Cuba female pilgrim: I was with God alone

Maria Luiz Calfo Liva is one of the pilgrims who has performed Haj from Cuba. She is 50 years old and had become a Muslim only seven months ago.

"I represent the entire Cuban Haj mission. I am one of the pilgrims who have come from the Republic of Cuba for the pilgrimage this year," she told local daily Al-Watan on Monday.

Liva is accommodated at the camp number 27 in Mina, which belongs to the Tawafa Establishment of the Turkish, European and Australian pilgrims. She has maintained very close ties with her camp mates. She has become exceptionally close to the supervisor of the camp Hussam Al-Miski whom she calls "my son" and he calls her "my mother".

Liva, who is a schoolteacher, said it took her three days of flying to arrive at the Kingdom. "It took me 12 hours to arrive in Moscow from Havana and then more than seven hours to reach Dubai. The flight from Dubai to Jeddah was two and a half hours. This is in addition to the long hours I spent at the transit lounges," she said.

Liva said when the driver took her to the Grand Mosque to do the Tawaf Al-Qudoom (arriving circumambulation) her heart was beating with anticipation and love of God. "When I came closer to the Kaaba (House of God) I felt my feet trembling. They were not able to carry me and I was about to faint. I started crying impressed by the sanctity of the place," she said.

Liva, who speaks seven languages, she said she could not stop her tears during all the Haj rites.

When asked about the crowdedness in the Grand Mosque and the Jamarat, Liva said she always felt alone with God. "The crowds did not bother me. All the time I was with God alone," she said.

She said most of her supplication in Arafat was for the salvation of the Palestinian people from Israel's atrocities. "I always prayed to Allah to rescue my brothers in Gaza from Israel," she said.

Liva said she was traumatized by Israel's brutal aggression against Gaza and the killing of a large number of the Palestinian civilians especially the innocent children and the unarmed women. Asked what she came out with from the Haj, she said she felt as if Allah was talking to her privately telling her that she could now start a new life filled with serenity and calm.