Last night for this year's Workshops for Peace: tears for the kids

This year we only made it to the last night of this great project. This was the 11th edition of San Pablo de Buceite's magnificent effort that this year brought in some 180 kids from places like Cuba, Morocco, the Saharawi refugee encampments in Algeria and from various parts of Spain. Workshops went on for a a good fifteen days in all kinds of arts and crafts, ranging from pottery and photography to symphony orchestra and band, from theatre to percussion, from voice to foam rubber, and more. It's hard to describe the feeling we always have when it comes to the end - but the tears shed by the kids who'd never met each other and have become fast friends, not knowing if they'll ever meet again ... those tears say it all. (On a more political note: If this project is lost for any childish political reason, the politicians involved should be lined up and given a rope with which to hang themselves. The project desperately needs international repercussion - if you can help, or know someone who can, please let us know, no matter how small that help might be. It is vital for its continuation.)

Workshops for Peace this weekend in San Pablo

click to enlarge

SAN PABLO DE BUCEITE This annual event is back this weekend. Our earlier item includes a full programme of the workshops, events and parallel activities, exhibitions, etc. with translations - just click on the poster on the sidebar to access it. See you there?

San Pablo's 11th Workshops for Peace welcomes 250 kids on Thursday 18

Click to enlarge

Jimena/SAN PABLO DE BUCEITE The annual Workshops for Peace has become a tradition that continues despite financial constraints and a lack of support from PP-run entities including the village's 'mother' municipality, Jimena (because it was started and continues under the PSOE). The event this year brings together some 250 kids from Cuba, the Sahara, Morocco and other parts of Spain, who mostly stay at private homes in the area, and take part in a large number of activities, largely musical or theatrical. Talleres por la Paz begins with the official opening on Thursday, July 18, and ends ten days later on Saturday 27. As you will see from the full programme below (English in italics), most of the onstage activities take place in the evening, but are prepared during the day at various workshops.>>>

Former UNESCO chief accepts invitation to San Pablo's Workshops for Peace

Federico Mayor Zaragoza

JIMENA / San Pablo (Source: buceite.com) Federico Mayor Zaragoza headed UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) from 1987 to 1999 and since 2000 presides the Foundation for the Culture of Peace, has accepted an invitation to inaugurate the tenth edition of San Pablo de Buceite's Workshops for Peace, scheduled for July, 2012. His acceptance is viewed with great pride by the organizers of what has become an unusual and effective event, and growing in importance in the Campo de Gibraltar.

San Pablo's 9th Workshops for Peace: read all about it

Click to enlarge

JIMENA / San Pablo Let's start at the beginning. This year's edition of the San Pablo de Buceite Workshops for Peace -its 9th edition already- is taking place between July 21st and 30th, that is, it starts next Thursday. Anybody who has taken part or even an interest in the past will tell you that not only has the initial concept grown but it has got a lot better and more varied. The word 'workshop' sounds like a lot of work, and some of it is. But the basic idea is for people of different nations, cultures and backgrounds to come together for a series of artistic and/or cultural endeavours over a period of time that allows them to get to know each other at least a little. For the most part, the workshops are aimed at the young ... well, we'll be putting things up on this site and on JimenaPulse, referring to all that is going on (Look for the poster illustrating this item, on the sidebar). In the meantime, the full public programme is below in a somewhat peculiar translation by Google, on which we will be improving. The poster, by the way, is based on a graffiti mural workshop that was part of the previous edition, directed by Antonio Fernandez.

'Picnic' this year's winner of the Short Film Competition of San Pablo

JIMENA /San Pablo de Buceite A busy weekend in San Pablo: among preparations for this year's Workshops for Peace (July 21 to 30), was choosing the winner of the Short Film Competition for Peace. Some 52 short movies came in from all over the country and from Argentina and Puerto Rico. Prizes were €600 to the winner - 'Picnic' by Gerardo Herrero, of Asturias, about the consequences of war, which has won prizes at several festivals. In second place, with prize money of €300, was Entre pañuelos y Sueños, small; byAlejandro G. Salgado, of Sevilla, who tells us the story of Howard Jackson, a black character who earns his living at a traffic light in Sevilla. Prizes will be given on the 22nd at the Casa de la Cultura in San Pablo, as part of the Workshops for Peace.