But when four young Cuban-Americans started a program sending peers with similar island ties to explore their heritage after U.S.-Cuba detente, she applied. Inspired by Birthright Israel, a program that has sent 500,000 young Jews to Israel since 1999, CubaOne hopes to send three groups of Cuban-Americans to the island by February. At least four of the young people saw family members who they had never met, or had met only briefly, including Hernandez. She grew up thinking of the island as "North Korea with nice beaches," she said. "A lot of people perceive Cuba as a terrible place where people aren't happy, but that's not the case."

Source: Fox News July 04, 2016 16:07 UTC