Two of DreamLAB’s winning projects launch their workshops and activities

The first event took place last Wednesday, May 12. The group Active Minds, led by Nathaly Farinango, Johana Perugachi, Anahí Suárez, and Ángel Arcentales, welcomed each participant. In attendance were Margarita Grijalva, from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Juan Esteban Estrella, from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Erika Ricaurte from CONQUITO; Daniel Villamar, general secretary of Tandari; Verónica Vásconez, project mentor from Global Shapers; representatives of Mental Health Ecuador, or Salud Mental Ecuador in Spanish; and the 55 adolescents and youth enrolled in the workshops.

Active Minds, or Mentes Activas in Spanish, is an initiative that seeks to guide adolescents and young people to inform and prevent mental health issues. It will provide urban art, dance, leadership, women empowerment, and mental health workshops. Activities began last Saturday, May 15. The initiative will last three months, during which participants will partake in virtual and in-person activities. The event was broadcast through Facebook Live.

You can re-watch the event by clicking here.

With the motto “Be part of the revolution and dare to dream,” Yapa Works launched its activities last Saturday, May 15, through Facebook Live. The group Yapa Works, led by Matteo Vizcaíno, Ruth Caraguay, and Andrea Toapanta, welcomed the group of participants and had Patricia Proaño, DreamLAB mentor from Global Shapers, and Juan Esteban Estrella from the UNDP in attendance.

Guambra Leads, or Lidera Guambra in Spanish, aims for social transformation through youth empowerment. It will offer psychoeducational workshops, led by a group of expert therapists, workshops on communication and public speaking, prevention of gender violence, leadership, and arts, among other things.

You can re-watch the event by clicking here.

Active Minds and Guambra Leads are two of the three DreamLAB winning groups from the parishes of Chillogallo and Calderón that received seed funding and technical support for their implementation. An initiative led by UNICEF and UNDP with the support of CONQUITO and Tandari.