哈瓦那，10月23日——Yarnelys Bec Abalela在3岁时就来到了哈瓦那的Abel Santamaría盲人学校。当时，她患有先天性白内障，视力受到了严重威胁。
HAVANA, Oct 23 - Yarnelys Bec Abalela arrived at the Abel Santamaría School for the Blind in Havana when she was just 3 years old. At that time, a congenital cataract threatened her vision.
完成九年级学业后，她参加了更高水平的特殊教育课程，之后又回到学校，帮助那些与她情况相似的孩子们。
After completing ninth grade, she enrolled in a higher-level special education program and then returned to help children with a condition similar to her own.
“多亏了在这所学校学到的知识，我才能成为一名教师，”Bec说道。她已经在Abel Santamaría学校工作了21年，目前担任五年级的教师兼治疗师。
“Thanks to what I learned at this center, I was able to become a teacher,” said Bec, who has worked at Abel Santamaria for 21 years and is currently a fifth-grade teacher and therapist.
然而，如今由于大规模停电以及眼镜、盲文纸等物资的严重短缺，她面临着全新的挑战。
Now, massive power outages and a lack of everything from eyeglasses to Braille paper mean she needs to confront a whole new set of challenges.
长期以来，古巴的国有经济一直效率低下、物资匮乏；今年，在美国总统唐纳德·特朗普实施的制裁和燃料封锁的影响下，古巴经济陷入了全面危机。古巴各地的特殊教育学校都面临着燃料、电力和交通方面的严重困难。
Cuba's already inefficient state-run economy — long plagued by shortages — has descended this year into a full-blown crisis in the wake of hardened sanctions and a fuel blockade by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Thousands of students in special education schools across Cuba are suffering fuel, electricity and transportation shortfalls.
尽管如此，这些学校仍在努力维持教学工作。许多学校减少了面授课程的次数，引入了远程教学方式，或者安装了太阳能电池板。
But the schools are improvising, and keeping going. Many have reduced in-person classes, introduced virtual schooling, or installed solar panels.
Abel Santamaría学校的在校学生人数仍为44人，他们都是来自哈瓦那的盲人或视力受损者。虽然学校仍能保证学生的通勤需求，但燃料短缺迫使学校将面授课程减少到每周四天。周五，学生们需要在家完成老师布置的作业。
At the Abel Santamaría school, enrollment remains at 44 students, all blind or vision-impaired students from Havana. Though the school maintains transportation to and from its facility, the fuel shortage has forced it to reduce in-person classes to four days a week. On Fridays, students work from home on exercises assigned by their teachers.
“在家里接受家庭成员的指导，与在专业教师的指导下学习是完全不同的，”学校校长Suramis Rodríguez说道。
“Receiving instruction from a family member, at home, is not the same as in person, with trained teachers," said school director Suramis Rodríguez.
在首都，停电现象十分普遍，每次停电时间常常超过18小时；对于那些视力不佳的学生来说，照明设备显得尤为重要。罗德里格斯表示，在停电期间，老师们会把孩子们移到靠近窗户的地方，或者将教学活动转移到院子里或走廊里，以便利用自然光。
Power outages, which often exceed 18 hours a day in the capital, pose an additional challenge in a school where lighting is crucial for students with low vision. During blackouts, teachers move the children closer to the windows or relocate activities to courtyards and hallways to take advantage of natural light, Rodriguez said.
美国称，目前持续了九个月的燃料封锁是必要的，目的是推翻他们认为无能且腐败的古巴政府。联合国则认为这种封锁是非法的，并侵犯了所有古巴人民的人权。
The US says the now nine-month fuel blockade is necessary to upend Cuba's government, which it calls inept and corrupt. The United Nations has called the blockade illegal and a violation of the human rights of all Cubans.
尽管面临种种挑战，根据政府的数据，古巴仍然维持着330所特殊教育学校的正常运营。
Despite the challenges, Cuba keeps the doors open at 330 special education schools, according to government statistics.
“在这种情况下，这里依然是为这些孩子提供他们所需学习资源的最佳场所，”贝克说道。
“In the midst of this situation, this is still the best place to provide these children with the tools they need for their lives,” said Bec.