Cuba's sweet 15 endures in crisis

Cuba's sweet 15 endures in crisis
By Shasta Darlington, CNN
February 9, 2010 -- Updated 2204 GMT (0604 HKT)

* In Cuba, a girl's 15th birthday is a sacred, expensive rite of passage
* Party often includes photo shoots and balls
* Parents start saving at the birth of a daughter for the celebration
* Even the economic downturn has eroded enthusiasm for the tradition

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- A gaggle of photographers, relatives and fashion
advisors traipse after Yuniesky Collazo as she twirls for the camera in
a rented pink ball gown in one of Havana's picturesque plazas.

She is celebrating her quinceanera, or 15th birthday, a sacred rite of
passage in Cuba and much of Latin America.

"I'm so emotional, you can imagine," she gushes as she steps into a
horse-drawn carriage for the next shoot. "It's the most important moment
of my life."

The elaborate festivities are also a drain on family finances, often
costing more than a year's salary.

Yuniesky's parents say they opened a bank account as soon as she was
born and have been saving ever since for this day.

"It was a big sacrifice," she admits. "They had to work hard to give
this to me.

In Cuba, a girl's sweet 15 often starts with a photo and video shoot
showing her transformation from teenage princess to a young adult.

If her family can afford it, she dons traditional dresses, lace gloves,
parasols and tiaras - and poses in front of colonial churches or in the
back of 1950s convertible cars.

And then she sheds most of those clothes for more risque portraits that
might make some parents squirm. Some romp in the waves in a bikini while
others don thigh-high boots and black leather.
Video: Cubans go all out for sweet 15

And for the better off families, the big day ends with a dress ball more
elaborate than a wedding.

"Parents, especially mothers, enjoy this day," says wardrobe assistant
Daisy Gonzalez. "They make sacrifices. They want the best for their
girls. One dress isn't enough, they want three or four or more."

A running joke explains it like this: In Cuba, you'll get married
numerous times. But you only turn 15 once.

A blow-out quinceanera can set parents back $2,000, a fortune in a
country where salaries average $20 a month.

The global economic crisis has taken its toll on Cuba. But it hasn't
dampened enthusiasm for this beloved coming-of-age.

"All girls have this dream, to celebrate their 15th," says proud father
Roman Gonzalez. "Whether they're poor or rich, they will celebrate it."

Photographer Enrique says his business hasn't been affected. Many
families have been saving for years, and others receive money from
relatives living abroad, he says.

"No matter what, parents are going to do it," he says. "One way or
another, there's always a helping hand."

That wasn't always the case. During Cuba's worst financial crisis in the
1990s, known as the "Special Period", not only did parents scale back
celebrations, many stopped having kids.

But Yuniesky's parents say even during those dark days, they managed to
set a little money aside every month for their only daughter's sweet 15.

Cuba's sweet 15 endures in crisis - CNN.com (10 February 2010)
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/09/cuba.15/