news/240/cpsprodpb/B3CA/production/_128962064_cb6e329b-1103-4a91-b9d6-adcf42b2693b.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/B3CA/production/_128962064_cb6e329b-1103-4a91-b9d6-adcf42b2693b.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/B3CA/production/_128962064_cb6e329b-1103-4a91-b9d6-adcf42b2693b.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/B3CA/production/_128962064_cb6e329b-1103-4a91-b9d6-adcf42b2693b.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/B3CA/production/_128962064_cb6e329b-1103-4a91-b9d6-adcf42b2693b.jpg 800w" alt="إيكو رودريغيز لارا، 9 سنوات، يجلس على شرفة منزل جدته في هافانا، كوبا، في 20 سبتمبر 2022." attribution="Natalia Favre" layout="responsive" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/B3CA/production/_128962064_cb6e329b-1103-4a91-b9d6-adcf42b2693b.jpg" height="651" width="976" data-hero="true"/>
image copyright Natalia Favre
witnessCuba exodus because of The political and economic crisis worsened puppy impact Epidemic Covid 19 what prompted Many Cubansto theA feeling that they have no choice but to leave their country To look for better opportunities abroad.
Young Cubans migrate, Especially young people who have special skills, in droves.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have arrived in the United States, both by land across the Mexican border and by sea. The US Customs and Border Protection unit says the number of Cubans entering the country jumped from 39,000 in 2021 to 224,000 in 2022.
This number is higher than during the largest waves of Cuban immigration in the 1980s and 1990s.
With both sea and land crossings fraught with danger, many migrants make the difficult decision to leave their children behind.
Migrant families hope that their children will be able to join them once their immigration status is regularized, but this may take several years. Meanwhile, migrant families work to earn enough money to be able to send money and gifts to the children, in an attempt to make up for their financial absence.
Many children left behind by their families who emigrated live with their relatives.
A 2017 study conducted by psychologists in Cuba showed that children who grew up with uncles and grandparents following their parents left the country experienced high levels of anger, sadness, and a loss of family identity values.
The researchers said that the high number of cases “makes this problem one of the most common reasons that prompt many people to seek psychological counseling in Cuba.”
Nine-year-old Cataleya Larrenaga Guerra and her younger sister, Catherine, seven, live with their grandparents in the Los Positos slum in Havana, Cuba.
news/240/cpsprodpb/101EA/production/_128962066_051320e4-7035-4953-8317-969c74109e9b.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/101EA/production/_128962066_051320e4-7035-4953-8317-969c74109e9b.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/101EA/production/_128962066_051320e4-7035-4953-8317-969c74109e9b.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/101EA/production/_128962066_051320e4-7035-4953-8317-969c74109e9b.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/101EA/production/_128962066_051320e4-7035-4953-8317-969c74109e9b.jpg 800w" alt="كاتاليا لاريناغا غويرا 9 سنوات تقف عند مدخل منزل أجدادها" attribution="Natalia Favre" layout="responsive" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/101EA/production/_128962066_051320e4-7035-4953-8317-969c74109e9b.jpg" height="651" width="976"/>
image copyright Natalia Favre
Catalia and Catherine’s father, Vladimir, left Cuba when Catherine was only one month old.
Four years later, their mother, Yanette, took a plane to Panama, and from there she flew to the United States to join the girls’ father.
Vladimir and Yanet have been living in Austin, Texas, since then, hoping that their application for family reunification will be approved so that they can bring Cataleya and Catherine to live with them.
Vladimir and Yanette send money from the United States to cover Catalia and Catherine’s expenses in Cuba at the end of each month. The girls choose toys and gifts for their mother to buy at a store in Austin to send back to Cuba over video calls.
news/240/cpsprodpb/DADA/production/_128962065_c58287f8-3b3e-4d4f-ab95-b4f1e9deeed5.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/DADA/production/_128962065_c58287f8-3b3e-4d4f-ab95-b4f1e9deeed5.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/DADA/production/_128962065_c58287f8-3b3e-4d4f-ab95-b4f1e9deeed5.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/DADA/production/_128962065_c58287f8-3b3e-4d4f-ab95-b4f1e9deeed5.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/DADA/production/_128962065_c58287f8-3b3e-4d4f-ab95-b4f1e9deeed5.jpg 800w" alt="تقوم كاتاليا لاريناغا غويرا بِعَدِ الأموال التي أرسلها ذووها من الولايات المتحدة" attribution="Natalia Favre" layout="responsive" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/DADA/production/_128962065_c58287f8-3b3e-4d4f-ab95-b4f1e9deeed5.jpg" height="651" width="976"/>
image copyright Natalia Favre
Alfonso, the grandfather of Cataleya and Catherine, takes full care of them in the absence of their parents. “It’s very difficult,” Alfonso says.
