SoLuna, a project aimed at a culture of peace

With nearly four years dedicated to making visible and preventing violence in its different manifestations, SoLuna, a project based at the Office of the Curator of the City of Matanzas (OCCM), stands out for its actions in community contexts and educational institutions to promote a culture of peace.

Aimed at primary or secondary prevention, depending on the case, we work in the territory's schools, mainly in those where signs of bullying or other types of aggression are identified, in order to learn about the various forms of violence and provide children with the tools to respond to these situations, explained Ismary Lara Espina, a psychologist and member of the project.

In Cuban society today, although there is political, legal and institutional will to eradicate expressions of gender violence, there are still many remnants of a traditional patriarchal system that naturalizes harmful practices in everyday life.

With the collaboration of the Cuban Women's Federation (FMC by its Spanish acronym), SoLuna also directs its work to the communities to, from the exchange and talks, warn and offer elements that allow to recognize the relationships of dependence or control and avoid reaching greater evils such as femicides, she argued.

The western province of Matanzas registered in the previous year one of the highest rates of the phenomenon in the country; according to the intervention of Yamila Peña Ojeda, Attorney General of the Republic, at the 7th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, at the end of October 2023, 117 violent deaths of women were reported, with the provinces of Matanzas, Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Guantanamo being the ones with the highest number of cases.

Lara Espina, also an educator, emphasizes that this issue is the responsibility of society as a whole, with the integration of institutions and social actors in the same line of action to reduce these manifestations.

From the OCCM space we also provide counseling services to people in situations of violence every Thursday. After the first meeting, we establish a follow-up period of approximately three months to assess the cases, she added.

According to Lara Espina, the initiatives promoted in the consultations include providing guidance on the path to follow and even support with a group of information from the legal point of view that instructs people on their rights as citizens.

After learning about each of the situations of mistreatment during the meetings, Ismary pointed out that the project, in its work of accompaniment, suggests in the school the entrance to certain groups where there are children who are members of families that are victims of violence, so that no differentiated attention is given.

SoLuna has a team of professionals in psychology, pedagogy, psychiatry and art as an innovative element that seeks, particularly in children, to express the word through drawings.

With the representation of palm trees, huge blue skies, Cuban fields and landscapes of different colors, many of the projective tests we carry out in schools identify the meaning that children attribute to peace; however, as a common and alarming element, most of the paintings are characterized by the absence of humans, said the psychologist.
To support those people who were emotionally affected when they approached the project, and then to see how they are capable of recognizing the signs of violence they have suffered and were unaware of, and to closely follow this progress with the breaking of cycles of dependency is very gratifying, the specialist affirmed, amidst expressions of satisfaction.
There is still a long way to advance, although there is a policy in the country of accompaniment, protocols and responses to these aggressions -she considered-; it is a priority to create a communication strategy to link all the actors, so that everyone knows their space and to integrate ourselves to achieve safer family, work and social environments.