Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, Apr 29.- As part of a program in the central region of Cuba, the non-governmental Center for Exchange and Reference-Community Initiative (Cieric) reviewed six local development projects associated with culture in this province.
During April and May, a regional Cieric jury reviews local development projects in the Cuban Center, made up of the provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey.
"Along with the quality and effectiveness of the Avilanian sample, there is also a lack of integration of the municipal governments, who are underestimating the social and economic contribution of the projects," said Maritza Urrutia, coordinator for this Cieric region, in the workshop held on April 18, in the city of Ciego de Ávila.
Odalys Negrín, provincial specialist of that center, said that she will continue enriching the projects from the methodological point of view, but that the urgent thing now is to get the governments to assume these undertakings as part of their policies.
Magical Hands, for example, an initiative that is now four years old and is committed to the development of weaving and doll making, does not yet have its own workshop or the availability of raw materials.
Its artisans, with commercial stalls on the boulevard of this city, continue to operate with independent licenses from private weavers, which limits access to local funds and recognition of their social contribution through the free courses they teach.
Although during the exchange, the project led by Odalys Álvarez was recognized for the 32 workshops it has given to 546 people who today could take on the revitalization of this art as a form of employment, the jury urged Manos Mágicas to continue knocking on the doors of the government to gain support and scope for such an important office.
At the end of 2017, the local press reported that "nine of the 10 municipalities of this province have not conceived a Local Development Project in the short or long term" and no municipality requested resources to use in 2018 the contribution fund for local development, which was therefore used in the deficiencies of the economy plan.
With minor setbacks in his socialization and support, the art instructor Mario Andrés Arrieta also presented in the Cieric workshop the results of the Hijos de Baraguá project, which promotes the permanence in the homonymous municipality of the Jamaican traditions that arrived in 1915 with the milling of sugar cane.
The initiative has achieved that the customs, formerly housed in the southern neighborhood of the central where the descendants of Jamaicans live, reach the entire municipality and even have a monthly day to taste typical dishes, between stories and the unmistakable calypso of the rhythms.
“It has transcended to such an extent that we already have the support for the construction of a place with classrooms to maintain the teaching of English and we have extended the project to several demonstrations, including cricket, of which we have two teams with implements donated by various delegations. foreigners who have visited us”, commented Arrieta.
In turn, the young instructor directs the Caribbean Children dance group, which has already achieved national recognition among those dedicated to promoting Caribbean folklore.
However, the director of Hijos de Baraguá poses the challenge of getting tourists from the tourist Cayería Norte Jardines del Rey, located in this province, to access this piece of Jamaican land.
"Until now, the Ministry of Tourism has not been interested, but we are betting on promoting a cultural route that will help us, in turn, to capture income to continue sustaining traditions," he shared.
As part of the workshop, projects associated with reading, the promotion of values in adolescents, environmental culture in boys and girls and the conservation of sound heritage were also presented. (2019)
