The hard way out

DStv telenovela The Way To Paradise tells a story of a naïve woman who takes a desperate gamble to escape poverty.

- IPELENG RAKGANTSHO

Fans of Spanish telenovela The Way To Paradise (originally titled Sin Senos No Hay Paraíso, 2008-2009) will know all about the drama that plays out daily on Telemundo (*118) at 22:00. The english-dubbed show, which is based on a true story, tells the story of bright-eyed Catalina Santana (Colombian model Carmen Villalobos), an impoverished 17-year-old who had always dreamt of a better life. But it feels as if fate is against her, throwing obstacles in her way at every turn.

It seems that Catalina’s prayers are answered when her sex-worker best friend Yésica (María Fernanda Yépez), who’s also known to her clients as La Diabla, talks her into joining her night-time business. The way Yésica puts it, it seems so simple: all Catalina has to do is have sex with much-older drug traffickers, and they will make her a fortune. With Catalina’s face, smile and looks, all she needs to work on is her “personality”. To make the offer more enticing, Yésica tells her that the rich men pay well in advance and they pay big money at that, enough for Catalina to escape her poor, sad life. And if that sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is.