Manos Activando Manos After many years of working with youth in Brazil, Caramundo has recently decided to start expanding its work and experience to El Salvador. In February 2009, our colleague Marloes travelled to El Salvador to set off with the new project ‘Manos Activando Manos’ (hands that activate hands) in San Salvador. This project is operated by the local organisation Quetzalcoatl.
Quetzalcoatl in Sesuntepeque Prison The Manos Activando Manos program is also operated in the prison of Sesuntepeque. The conditions in this prison are grave. The prison was built to accommodate about 50 women. Currently, over 200 women are imprisoned. Many women have been waiting for over a year for their case to come to trial. Many have not committed any crime, other than ‘agrupación con illicites’, or being gathered in a group where one or more gang members were present.
Manos Activando Manos
Manos Activando Manos
After many years of working with youth in Brazil, Caramundo has recently decided to start expanding its work and experience to El Salvador. In February 2009, our colleague Marloes travelled to El Salvador to set off with the new project ‘Manos Activando Manos’ (hands that activate hands) in San Salvador. This project is operated by the local organisation Quetzalcoatl.
Fundación Quetzalcoatl was established in 1999 and focuses on young prison inmates and youth living in poor communities in San Salvador. Quetzalcoatl involves youth in all policy and decision-making processes. Currently, more than half of Quetzalcoatl’s staff is under the age of 25 and more than half is female. As such, Quetzalcoatl allows young people to develop projects they themselves think necessary.
The project ‘Manos Activando Manos’ consists of workshops for youth at risk and young women in prison that teach skills in different types of art, enabling the participants to generate income. Psycho-social and emotional support is an integral part of all activities. The project is currently operated in two different locations. Considering the success of the project, we plan on expanding it in the future.
San Salvador, districts of Mejicanos, San Martin en Apopa
In March, 10 young boys and girls from various poor communities in San Salvador attended classes of photography performed by Marloes for five weeks. Besides teaching practical skills, such as using the camera and digital editing in Photoshop, photography was used as a tool for self-reflection. The participants were asked to portray themselves in their surroundings and to tell a story that reflects something personal. Reviewing the photos taken by each participant many themes important in their everyday lives came up for discussion.
After nearly five weeks of classes and a visit to a photo museum, a final exhibition was organized in the cultural ‘Café La T’. The students were proud to present their work, and said it helped them believe in their own skills and respect each other’s work. Also, the fact that Marloes trusted them with the cameras and other materials to take the photos meant a lot to them. “Normally”, they said, “people do not trust us like that”.
In the near future, Quetzalcoatl intends to continue with this group teaching them other techniques, such as drawing and graffiti. All participants are stimulated to teach friends and relatives what they have learnt.
San Salvador, Prison of Sesuntepeque
The Manos Activando Manos program is also operated in the prison of Sesuntepeque.
The conditions in this prison are grave. The prison was built to accommodate about 50 women. Currently, over 200 women are imprisoned. Many women have been waiting for over a year for their case to come to trial. Many have not committed any crime, other than ‘agrupación con illicites’, or being gathered in a group where one or more gang members were present.
In this prison, a group of 11 enthusiastic young women has been selected to participate in our program. They receive drawing and painting classes once a week, for three hours. The women make drawings based on their personal stories. They have for instance all focussed on their ‘river of life’. The river is a tool through which they can indicate various important stages and situations in their lives.
So far the results have been astonishing. Very detailed drawings have been made and all women have been able to present their drawing and freely express themselves on all details exposed herein. Workshops are continued on a structural basis.
Products still needed for this project!
We still need the following items for this project:
- computers/laptops no older than 3 years, headsets and skype camera’s, software such as Microsoft Office and Photoshop;
- graffiti paint;
- professional drawing/painting materials such as canvas, paper, brushes, pencils, acrylic paint
If you’d like to sponsor this project, donate any of the items listed above or support this project by making a donation, please send us an email at info@caramundo.org
For all those who have supported this project so far: THANK YOU!
For more photos from El Salvador see also: http://marloesverhoeven.carbonmade.com
