The VOCES Foundation takes culture as a basis for social change and is committed to improving the socio-personal and professional positioning of young people at risk, through creative tools and artistic expression. For this reason, it organizes the recording of a short film with the participation of young people in a situation of social risk in Cañada Real (Madrid).
The current crisis caused by COVID-19 has especially impacted the most disadvantaged populations, making evident and aggravating the imbalances that already existed in various fields such as health, socio-economic and educational. Specifically, the crisis has had a notable impact on Cañada Real (Madrid), an informal settlement where some 7,300 people live, 35% of them boys and girls. It is a space where more than 16 different nationalities live together, with a high percentage of the population at risk of exclusion (only 22% receive regular income from their jobs) and with sections that are affected by serious housing problems, services basic, infrastructure and unhealthy, among others. In this context, the Cañada Real has been hit hard by the health crisis and by the slowdown in economic activity, since many of its inhabitants work precariously or engage in informal activities.
In the educational field, the situation is very serious, because the vast majority of the more than 2,500 boys and girls who live in Cañada Real do not have access to digital media that allow them to follow the progress of the online course. In addition, many of these boys and girls have suffered confinement in the worst conditions, confined to homes that do not meet the minimum conditions of habitability, with power cuts, shortage of drinking water in some sections and difficulties in meeting basic needs such as food. .
VOCES Foundation has designed a program that they carry out in the Cañada Real and that combines school reinforcement with musical activities and psychological support. In this program, music is used as a motivating element and, with the support of a team of psychologists, as a tool to mitigate the emotional stress situations that children are experiencing.
On the other hand, the program also includes educational reinforcement activities, which guarantee that the boys and girls participating in the program can continue the school year, despite connectivity difficulties. To do this, families are provided with technical means to follow the classes online, their homework is sent to them on paper, they are provided with individualized monitoring and support, and actions are coordinated through continuous communication with teachers and schools. educational.
