In 1978, Ethiopia's communist government, under the leadership of Mengistu Hailemariam, received tremendous military support from the Soviet Union to fend off an invasion from neighboring Somalia. For its part, Cuba sent thousands of its soldiers to fight alongside their Ethiopian comrades. Believing that the provision of much-needed education would alleviate the hardships they faced in Africa, Cuba also offered to educate 2,400 Ethiopian children, primarily war orphans, ranging in age from 6 to 13.

       The children were sent to study in rural boarding schools on a small island, la Isla de Juventud, off the coast of mainland Cuba. The schools, known as Escuelas Secundarias Basicas en el Campo (Basic Rural Secondary Schools), educated the children in the values of the socialist revolution.

       Now, 25 years later, the trajectory of these orphans breaks into many paths. Some scattered across the globe, immigrating to Great Britain and the U.S. Others returned to Ethiopia to construct a hybrid Ethio-Cuban identity. And still others stayed on the island, unable to leave or choosing not to. The Unhealing Wound documents the present day situations of these students, now adults, and the various ways their lives have been altered by their experiences abroad.