Candela: The Lives of Cuban Women

From a Bolero concert to a cancer ward, and from the apartment of a guy who helps Cubans get foreign visas to an Afro-Cuban Santeria ceremony, reporter Deepa Fernandes finds out how ordinary Cuban women have lived, loved and invented their way through dwindling resources and political isolation.

Two decades ago reporter Deepa Fernandes spent a year in Havana. What she learned by living amongst Cubans ended up in an hour-long radio documentary for ABC Radio National. It was the stories of diverse Cuban women that delved deep into the life and culture of a largely unknown people.

Twenty years later Deepa Fernandes want back to find the women, and see how they, and Cuba, have progressed. Five of the women in the original documentary tell a rich and vibrant story of Cuba today, Cuba yesterday, and looks ahead to Cuba’s future.

(Photo: Norma Guillard)