In the midst of an economic crisis marked by shortages of food, medicine, and frequent blackouts, the lack of water is a harsh blow to Cubans. People in Havana collect water from tanker trucks; neighbors help each other by sharing from their tanks. "If I don't do it, what will I do? I'll die in there from thirst or hunger," says retiree Lorenzo Islem angrily, arriving drenched in sweat at his wooden home after dragging a wheelbarrow with three water jugs nearly a kilometer from a friend's building. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES