Workshops and competitions:
Necessary Art for teens in Alamar
Iris Ruiz
Scenic Artist Havana Cuba
N ecessary Art Studios seeks to help in the enhancement of active and conscious individuals who play their roles with social responsibility and a commitment to the future of their environment. On the basis of a 2015 research paper, this year has been dedicated to hold workshops and competitions for the benefit of the children at the community of Alamar Heights who are in the stage of early or teenage youth( ages 12 to 17) according to the Code of Childhood and Youth. Alamar This suburb is located in the municipality of Habana del Este( Eastern Havana), about 7 km. from the center of the capital along the road leading to the eastern beaches. It is a sort of dormitory town, built in the 70s and 80s as the largest urban project of the Cuban government, carried out by the so-called micro brigades, i. e., groups of workers from all over the country that built the very housing units in which they would live with their families. The project was frustrated by the economic crisis after the Soviet socialist camp vanished. The budget ran out of funds and it froze the development of a city with over one hundred thousand inhabitants, who inherited a minimal and decaying infrastructure. This city does not even have a cemetery. There were not parks, churches, hospitals, recreation centers, restaurants or theaters neither. In the 90s another government project, under the management of the Historian of Havana, Eusebio Leal, was responsible for reviving the construction of buildings in order to relocate the families that had to move from the historic center of the capital as a result of the renovation and touristic exploitation of the place. However, only a funeral home was added to the city and a park was finally concluded after its civil works were interrupted due to lack of resources. The progressive isolation of Alamar promotes violence and high rates of mortality among young people and adolescents. The territory has been declared as highly risky and there are no options for the younger generations to develop their potential for the benefit of society. Many young people are desperately seeking ways to emigrate. The mass emigration and the denial to procreate because of the lack of economic opportunities and freedoms for healthy living turned into necessity the development of alternative educational and cultural projects. Situation Lacking of both state attention and alternative social projects by communi-
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