Photos by Nester Nuñez
Photo Feature by Nester Nuñez
HAVANA TIMES – In 2021, I traveled to the Monticello neighborhood on the outskirts of the city of Matanzas to document, at the request of La Joven Cuba, the story of Mairiobis, a mother of seven children who was demanding decent housing. Her request was based on an announcement by the Cuban government stating that mothers with three or more children under the age of 12 would be given priority in the allocation of housing. That promise became the starting point for this project.
Five years later, I returned with the photographs and video I had produced at the time. I wanted to find out what had become of that family. I encountered a different reality, yet one marked by the same vulnerabilities: the mother had emigrated to Brazil; the father remained alone caring for five children; their material conditions were still extremely precarious, and their survival depended largely on under-the-table work and micro private businesses.
During this visit, I placed a camera in the hands of the children so they could photograph their own world. This photo essay brings together those images with the ones I took in 2021. They represent two different moments in time, but also two ways of looking at the same story: that of the photographer returning, and that of those who grew up within it.
Although this photo feature focuses on a single family, it can hardly be understood as an isolated case. It reflects processes that have shaped the lives of thousands of Cubans in recent years: emigration, family separation, the deterioration of living conditions, and the need to leave state employment in search of other means of making a living.
Protecting the most vulnerable families, especially when children are involved, should not depend solely on their ability to endure hardship. It is also the responsibility of the State and its institutions to guarantee decent living conditions and provide effective solutions for those who need them most.
These photographs are rooted in one family’s story, but they invite reflection on a responsibility that extends far beyond a single household.
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