{"id":320492,"date":"2025-03-31T21:12:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T01:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=320492"},"modified":"2025-03-31T21:12:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T01:12:18","slug":"parenting-in-the-dark-motherhood-in-times-of-blackouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/gender\/parenting-in-the-dark-motherhood-in-times-of-blackouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Parenting in the dark: motherhood in times of blackouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lights flickered. Celia<\/span>1<\/b><\/sup> looked up from her laptop. \u201cDid the voltage drop?\u201d she wondered, only just realizing something worse seemed to be happening. A second later, the house went dark. The city, the province, and all of Cuba.<\/span><\/p>\n

She gathered the company papers scattered on the table and put them away. It would take a couple of hours to realize that it wasn\u2019t just a simple blackout affecting Holgu\u00edn, but another disconnection from the <\/span>National Electric Power System (SEN)<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMom, the teacher said we have to do our homework, even if we have to use the flashlight on the phone,\u201d her daughter warned as she took her notebooks out of her backpack and occupied the same space on the table that had previously been reserved for her mother\u2019s papers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every time the scene repeats itself, Celia thinks a thousand insults, but keeps quiet: she prefers her daughter to study. At least that way, she can occupy herself with something productive. Meanwhile, sometimes at 9 p.m., she\u2019s still black with coal on her hands and clothes, because not only does she have no electricity, but she also doesn\u2019t have cooking gas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDealing well with blackouts is as fictitious as hoping the <\/span>Felton and the Guiteras<\/b><\/a>2<\/b><\/sup> will one day synchronize together,\u201d she says with some sarcasm. \u201cWe supposedly live in a \u2018privileged\u2019 province because the blackouts are \u2018well-planned,\u2019 with established schedules and divided into blocks. However, the reality is different: I have days with 15 hours of blackouts and others with 9. It\u2019s very complex to deal with a host of issues that are beyond my control: electricity, food, liquefied gas, housework, and quality time for my daughter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Try as she might, Celia can\u2019t find an effective way to deal with the situation. She finds it difficult to successfully fulfill her role as a woman, mother, and leader of a private enterprise dedicated to caring for older adults and people with disabilities. The accumulated stress overwhelms her. She can\u2019t sleep. The daily grind is so overwhelming that it seems incredible she still hasn\u2019t lost her mind. When the power \u201ccomes on\u201d at midnight, she gets up, charges all the equipment, and races against the clock to prepare the essentials for the next day. At 3:00 a.m., the next outage occurs, lasting until 6:00 a.m. It\u2019s not unusual for her to wake up with dark circles under her eyes, exhausted, and in a bad mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

A 9-year-old girl needs to be listened to, to have her questions answered, to be taken out. Celia constantly questions whether she\u2019s a good mother. She wants to achieve this, but finds it increasingly difficult. She rarely gets to play with her. The little time she manages to spend with her is consumed by checking her homework.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are days when I look around and think, \u2018Sorry, today is pizza day,\u2019 because my body no longer responds to the need to get going in the kitchen. My life revolves around electricity,\u201d she laments.<\/span><\/p>\n

On March 14, when the <\/span>fourth mass blackout<\/b><\/a> in less than six months occurred in Cuba, although she knew something like this could happen at any moment, Celia felt she couldn\u2019t handle it all. The days without electricity returned, the fear that the food she\u2019d gotten at such high prices would go to waste, the nights invaded by mosquitoes, and the added stress of the lack of gas, which left her only the option of cooking with charcoal in her backyard.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt least I have that alternative,\u201d she notes, with a certain tired resignation in her voice. \u201cI think of those who can\u2019t even cook for their children, and even send them to school without breakfast.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She says this with regret, adding that the power situation was decisive in her list of sacrifices:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to have another child, but it\u2019s not possible this way. If by chance I reconsider, I look at my neighbor, 25 years old with a baby barely three months old, and I realize that would be completely crazy: no human being deserves this stress, much less a child.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Energy crisis and women: darkness is not impartial<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n