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The platform Enlavozdeellas, made up of women in Camagüey who seek to "speak without fear" about the Cuban reality, published the testimony of Yuneisy Leyva González, who recounted how the current crisis forces her to relive her own childhood through her son.
“I was born in Cuba in 1992, during the Special Period. My childhood was marked by endless blackouts, scarcity, and sacrifices. I remember doing homework in the kitchen, under the light of a lantern, because there was no electricity,” she recounted on Facebook.
Decades later, as a mother, the story repeats itself: her son studies under a rechargeable lamp amidst new blackouts, facing the same issues she encountered as a child.
"I realized that I was burdening him with the same worries that we adults carry: blackouts, long lines, frustrations, scarcity, anxiety," he acknowledged.
Although the child maintains a passion for learning and admires his teacher, Leyva emphasizes that not all educators can sustain that level of commitment.
"Many teach from exhaustion, without resources or motivation. And I don't blame them: the school is in ruins. Children study under blackouts, in hot classrooms, without materials," she lamented.
The testimony denounces a system in which parents must gather money for fans that almost never work due to power shortages, where school meals are insufficient, and activities depend on family finances.
"Educating in Cuba is like floating in a crisis. It is wanting a child to learn while one can barely get through the day," she wrote.
But it also leaves a message of hope. "Children deserve more than just to survive. They deserve to laugh, play, make mistakes, to be children. Sometimes, in our obsession with enduring, we forget to live. Teaching is also that: to accompany with love," she concluded.
The situation of education in Cuba is facing a critical moment, exacerbated by power outages, lack of resources, and a shortage of teaching staff.
In the lead-up to the new school year, the Ministry of Education acknowledged that the country would reopen its classrooms amid power outages and serious production limitations, affecting the schools' operations.
In provinces like Camagüey, the situation is even more delicate: around 2,000 teachers are needed to meet the demands of the educational system, which jeopardizes the quality of learning from the beginning of the school year.
Meanwhile, in Matanzas, more than 200 institutions opened with a shortage of teachers, a situation that is also repeating in Sancti Spíritus, where about 2,000 positions remain unfilled, despite efforts to recruit new and rehired staff.
The family outlook is not encouraging either. Many children started the school year with recycled notebooks, hand-me-down uniforms, and patched backpacks, while their families face increasing difficulties in securing basic necessities.
This reality adds to the constant blackouts that force students to complete their assignments under adverse conditions.
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