10/29/2026
Quisicuaba, San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba.
On the grounds of a former boarding school outside Havana, there is a place that gives people a home when they had nowhere else to go. The Centro de Vida Asistida, run by the Quisicuaba project, is a permanent residence for hundreds of people: elders with no family to care for them, and people who spent years living on the street.
Residents receive housing, clothing, three meals a day, and medical and psychological care. 
The camp also runs agricultural and livestock operations that help supply food for the soup kitchens the organization runs in Havana. The project’s goal is self-sufficiency, and the work is part of how residents rebuild their lives, with productive and recreational activities that support their wellbeing and dignity. Taking part is entirely optional. Those who want to, and are able, contribute.
Together with the Mariposa Brigade, we delivered medical aid to the centre and were welcomed with music, dancing, and many smiling faces.
While I was photographing some of the men playing dominoes, they invited me to sit down and join a game. With my fumbling Spanish we were able to understand one another and enjoy a moment together that I will never forget.
Cubans we spoke with described a country in deep crisis, under the shadow of a tightening US blockade that makes life feel impossible. Yet here, as on the rest of this trip, we saw people helping one another through hardship. It is a sense of community I often feel is missing at home.
These portraits are of some of the people I met: Ibañez, MarĂa, Marta, and more.
Thank you to everyone at Quisicuaba for opening your doors.
