Formar niños completos, no reparar adultos rotos

EL ARTE DE AMAR as an organization was born from the dreams of a 17-year-old girl named Emma, who despite being educated and belonging to a high-class family, ended up falling in the hands of human traffickers. What did she miss?

I now understand that the strongest foundation for a good human being is not always economic power, nor private or public education; but the many values and principles that children and young people should acquire in order to become valuable contributors to society. These values should not be transmitted only in words, but with clear examples and actions that support them which is why to me a united family is the best resource for upbringing.

After understanding what led Emma to make some of the bad decisions that endangered her, I comprehended that children must have guidance, because sometimes parents due to their occupations are absent, and end up leaving them with others to care for their children. So, in 1995 when my first child was born, I started an educational approach with my children, teaching them to grow up with values like love, discipline, self-esteem, emotional intelligence and respect. 

Over the past 30 years, I have dedicated my life to art and this changed my life forever. In my youth, I was rebellious and misguided, but found in art and God peace and harmony. Teaching my three children show me that art sensitizes children and young people, so I included in their education Spanish, theater, music, oratory, literature, civics and the real meanings of the word LOVE.

Afterwards, parents and teachers in my community began to see that my children were confident, respectful, capable of public speaking, and gave messages of love and discipline. As a family, we sang and acted in different cultural and community events, my kids were bilingual and not obsessed with screen time. Then some parents approached me to ask if their children could also learn the same things. I invited them to my house, started with seven children and thus El Arte de Amar was born, soon reaching 80 children from 2-16 years old, who began to sing, act and repeat the message of love, empathy, and togetherness.

The project started at my house but soon there was no more room, so we spilled onto parks, garages, and whatever other spaces we were able to find to continue to grow this family! I offer my eternal thanks to SOL COLLECTIVE, who selflessly opened its doors to us. Sadly in 2013, I suffered a stroke that kept me out of teaching for almost a year, and thus the name El Arte de Amar was born because even suffering with aphasia and incapable to walk, I understood that I could not fail the children who trusted me, and that thought has kept me teaching until this day. Because someone has to do it, someone has to form better citizens by giving tools not only to our children, but also to their parents, to maintain the most important core for human beings, “family values”. I often think about young Emma, and because of her painful experiences, I am convinced that giving the right tools for success to the little ones and young people is much better and easier than repairing broken adults! 

As up today, 33 young adults have graduated from higher education institutions and continue studying to achieve their dreams, are respectful of life and their communities and work hard to be leaders for a positive change. My dream is that each region may have its own Arte de Amar, where children can learn empathy, integrity, honesty, and respect, and much more that is required to overcome these uncertain times, full of anger, chaos and confusion. We want your support to continue fulfilling a program of wonderful classes such as Spanish, Agriculture, Ecology, Finance, Fine Arts, Discipline with Love for parents, Literacy, Classes for Dads, Civics, Human Rights, Yoga, Mindfulness, and much, much more!