The Association Ye too ponese, or in English "Give it your all," is composed of a diverse group of open-minded people who share the vision that changing our communities is a matter of becoming agents of change ourselves. We use different artistic mediums - drama, photography, video, writing, installations, music, street art, etc. - as tools to stimulate debate, creativity, and the expression of opinions - all of which are important skills for developing an active and engaged citizenry. 

The arts are a powerful "hook" for getting people interested in our program.  We then link artistic exercises to participatory educational activities as means of helping people learn.  We encourage participants to develop their own voice and create spaces to value one another's individual contributions.  Art gives people a different way of seeing things and encourages them to think creatively in designing solutions to challenges they see in the world around them.

It is my belief that art allows us to break out of our normal perceptions and see new possibilities. The best indicators of the effectiveness of incorporating art into my work are the number of participants (particularly girls) and participant satisfaction. When people reflect on tough social issues in a fun and participatory way, we feel our work has been successful. We work primarily with children and adolescents, a population whose views are rarely taken into account. So I think at the individual level, the program provides many skills to help this population become participatory, responsible, creative, and engaged members of society.

We will continue to incorporate art into our work in the future as we feel it is the best way to transmit our social change message and achieve our program objectives.  We will continue working, expressing ourselves, and engaging in activities that make us feel happy.

Elena María Fernández Suárez is co-founder of the Association Ye too ponese, part of the TBO Más Cerca program, which was honored in 2008 with the Universidad Europea de Madrid Prize for Young Social Entrepreneurs.