古巴特殊教育學校教師在危機中維持課程運作

作者：阿約塞・納蘭霍（Ayose Naranjo）By Ayose Naranjo

哈瓦那，10月23日（路透社）— 姚內莉絲・貝克・阿巴萊拉（Yarnelys Bec Abalela）才3歲時，就來到哈瓦那的阿貝爾・聖塔馬里亞盲人學校（Abel Santamaría School for the Blind）。當時，先天性白內障正威脅著她的視力。HAVANA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - 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.

完成九年級學業後，她進入更高階的特殊教育課程，之後又回到這裡，協助與她有類似狀況的孩子。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.

「多虧我在這個中心學到的東西，我才能成為一名教師，」貝克說。她已在阿貝爾・聖塔馬里亞任職21年，目前是五年級教師兼治療師。“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.

如今，大規模停電，加上從眼鏡到點字紙等各種物資都短缺，意味著她必須面對一整套全新的挑戰。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.

古巴原本效率就不彰的國營經濟長期受短缺困擾；今年，在美國總統川普政府加強制裁並實施燃料封鎖後，已陷入全面危機。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.

古巴各地特殊教育學校的數千名學生，正遭受燃料、電力和交通短缺之苦。Thousands of students in special education schools across Cuba are suffering fuel, electricity and transportation shortfalls.

但這些學校仍在因應變通，持續運作。許多學校已減少實體課程，導入線上教學，或安裝太陽能板。But the schools are improvising, and keeping going. Many have reduced in-person classes, introduced virtual schooling, or installed solar panels.

在阿貝爾・聖塔馬里亞學校，註冊學生仍維持44人，全都是來自哈瓦那的盲生或視障學生。雖然學校仍維持接送學生往返校園的交通服務，但燃料短缺迫使校方將實體課程減為每週4天。週五，學生在家完成老師指派的練習。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.

「在家由家人教導，和由受過訓練的老師面對面教學並不一樣，」校長蘇拉米斯・羅德里格斯（Suramis Rodríguez）說。“Receiving instruction from a family member, at home, is not the same as in person, with trained teachers," said school director Suramis Rodríguez.

羅德里格斯說，在首都，停電經常一天超過18小時，這對一所照明對低視能學生至關重要的學校而言，是額外挑戰。停電期間，老師會把孩子移到更靠近窗戶的地方，或把活動移到庭院和走廊，以利用自然光。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.

美國表示，這項至今已持續9個月的燃料封鎖，是為了推翻古巴政府；美方稱該政府無能且腐敗。聯合國則稱這項封鎖違法，並侵犯所有古巴人的人權。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.

根據政府統計，儘管面臨挑戰，古巴仍讓330所特殊教育學校持續開門運作。Despite the challenges, Cuba keeps the doors open at 330 special education schools, according to government statistics.

「在這樣的處境中，這裡仍然是給這些孩子提供生活所需工具的最佳場所，」貝克說。“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.

（阿約塞・納蘭霍報導；戴夫・舍伍德和羅莎爾巴・歐布萊恩編輯）(Reporting by Ayose Naranjo, editing by Dave Sherwood and Rosalba O'Brien)