Javier Cascón, a student of the UAH's Double Degree in Teaching and Humanities, proposed that his colleagues in 2017 to participate in this university competition and the next day, his partner Elizabeth de la Oliva, asked him to work with homeless people through art. There was no doubt, they launched it. Soon they joined the team Andrea Garcia and Leyre Garmendia; soon came Paula Alonso, and Mayte Molina and recently, Jorge Oliaga. Together they form a multidisciplinary team of amazing young people.

The name may be strange, but it was chosen by a coincidence that happened a few days Javier Cascon had an image of Teresa of Calcutta on his agenda. When Elizabeth saw it, she told him how this woman was a reference figure in her life. From the admiration they both professed comes the name AMAQTEDU, an acronym for a phrase that Teresa of Calcutta used to say: 'Love until the pain of those who suffer hurts, if it hurts, is a good sign'.

Vital Canvas example

AMAQTEDU courses are weekly, last between 6 and 8 months, and are developed in social centers over Caritas centers of the Madrid province area. By this way, the primary objective is the end of poverty, first of the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030.

The fruit of the work sessions are works of art, the so-called Vital Canvases, in these hey express what they feel and what they are living, they reflect a little of their history, and the buyer can know more about the person who has done it thanks to the testimony, comment or reflection accompanying the picture. Occasionally, at the end of the year, they sell calendars and soon also T-shirts. In addition, anyone can collaborate financially or offer their company or organization for one of their events.

100% of sales are spent on training and reinsertion of people who are homeless and at risk of exclusion. ‘Our product, the Vital Canvases give light to street stories, not only through strokes and colors, but also through the history of the canvas', they affirm from the association.

'When we do an exhibition in Madrid we invite them and, during the opening, they share their experience during the past months. Then we all visited the exhibition together with the attendees. It's amazing to see their smiling and excited faces when they see their framed and exhibited works in the gallery. The last one we did in December, in Vallecas, there were a large number of purchases and the authors were running to comment that theirs had been sold. We believe it is a gift to see their joy and they feel very satisfied with the work done and so confidence in their abilities and qualities they confirm.

Vital Canvas example

From AMAQTEDU they say that ‘the easiest thing is to work with these people in workshops. We enjoy each other very much, learn and build family. In addition, we discover hidden talents, both in the volunteers and in the participants. The most difficult thing is to manage impotence, because we find cases of women who have been raped or forced to prostitute themselves, drug addicts who have a hard time getting out of this situation or people who had to to leave their families in their country. We cannot erase that past or the hard experiences that some of them have experienced, but we can accompany, love a lot and listen. We trust second chances and know that it is possible to get out of the situation they are in'.

Publicado en: Inglés