How does the blockade affect Cuban children? 

Quick read: To meet the needs of children with motor disabilities, the country requires 538 electric and conventional wheelchairs. However, the U.S. blockade of Cuba prevents their acquisition.
Many of these children, who suffer from cerebral palsy or progressive muscular dystrophy, have stopped walking because they cannot receive medicines imported from distant countries.
It's quick to read, but it's outrageous to know that the set of laws imposed by the U.S. government's economic, commercial, and financial blockade of the island is overshadowing the full development of Cuban children and adolescents.
A sad example is that this inhumane policy directly affects the 331 special education schools in Cuba, limiting their access to essential supplies.

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Three buses were unable to reach the school on Thursday, resulting in the absence of a hundred children from Havana. This absence is not the will of the State, but rather the direct result of the economic blockade against Cuba.
The most painful thing is that this restriction could be further aggravated by the US president's imposition of new tariffs "on imports of goods from a foreign country that sells or supplies, directly or indirectly, oil to Cuba." And we ask ourselves: what kind of human being decides to paralyze the life of a country, even besieging the lives of children?
Beatriz Roque Morales, national director of Special Education, knows this well. She said that the conditions we have been facing "for many years, and which have gradually worsened, have forced us to readjust basic resources in special education schools in order to maintain the quality of the process.
"This requires not only the deployment of human resources, but also technical equipment to support the educational process and ensure quality care for our children and adolescents."
Among the examples, she mentioned that several children in the country need electric wheelchairs because they have reduced muscle strength, and buying them in the United States would be cheaper. 
All provinces have schools for children with visual impairments; however, resources as important as books are also affected.
In this regard, Roque Morales pointed out that printing materials in Braille is expensive, but it could be supplemented, for example, with a group of specific printers that reproduce the materials contained in the texts.
In addition, as a result of this suffocation, teachers' access to platforms for improvement has been limited, as well as to materials "that allow them to learn about the latest trends in rehabilitation and how to deal with some difficulties in the physical-motor area," he added.
In these institutions, children are prepared for inclusion in regular contexts; therefore, a group of personal, psychological, and training resources must be provided so that they can be incorporated into the educational and social sectors.
For this reason, Roque Morales stated that, in this type of education, "probably one of the areas that most needs everyone's effort, the greatest sacrifices are made so that there is little lacking, despite the hardships we face."

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It's Thursday, and once again, Ained García Díaz, mother of twins,'s voice trembled and her eyes filled with tears.
Her daughter has cerebral palsy and needs treatment with botulinum toxin, but since that medication, which is produced in the US, is "in short supply," the little girl had a relapse with seizures and stopped walking.
That is why she asserted that, as a country, "we are fighting for these children to have a better quality of life, and it is hard and difficult for many parents, for the school, for the teachers... because there are resources that do not reach us.
"So, we are persevering so that the child can get ahead and have a better future and independence, and try to ensure that, despite their disability, they have a dignified life and a dignified education." Will those in the north allow us to be?
Esther de La O Ochoa—or Teté—who was the director of the Solidaridad con Panamá school for more than 30 years, emphasized that "maintaining a school like this is very difficult, because these are some of the children who perhaps need it most, because they require physical and psychological rehabilitation."

She stressed that there are shortages of botulinum toxin and electric wheelchairs. The buses are not ideal, "we need a bus with lifts, so that the children don't have to be carried or strapped in to get on."
Certainly, the US government's blockade affects all areas of life in Cuba, oppressing everyday life.
Teté illustrated it this way: "When the teacher arrives home, he is often greeted by a power outage, and that same teacher, who lives far away, commutes by bus and suffers as well. But he keeps going, because we will continue to make sure that the children's smiles are not erased."

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Some children sing, recite a poem, and look at us with innocence. At the center of them all is "Pelusa." "Pelusa" is missing both hands, is in eighth grade, and claims to be the most intrepid girl in Solidaridad con Panamá.    
"This is the most beautiful school of all," she said. At 13 years old, she recognized the effort the country is making to ensure that every Cuban child with a disability has what is essential for their personal and social development.
That is why, when she heard the word "blockade," she said she was not worried about the threats from the U.S. government, "because I am confident that Cuba, united, will always prevail."
And so, it is confirmed that tenderness is not lost, and in the face of such infamy, we are reminded of Che's words in his letter to his children: "...above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. It is the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary."