GUADIX (Granada), Spain.
Pedro Poveda Socio-Cultural Center has closed this academic year with a public exhibition at the premises of the Office of Information and Tourism in Guadix. It was inaugurated on June 8 with the attendance of a large audience from the city, members of the Municipal Corporation and Acting Mayor. A sample of major works of the workshop participants throughout the year are displayed. The Center, sponsored by the Teresian Association, continues to serve the city of Guadix since 1982. In the 2014-2015 Academic year, ninety-six women and forty children have participated and have regularly taken advantage of the educational offerings of the Center.
The Centre is seen as:
- An educational space to empower women from the neighborhood of the Caves to exercise their right to lifelong education.
- A space for socializing and meeting others that encourages them to leave the private space of the home, interact with peers, share experiences and learn from others.
- An area of social inclusion in which women from different areas of the city relate with each other and expand their personal horizons.
- An educational space that complements formal education.
- A space for socializing, creating positive relationships with peers, and learning to negotiate and manage conflict.
- An area of social inclusion to involve families, to promote the interaction of students from different schools and establish a bridge between the Center and neighboring schools.
This year, the Center Team has projected raising the visibility of its educational proposal, collaborating with other social entities and in a special way with Poveda School, the newspaper of Guadix Wadi-as, and the City Hall through cultural and social campaigns. The Center also participates in social networks such as the Center Facebook, which is an interactive space for participation and is very much visited.
Activities and workshops offered during 2014-2015
Workshops for women: Sewing, Computers, Cross stitch and Crafts, Dressmaking, Painting, Fitness training; Aerobics, and School for adult literacy.
For children and adolescents the following workshops have been offered: Cross Stitch, Computers, Painting, Drawing, Crafts, and Storytelling. Through these cultural and recreational activities the aim was to promote participatory, cooperative and supportive opportunities to complement formal education.
On Monday, once or twice a month, there were interactive lectures and throughout the year four Cultural Tours were offered.
Every afternoon from 4:00 PM-7:00 PM the Center opens its doors for the different workshops.
More than 600 people have visited the exhibit that opened on June 8.
Besides learning content, the Center is intended for people to grow, strengthen their social bonds, learn to participate and transform their surroundings.
This year, our Bishop, Msgr. Gines, visited the parish and we had the joy of welcoming him at the Center. He shared with the participating women concerns, challenges and what the Center means in their lives.
Interactive Talks
To improve the knowledge of the participants and acquire skills to deal with problems that arise in life, a total of 8 lectures have been offered, all with a high level of participation and satisfaction. Each talk was always followed by a discussion that has allowed women to learn to speak in public, to build shared meanings, exchange experiences, and mutual enrichment through dialogue.
The presentations have addressed the following issues:
- The female characters in the novel by Brígida Gallego-Coín, facilitated by the author and journalist.
- Personal Growth Workshop, taught by Maribel Sancho, journalist and educator, who spoke on two important lessons for life: human dignity and personal limits.
- The Department of Social Services of the City of Guadix has facilitated three sessions with the following themes: Learning to distinguish between sadness and depression and tools to manage our emotions appropriately (2 lectures).
- Consistent with the Christian profile of the Center there have been talks to prepare for two liturgical seasons: Christmas and Easter, facilitated by the Pastor, Fr. Manuel Amezcua, Also, Ana Maria Aguayo, Supervising Principal of Poveda School, gave a talk on Saint Pedro Poveda
Evaluation by participating women
Their feedback is very positive and expresses the high degree of satisfaction with the Center and its offerings. Their testimonies speak of the value of growing as a person, of how they have learned to grow in self-esteem and in respect for others. All of their comments exude gratitude and excitement for the experience throughout the academic year.
Cultural Tours: Guadix, Almeria, Granada
In the area it is not easy for women to break the inertia of feeling so tied to the home that they cannot have time for relaxation. Through these trips we seek to better help women understand their environment and relate to other women and children other than those participating in their workshops. The tours in Guadix ended with a snack in a place chosen by the women themselves.
This year we have taken four tours: two in the city Guadix, in the neighborhood of the Ermita and the Neighborhood of Saint Anne. The tours were guided and women shared that they had not seen those neighborhoods in their own town. They learned much about the art and history of their surroundings.
The two outside trips were to Almeria and Granada. The Dressmaking Course organized the Almeria tour and it consisted of a guided tour of the Art School of Almería.
In Granada they visited the Science Park and the Mirador de San Cristobal del Albaicin. Some of the participants said that they found it very enriching and they were surprised to see that there are always new things to discover.
Maribel Sancho