A Cuban mother summarized in just over a minute what the first day of the 2026-2027 school year meant for thousands of families on the island: blackouts, no bread, no water, and a uniform to iron against the clock. Her video posted on TikTok on September 1st garnered over 62,000 views and became a reflection of the reality Cubans face daily.
The author, identified as @yaneisycanta_98, filmed the clip that very morning, her eyes heavy with sleep and the urgency of someone who knows time is running out. "School has started in Cuba, and you can tell I'm still incredibly sleepy, but it’s now or never, so let’s go," she begins the video.
The central problem was one that repeated itself every night in Cuba: there was no electricity. Until seven in the morning on the first day of school, her home remained without power, preventing her from ironing her son's uniform with the electrical supply.
The solution came in the form of a portable battery, popularly known in Cuba as EcoFlow. "Thank God the EcoFlow solves many problems because I can't connect the iron to my battery," she explained, describing the chain of improvisations that daily life on the island demands.
Beyond the uniform, the mother bluntly listed the hardships with which the new school year was starting: "The school year is going to begin with a crisis I can't explain, with shortages of all kinds, especially without electricity, without bread, without water, and so on."
When electricity finally arrived, the relief was immediate but bittersweet. "The power came on at seven in the morning, and thank goodness, so I could make breakfast properly," he said, before pondering aloud how to wash the uniform, whether the baker would come by, and if there would be bread or not: "Because that's how things are here in Cuba."
The tiktoker acknowledged that many parents chose not to send their children that day, and ended her video paying tribute to those who did: "My respect to all those mothers who scratch and sacrifice for their children so they can go to school without hunger and well-rested."
The debate over whether or not to send children to school had been intense in the weeks leading up to this moment. Cuban mothers divided over the start of the school year publicly expressed their doubts due to the lack of minimum conditions, while the Communist Party of Cuba described the commencement of the academic year as “another act of heroism”, implicitly acknowledging the seriousness of the situation.
The Minister of Education, Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto, acknowledged "tremendous difficulties" but reaffirmed the start date unchanged, dismissing rumors of a postponement that circulated on social media during August.
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