Tracing Public Spaces in El Calvario

Over the past 20 years, Venezuela has gone through an economic, social and political crisis that has devastated the country, and more severely, diminished the living conditions of Venezuelans in ways that are very difficult to grasp. In this crucial moment, we cannot help but ask ourselves: how will the reconstruction of Venezuela take place? How will the different sectors of society participate in rehabilitating of our neighborhoods and its people? What is a country without the sense of community, citizenship and common good?

With this situation in mind, Tracing Public Spaces (TEP for its acronyms in Spanish: Trazando Espacios Públicos) was founded as a non-for-profit organization in 2015, with the mission to empower children and youth to become agents of change by transforming public spaces within their neighborhoods. We believe that the change in Venezuela needs to be tackled one community at a time.  


To achieve TEP mission, we have implemented educational workshops to teach children from underprivileged communities participatory design tools that allow them to OBSERVE, IMAGINE and TRANSFORM their surroundings. Our goal is strengthen local identity and cement citizenship. 

Through this campaign, our goal is to strengthen TEP work throughout Venezuela, and more specifically, raise the necessary funds to advance TEP workshops in El Calvario, one of the most consolidated areas of informal settlements in Venezuela's capital city, Caracas. 

YOUR DONATIONS FOR THIS TEP CAMPAIGN

- With $ 30 you would be donating the meals for one day of TEP workshops for 25 children
- With $ 40 you would be sponsoring a TEP workshop kit for one child
- With $ 50 you would be sponsoring 11 squared foot of construction ( ~1 square meter)
- With $ 70 you would be sponsoring one phase of TEP workshops for one child
- With $ 420 you would be sponsoring one child for a 5-month TEP workshop


TRACING PUBLIC SPACES IN “EL CALVARIO”, EL HATILLO MUNICIPALITY

Our goal is to create a network of people and public spaces that transcends the scale of community impact to urban impact. For this, TEP selected El Calvario, where neighbors have developed a strong feeling of belonging and identity with their community.

This informal settlement suffers from three main issues:
(1) Lack of open spaces for encounter, recreation and culture
(2) Sectoral divisions within the community
(3) Lack of awareness about the neighborhood / community as a whole.


Since August of 2018, TEP have implemented educational programs by strengthening strategic partnerships with neighbors, community organizations, and the local government. Thanks to these alliances, we have channeled efforts to improve the quality of living of these communities, realizing neighbors' potential and propelling social change.

"EL CALVARIO" PROGRAM IMPACT

The TEP educational workshops to be implemented in El Calvario entail the following:
-  Duration: 5 months
-  Beneficiaries:
    > Participants: 20 participants
    > Community: 160 direct beneficiaries from the neighborhood, plus 15,000 indirect
      beneficiaries from the vicinity
-  Approach: with this workshop, TEP will teach children 8 to 15 years old, architecture and urban design tools to OBSERVE, IMAGINE and TRANSFORM public spaces. With the completion of the workshop, the youth will close a transformation cycle, from finding something to change to making it a reality.


Through this project, we plan to continue to transform spaces of encounter and recreation in El Calvario, diminish sectoral division, strengthen local identity, and turn this informal settlement into an example of cohesive change in Latin America.

Tracing Public Spaces impact goes beyond the tangible and physical transformation of spaces, is also about empowering young children and communities, and teaching them the tools to dream and transform their reality.

Your support is invaluable for us to continue to empower youth and making them agents of change. Your donation will allow us to expand our work and extend the impact of Tracing Public Spaces.



Our work began during the Summer of 2013 when our founder, architect Ana Vargas, was doing her Master’s thesis at MIT. The following year, Ana won Thesis Prize of 2014, as well as the Best Practice Award by UN Habitat. Since 2015, Ana and the TEP team, we have managed to reach more than 32 communities around the world, directly benefiting more than 4,300 people living in informal cities.


Thanks to your donation will be able to provide children with the tools and motivation to dream of a better future. More importantly, Tracing Public Spaces will help them realize that they have the power in their hands to transform their reality.

If you want to learn more about our work you can visit our website  and YouTube channel.


On behalf of the Tracing Public Spaces team, and Venezuela, THANK YOU!