modern diseases that are growing more common, such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, psoriasis and eczema.

Our diet is one area we have a good amount of control over to actually make a difference. Over processed food like ready made meals are full of chemicals and contain little nutritional value. By reading the labels on food, and switching these processed foods for fresh produce, you can help your body's immune system function better, and make it more efficient at fighting conditions like eczema. Where possible, buy organic produce too.

Another area we can help in applying a natural cure for eczema is around the home, in the products we use that come into contact with the skin. These products can cause eczema by irritating the skin upon contact, or by triggering an allergic reaction to them. Many people are able to identify an individual trigger that causes their eczema, and common culprits are fabric softeners, washing powders, detergents and animal hair. If you are able to identify something that triggers a bout of eczema in you, it stands to reason you should eliminate it from your home.

Applying creams and lotions, as your doctor will advise, is also something that can be incorporated into a holistic natural cure for eczema. However, look to use products with natural ingredients rather than the chemical rich alternatives. Aloe Vera Gel is often used with some success, just make sure it contains no less than 90% Aloe Vera juice for best results.

For many, the effort of actually putting a plan for a natural cure for eczema into action seems like too much hard work. But it really is fairly simple when you break it down into three stages: improve immune system function through diet, eliminate triggers from your environment and apply natural lotions to the skin to help it heal and reduce itching.

Eczema Free Forever is a program that applies a holistic approach to delivering a completely natural solution to the problem of eczema. If you follow the advice inside, you'll be so amazed at how simple and yet effective this program is. And, you'll finally get the relief from eczema that you've been hoping for.

Read more about eczema natural treatments today!

Natural Acne Cures - Become Acne Free, The Natural Way

Acne is a problem that affects 90% of the population at some point in their lives. For most of us this problem is limited to our teens, but some people continue to suffer breakouts of acne right through their adult life. We all know about the acne products on the market, which may help to some extent, but natural acne cures can also play a role in controlling the condition.

Acne is generally thought to be caused by the increased production of the hormone testosterone in teenage years, and can effect females as much as males. However, other factors are also thought to contribute to the problem, such as stress, poor nutrition, and lifestyle habits. Natural acne cures can sometimes address these issues better than any medication, and are often the best way to tackle the problem for adults.

Some common steps that can be taken to help control acne include washing your face twice a day with special acne soap, avoiding constantly touching your face, stopping wearing make-up, and not letting your hair hang in your face. All of these steps will help reduce the amount of oil present in the skin of the face, and this alone can have a dramatic effect on the severity of acne breakouts.

Poor nutrition is thought to be to blame for many skin conditions, and acne is one of them. Whilst most natural acne cures focus on solving the problem on the surface of the skin, addressing a case of poor nutrition could solve the problem from within. The skin is often forgotten about as one of the human body's most vital organs, and neglecting it can result in skin disorders like acne becoming a problem. Simply taking a multi-vitamin tablet daily can help address the balance of poor nutrition effecting the skin, although the best option would be to adopt a diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruit.

Although improving nutrition in general is important, there are two components that stand out as being vital in natural acne cures. Both vitamin A and Zinc are though to be beneficial in clearing up cases of acne, both in teens and adults. For vitamin A, some good sources include carrots, sweet potatoes and liver. It is also important to drink plenty of water when suffering with acne, about 2 litres a day is advised.

Many skin conditions are often a sign that something is wrong on the inside, and this can be true of acne. Simply applying products to the skin is usually not enough to mask over the problem, and so it needs to be tackled at its source. Since much of our food these days contains chemical additives, the body can face an uphill task in dealing with these extra toxins and flushing them out of the body. The body will often try to expel these toxins through the pores on the skin, causing it to become inflamed and allow conditions like acne to flourish.

Of all the natural acne cures that are claimed to be effective in treating the condition, simply improving the nutrition in the diet is often the most effective. And because all it takes is changing your shopping and eating habits, it is also often the cheapest and simplest.

Acne No More is a program that applies a holistic approach to delivering a completely natural solution to the problem of acne. Read this Acne No More Review to learn more.

If you follow the advice inside, you'll be so amazed at how simple and yet effective this program is.

Learn more about acne treatments at home here.

Home Remedies For Acne - Home Is Where The Healing Is

The problem of acne may not be a life threatening one, which can cause those not affected by it to simply dismiss it as not being a serious condition. However, those who are affected by it know that it can effect a persons self esteem and confidence as well leave behind acne scars. Home remedies for acne are a popular way to treat the condition, especially when either the problem isn't deemed serious enough for medical treatment or when medical treatment has failed.

