Two Canadians on a humanitarian mission in Cuba say itโs easier for locals to count the number of hours the lights are on than off.
And when electricity is flowing, Leanne Isaak says Cubans can be seen scrambling to get as many tasks done as they can, such as cooking, charging phones, showering and filling buckets with water.
โPeople say, โI may not get power again for three days so Iโm going to do everything that I need to do in this one or two-hour time-frame to prepare for the next chunk of time when Iโm just going to try to keep going,โ said Isaak, the founder and a co-director of a non-profit called One Shared Future Un Futuro Compartido.
โIn Spanish they say, โWe donโt have blackouts, we have lights-on,โ because (theyโre) more often in the dark than they have electricity,โ added Elise Hjalmarson, also a co-director of the non-profit.
The women, who live in Kelowna, B.C., arrived in Cuba on Friday with 14 suitcases full of medicine, solar equipment, multivitamins, adult diapers, surgical gloves and menstrual products, among other goods.
In an interview from Havana on Saturday, they said they plan to find a driver with an electric car and, in partnership with Cuban-led groups, distribute the items across the island over several days. They also plan to buy rice and beans with cash donations for distribution.
โSome of this is going to hospitals, itโs going to womenโs centres. We have a whole variety of places that we built connections with,โ said Isaak, who also works at the University of British Columbia.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
Life on the Caribbean island has been rapidly deteriorating since the U.S. removed Venezuelaโs leader in January, halting critical petroleum shipments from the nation that had been a steadfast ally to Havana. U.S. President Donald Trump has also threatened tariffs on any country selling or supplying Cuba with oil.
The island has since been relying on its own natural gas, solar power and oil to run thermoelectric plants, but that hasnโt been enough to meet demand.
Isaak and Hjalmarson said they experienced the dire situation as soon as they landed. There was a power outage at the airport. They heard a flicker and a generator, and the conveyor belt carrying their bags began moving minutes later.
โThen we had a power outage in the evening when we got to our Airbnb, and then we had another one in the morning, so you can see the frequency. This portion of the city, about a year ago, would maybe get less than a handful of power outages,โ said Isaak, who has made nearly a dozen trips to Cuba for her charity work.
The women said they carried all 14 of their suitcases up several flights of stairs because an outage brought to a halt the elevator in the building where theyโre staying.
Many of the nationโs 11 million residents are struggling to keep food from spoiling. Hospitals have cancelled surgeries. The leading university has reduced classes due to the power outages and transportation shutdowns.
Trump is demanding, in part, that Cuban President Miguel Dรญaz-Canel leave his position, release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in return for a lifting of sanctions.
After Cubaโs electric grid collapsed last week, spurring an island-wide blackout, Trump told reporters he believed heโd soon have โthe honour of taking Cuba.โ
Aid shipments are beginning to arrive and a Russian oil delivery is expected this month, but fuel shortages remain critical.
Isaak said the challenges she and Hjalmarson are facing donโt compare to those faced by Cubans.
โPeople are tired, theyโre frustrated, theyโre stressed. Thereโs so much uncertainty,โ Isaak said. โA lot of them, when they describe how theyโre feeling, they say theyโre surviving.โ
And Cubans are surviving by finding the joy in daily life, she said.
โWe were walking around like two in the morning and people were out playing dominoes on the street. Music was happening, people were dancing,โ Isaak said.
โSome Cubans hate the word resilient, but they are such an incredibly resilient people and they find joy in being with each other.โ
The process of distributing items over the next several days feels daunting, Isaak added.
โBut weโre excited to be here, and to get started.โ
© 2026 The Canadian Press
