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The Spanish, in their colonial heyday, invariably insisted that everyone convert to Christianity - and the choice was clear - convert or die. But the West Africans they brought as slaves to work the sugar plantations came with their own beliefs. They didn't want to convert, nor did they want to be burned at the stake.

So they found a very ingenious way of getting around the heinous practices of the Spanish. They pretended to convert but in reality only transfered all of their Gods to Christian saints. So, for example, while on the surface they prayed to Santa Barbara they were in their own minds and hearts praying to Changó.

These women are adherents of Santería, a religion which is still very much alive here in Cuba. In Havana you'll see men and women dressed completely in white which they must do for one year as part of a post-initiation ritual.