And Alfonso adds: “When something happens to the youngest girl, she starts crying! She says she wants to be with her mother. It’s different here. Even if we give them all the love in the world, it will not be enough for them, because the two girls need the mother and the father.”
“Catherine started calling him and his wife ‘Mom and Dad’,” says Alfonso.
Nine-year-old Alexandre González Leon lives in a two-storey house in Guanapacoa, a suburb of Havana. His parents, grandparents, uncles and cousin lived together in that area three years ago.
But now, most of the rooms are empty and Alexandre is being cared for by his aunt Mercedes and his grandmother, since the rest of the family emigrated to the United States.
Lourdes, Alexandre’s mother, used to travel to neighboring countries such as Guyana or Panama to buy necessities that she might not get in Cuba, and she would also sell some of the things she brought with her in Cuba as a way to earn money.
One day, she stayed in Mexico and applied for the necessary papers for her son to join her there. But things did not go as planned.
Borders are closed due to the Covid pandemic and Lourdes is pregnant with her second child in Mexico.
The whole family decided it would be best if they crossed the border into the US and kept Alexandre in Cuba until he might join them legally.
Alexander sees his mother every day via video calls. But three years have passed since Alexander last hugged his mother.
news/240/cpsprodpb/14D8F/production/_128819358_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre40.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/14D8F/production/_128819358_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre40.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/14D8F/production/_128819358_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre40.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/14D8F/production/_128819358_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre40.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/14D8F/production/_128819358_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre40.jpg 800w" alt="أليكس وعمته الكبرى ميرسيديز يتحدثان مع والدته عبر مكالمة فيديو" attribution="Natalia Favre " layout="responsive" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/14D8F/production/_128819358_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre40.jpg" height="651" width="976"/>
image copyright Natalia Favre
Alexandre’s great-aunt Mercedes, who is responsible for him, receives money every month from Alexandre’s mother.
“Food, clothes and even school uniforms, everything Lourdes sends me,” she says.
Mercedez adds that Alexander does not feel his mother’s absence much because he sees her on the phone screen through video calls.
“It’s only when I scold him for doing something that he says, ‘I should have gone with my mom.'”
Alexander is convinced that he will soon be reunited with his mother in the United States and meet his little brother. “Next year, I won’t be in Cuba anymore,” Alexandre tells his aunt.
Aiko Rodriguez Lara’s parents left for Russia a year ago in search of a better life.
Echo now lives with his two-year-old sister, Elisabeth, and their two grandmothers, Lourdes and Raisa. They share the duties of caring for the two grandchildren.
news/240/cpsprodpb/91D3/production/_128813373_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre10.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/91D3/production/_128813373_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre10.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/91D3/production/_128813373_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre10.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/91D3/production/_128813373_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre10.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/91D3/production/_128813373_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre10.jpg 800w" alt="إيكو يجلس وتبدو عليه علامات اليأس بين الأطفال الآخرين" attribution="Natalia Favre " layout="responsive" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/91D3/production/_128813373_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre10.jpg" height="651" width="976"/>
image copyright Natalia Favre
After his parents left for Russia, Echo began to develop a skin condition and began to experience bouts of anxiety. His grandmothers took him to see a psychiatrist, who told them that his parents’ absence was the cause of the boy’s problems.
Eko has been attending art workshops at a cultural center in Havana to help ease his anxiety attacks.
news/240/cpsprodpb/43B3/production/_128813371_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre1.jpg 240w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/43B3/production/_128813371_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre1.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/43B3/production/_128813371_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre1.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/43B3/production/_128813371_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre1.jpg 624w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/43B3/production/_128813371_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre1.jpg 800w" alt="إيكو يرسم منزلاً خلال ورشة عمل فنية بالمركز الثقافي، في هافانا، كوبا، في 17 سبتمبر 2022. يحضر إيكو هذه الورشة مرتين في الأسبوع." attribution="Natalia Favre" layout="responsive" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/43B3/production/_128813371_theweightofabsence-nataliafavre1.jpg" height="651" width="976"/>
image copyright Natalia Favre
His sister Elisabeth, who is shy, becomes very attached to her grandmother, Lourdes.
The grandmothers hope that the children’s parents will soon be able to straighten them out in Russia and take them with them. But the children know this might take several years.
Raisa says her daughter regrets leaving her two children behind: “My daughter’s hair is falling out of sadness, and she misses her two children so much.”
All images are owned by Natalia Favre and are subject to copyright.
Editor-in-Chief Prize-winning journalist with over 20 years of international news experience. Alexandra leads the editorial team, ensuring every story meets the highest standards of accuracy and journalistic integrity.