Most acne sufferers concerned with their appearance will have tried many of the over the counter treatments available. These include antibacterial soaps and face-washes, creams and lotions. The purpose of these simple home remedies for acne is to clear away dead skin cells that are blocking the pores, as well as reducing the production of sebum that allows the onset of acne to begin.

There are a wide variety of home remedies for acne that are claimed work in helping clear acne. They often involve mixing a concoction of ingredients you can find around the home into a topical paste you apply to the face. Common mixtures involve mixing groundnut oil with lime juice, honey and cinnamon powder and yogurt mixed with oatmeal. Other remedies from around the home include applying orange peel, toothpaste, fenugreek, tomato puree and mint juice to acne (separately) in a bid to remove it naturally, as well as using egg whites to remove acne scars.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of home remedies for acne, and the internet is rife with an eclectic mix of so called natural cures. Whether or not they will work is probably hit and miss, as what worked for one person won't necessarily work for another. Applying a series of concoctions to the face will not be attractive to many, with staining caused to clothing and bed sheets making them often impractical too.

Another way of tackling the problem is less concerned with applying products and home-made mixtures to the face, but by looking at solving the problem from within. A healthy diet is one of the less talked about home remedies for acne, and yet it is often the most effective and practical solution. As with most recommendations for a healthy diet, the emphasis is on plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and limiting processed meats like bacon and bologna and anything containing too many chemical additives, starches and saturated fat.

It is believed by nutritionist the world over, that the appearance of the skin on the outside is directly influenced by how we treat the body on the inside. Poor nutrition can cause many types of skin problems such as psoriasis and eczema, and it seems likely that it will at least worsen a case of acne, if not cause it in the first place. On balance, the best way of applying home remedies for acne is to both take care of the skin on the outside through regular washing, whilst giving your body the nutrition it needs inside to regulate skin problems itself.

Acne No More is a program that applies a holistic approach to delivering a completely natural solution to the problem of acne.

Read this Acne No More review and learn more about effective acne treatment.

Effective Acne Treatment - Common Methods Of Treating Acne

For anyone suffering with acne, finding an effective acne treatment can be of paramount importance. The presence of acne is often just a little embarrassment that goes away in adulthood, but for some the condition not only stays with them, but actually gets worse as they get older.

Acne affects around 90% of the population to varying degrees, and is the result of an over-production of sebum by the sebaceous glands in the skin. As the sebaceous glands are more frequent on the face, this is often where acne is worst. This over-production of sebum becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, which irritate and inflame the skin. As the pores of the skin on the effected areas become clogged with oily sebum and dead skin cells, they become blocked and form blackheads and whiteheads.

Some people are more predisposed to this over-production of sebum than others, and it is often hereditary, and these will usually suffer the worst outbreaks and may even continue to have them well into adulthood. Effective acne treatment is usually aimed at reducing the sebum production by restricting the activity of the sebaceous glands.

When people first start to experience acne, the advice given is to treat the problem yourself in the hope it will gradually go away over time. Common methods often involve your daily face washing routine, as washing your face too often to clean away the oil can actually be counter productive. By doing this you are encouraging the sebaceous glands to produce even more oil to replace that which you have washed off, further exacerbating the problem. As the skin does need some oil present to stay healthy, it is advised you wash your face no more than twice a day.

In addition to restricting the number of times you wash your face, doing so with the right products can also be an effective acne treatment. You should avoid using everyday soap to wash your face, instead find a mild alternative with natural ingredients. People often have success with antibacterial cleansers containing Triclosan, which is effective at killing the bacteria that are irritating the skin. However, these are not normally advised if your skin is overly dry.

For adolescents, effective acne treatment is usually confined to controlling the severity of the problem while it naturally disappears. For those that continue to suffer with the problem into their adult life, a dermatologist is usually consulted and some prescription medication can be used. Common medications include the topical application of Retinoids, antibiotics and for women, oral contraceptives.

For some, finding an effective acne treatment can be a never-ending uphill struggle. Even prescription medications don't work for everyone, because not everyone's skin reacts in the same way to treatments. Some doctors' have even begun to take a holistic approach to acne treatment, in the belief that it is caused by an allergic reaction to foods. Taking this approach will take time to see results, but for some it is the only effective acne treatment that works.

Acne No More is a program that applies a holistic approach to delivering a completely natural solution to the problem of acne. Read this Acne No More Review to learn more. If you follow the advice inside, you'll be so amazed at how simple and yet effective this program is. Learn more about natural acne cures here.