In a children’s library at St. Matthew Parish, traditional Mexican music drifted through the otherwise quiet halls.
“Escuche la musica,” — listen to the music — the choreographer said as Lourdes Montes stepped in time around her dance partner. Lourdes was careful not to break eye contact in a dance she describes as “kinda flirty.”
“It’s telling a story,” said Lourdes, a 16-year-old from Akron.
In the eight years Lourdes has been telling stories with Hispanic dances through a program called Proyecto RAICES, this year is her favorite. She gets to represent her native country of Mexico.
Every other Saturday, she and about 25 other kids attend Proyecto RAICES — Recognizing And Integrating Culture, Education and Service — at St. Matthew Parish in Akron. The program is designed as a safe space for Hispanic children in the Greater Akron area to practice and celebrate their cultures.
Just down the hall from Lourdes’ dance practice, the kids finished up a day of activities with holiday crafts. In their biweekly five-hour sessions, they stay busy with sports, bilingual readings, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities, dances, performances and home-cooked meals.
The core activities are for kids 4 through 14, but the program is open to Latinos looking to socialize and express their cultures, including volunteers and parents.
Maria Apaestegui, the executive director of Proyecto RAICES, said now more than ever the program is welcoming entire families to their gatherings in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s promises during his campaign to build a wall along the Mexican border and deport illegal immigrants.
“We support families, especially now that things are a little bit scary with the election,” Apaestegui said.
Transportation for kids
Some parents work weekends and can’t bring their kids to the group, Apaestegui said. That’s why the program received a $2,000 grant this year from the Millennium Fund for Children, a fund operated by the Akron Community Foundation and launched by the Akron Beacon Journal that recently awarded 32 grants totaling nearly $42,000 to initiatives in Summit, Portage and Medina counties.
“We are very happy because it allows us to get transportation for more kids,” Apaestegui said. Students and professors from Kent State University and the University of Akron help with readings and art activities, and the UA NASA Robotics Team has spent the past few months working nearly one-on-one with the kids.
“The robotics stuff is my favorite,” said 10-year-old Emanual Morales from Akron. “There’s different things that people bring to make stuff to see what engineering’s like. We never do stuff like that in school.”
Some kids who already went through the program like to stick around and volunteer, like Lourdes. She’s helped with activities while preparing to dance for the group’s Our Virgin of Guadalupe Celebration on Dec. 11, where many other kids in the program will participate in Latin American performances.
“I go way back,” Lourdes said. “I think it’s helped in my personal life by keeping my roots alive ... If I see other kids can express it, I shouldn’t be afraid.”
The parents who help out during the day especially like the fact that the kids have a place to practice speaking Spanish, a main link between the varying South American and Mexican cultures represented in the group.
“I think the other important thing is the sense of belonging,” said Apaestegui, who is originally from Peru. “The kids are Hispanic by heritage, and they feel a sense of belonging to the group.”
And since many of the parents moved to the U.S. from their native countries, it’s a time for them to feel a sense of belonging as well.
“I’m still here because I believe in this program,” said Nancy Cabrera, the outreach director for Proyecto RAICES from Ecuador. She’s put all five of her kids through the program. “When I came here, it was tough. I didn’t know what was going on.
“It helped me and it helped my kids. I was blessed being there. I miss my family, but this is my family over here.”
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom .