The constant stream of calls and the glow of screens displaying each customer of the province's electricity service are the daily environment of Lietis Lorena Morales Martinez. At just 23 years old and with four years in her job, she is one of the dispatchers at the Provincial Load Dispatch Center of the Las Tunas Electric Company, a position of great responsibility, historically dominated by men.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Her arrival at this job was an unexpected turn in her professional career. "I never thought I would end up here. I wanted to study medicine, but I ended up studying agricultural engineering. Then, due to health issues, I couldn't continue at university, so this opportunity came up, and I started working here, and then I began training as an electrical engineer through a classroom attached to the University of Moa at the University of Las Tunas."
Like the rest of her colleagues, Lietis Lorena deals with night shifts, an experience she found difficult at first. "You feel a bit of pressure being here, knowing that other lives depend on you, but you get used to it. There comes a time when you really enjoy the work.
"It's true that you'll never know everything, as in other careers. There will never be enough time to learn everything, but you gradually acquire more skills," she reflects with the confidence of someone who is already in control.
Working with an exclusively male group can be challenging. Her job is to give them instructions to preserve their lives. "There are several of us dispatchers right now. Women are the smallest group, but it feels good. They are very attentive to us. We are a team that gets along well. Here, respect comes first."
She demands that same respect, and generally receives it, when she has to make difficult decisions, especially in front of the community. “There are always people who are not going to like the work we do. But we try to make them understand that it's not our fault. The fundamental principle of the Dispatch is to provide service.”
Her arrival at the Electric Company not only gave her a university career but also opened the doors to love and life as a couple. “I currently live with my parents and my husband, whom I met here. He was also a dispatcher. We were on different shifts, which was unusual. This has not hindered my professional growth.”
Lietis is an example of how stereotypes linking specialties such as electrical or mechanical engineering solely to males are disappearing, and she confirms that the presence of women, although a minority, is a reality.
"There are four women in the classroom. Most of them are Dispatch workers. It's a little less complex for us because we work with what we teach in class daily. We are familiar with this environment."
The story of Lietis Lorena Morales is not just that of a young woman who found her calling in an unexpected place. It is that of a professional who, with dedication and competence, has earned a place of respect in a key sector, demonstrating that talent and responsibility have no gender, and that sometimes the most complex circuits can lead to personal and professional fulfillment.
