Spearheaded by social entrepreneur, Carlos Rojas Reyes, ImaginARTE aims to develop the critical thinking skills in youth aged 11-16 years old through arts-based workshops at local schools in Lima, Peru. Our vision is that through these cross-cultural workshops delivered by international volunteer facilitators (20-26 years old) from over 100 countries, participants can start thinking in a critical way to generate positive social change in their own communities.
Developing critical thinking in young people is crucial for Peru's development. It is important that each one of us can develop ideas and respond to external stimuli independently. We are passing through a period where people care less about things that are important to the collective culture, like politics, the environment, poverty, and pay much more attention to things that involve only them.
ImaginARTE will work with young people, the future of our country, in order to help them develop critical thinking. Using different artistic media, these workshops will focus on helping youth to create self-awareness and embrace individuality while recognizing the environment in which they develop. Workshop activities and topics will touch on acceptance of differences, solidarity, tolerance, and teamwork. The hope is that by encouraging this capacity, youth will become purposeful people looking
The immediate direct impact of this project will be in building the capacity of 210 people (200 students + 10 facilitators). The direct outcome of the project is that at the end of the workshops, students will develop their own project to solve some social issue they care about. The long-term impact could be the transformation of youth culture in Peru and a more engaged and compassionate citizenry.
