“ESPLAI” is a Catalan word used to refer to a leisure time educational entity, whose main objective is to promote the personal and social growth of children and adolescents through playful and pedagogical activities. .
In Cuba, this educational project has now been running for 25 years. And, although it maintains the name and some of the essential aspects of the Catalan legacy on the island, over the years we have “created” our own ESPLAI, a “Creole ESPLAI”, adapted to the context and everyday situations, but preserving intact its primary mission: the education in values of children, adolescents and young people.
This year ESPLAI celebrates a quarter of a century on our island, and we wanted to celebrate it by “discovering the Beauty” in all the things we do and see around us.
Currently, ESPLAI in Cuba takes place in two different communities: the parish of San Judas and San Nicolás in the municipality of Centro Habana in July and in the Calasanz Cultural Centre in the municipality of Guanabacoa in August. While previously it was conceived that each place would have its own monitors, from 2022 we set about the task of creating a team of Monitors who would participate in both places. In addition to these two regular venues, during these 25 years, we have had the opportunity to share the ESPLAI activities in other locations in Havana and also in other provinces of the country.
Together with the team of monitors and the logistics team that accompanies each ESPLAI, since this year we have created a communication team that is in charge of covering all the activities that take place, so that most of the playful and pedagogical activities are recorded in our archives.
One of the most beautiful impressions left by ESPLAI is the fact that many of the children, adolescents and young people who have participated in it, later become monitors who accompany other children in experiences similar to those they had the opportunity to experience in the project. Therefore, the sense of belonging that it generates is very high, and this results in the quality of its educational proposal. ESPLAI has also been enriched by the contribution of people who share similar values to those of the project and have wanted to join us, coming from different parts of the world every year.
Although we still have a lot of things to improve and adapt to the Cuban socio-educational context, it is important to highlight the ability and willingness of the Piarist Fathers and the whole team of coordinators and monitors to carry out the ESPLAI. This is a project that grows together with the people who are doing their bit so that the project survives and flourishes every summer.
By: Enrique Vilariño Ricardo
Pedagogical Coordinator of ESPLAI and
Head of Communications of Escolapios Cuba
