A six-year-old Cuban boy living in Texas touched the hearts of thousands on social media by launching a campaign to purchase a power generator for Ediel González, a child with cerebral palsy who lives in extreme poverty in the town of Sabanilla, in the province of Matanzas.
The little boy, named Mauro, recorded a video in which he explained his purpose with a simplicity that disarmed those who watched it. The story was shared this Tuesday by journalist Javier Díaz and featured by Univision.
"Support Me": A Lemonade Stand that Crossed Borders
In the video, Mauro explained his purpose with words that few adults could match: "Today I want to tell you something. To a child who lives in Cuba and cannot move his little feet and hands and cannot speak, with all the money I have, since the power always goes out in Cuba, with these coins and these bills, I am going to buy a solar panel so that when the power goes out, he can turn on his fan."
He wasn't satisfied with his savings. He asked his mother to help him set up a lemonade stand.
"Support me so I can raise enough money with a lemonade stand I'm going to set up, so I can help the child," he explained.
The community's response exceeded all expectations. Through social media, more than $1,290 was raised, an amount that allowed for the purchase not only of the solar panel that Mauro had envisioned but also an EcoFlow power station.
The little boy's mother did not hide her amazement: “What can I say? I barely have the words to express how happy we are. I never imagined the response would come so quickly from so many people.”
Mauro's mother concluded the story with an image that sums everything up: "Just as one day God multiplied the loaves and the fish, this time He worked for good and multiplied all these coins, making a considerable amount, at least for us, so we could buy that child his energy station and solar panel so he wouldn't have to suffer from the heat again."
At the time of publication, the family was already arranging for the equipment to be sent to Ediel in Cuba.
Ediel González: A boy who already knows solidarity
Ediel González, approximately seven years old, suffers from cerebral palsy and is unable to move his hands or feet, nor can he communicate verbally.
He lives with his family in conditions of extreme precariousness in Sabanilla, Matanzas.
This is not the first time that solidarity has reached him. In May 2023, when he was only four years old, the clergyman Javier Candelario Diéguez, director of the "Obras de Caridad Matanzas" project, launched a campaign to obtain a specialized wheelchair for him, describing the little boy as "an angel fallen from heaven who deserves to be happy."
Thanks to that initiative, Ediel received his new wheelchair. Three years later, the same boy continues to face hardships that would be unthinkable for any family in another country.
The darkness that compels solidarity
Mauro's gesture occurs during Cuba's worst energy crisis in decades. Journalist Javier Díaz summed it up accurately: "Having electricity in Cuba today is practically a luxury, and those with an alternative source generally have loved ones abroad."
This month, the electricity generation deficit reached a historic record of 2,341 megawatts, and Matanzas recorded blackouts lasting up to 87 consecutive hours.
Cuba has experienced five total collapses of the electrical system so far in 2026, three of them occurring in just eight days, exacerbated by the suspension of oil shipments from Venezuela and Mexico.
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