Guantanamo.- Every Wednesday, the Diósmedes Silveira Valdés Cultural House becomes a workshop of imagination and skill where scraps of fabric come to life. This is the case in the “Vuelo de Mariposas” (Flight of Butterflies) Creative Workshop, a space led by renowned art instructor Sayli Ramos, who guides a group of young people and women from the municipality to weave dreams with thread and needles.
The patchwork technique, a craft that recycles and reuses textile fragments, is the hallmark of the workshop. With patience and creativity, the participants transform small pieces of fabric into new items: from decorative accessories to original dolls for the home, each stitch carries with it a story of effort, community, and personal growth.
Sayli Ramos, known for her dedication to promoting community art, explained that the workshop not only teaches a manual technique but also fosters self-esteem, communication, and local entrepreneurship. “Here we don’t just make dolls or patches; we build support networks. Many of these women find in knitting a way to express what they sometimes can’t say with words,” the instructor stated.
The participants, who attend with different level of experience, leave each week with a finished piece, and more importantly, with the certainty that their hands can create beauty from simplicity. Amid laughter and the soft sound of scissors cutting fabric, the “Vuelo de Mariposas” workshop demonstrates that, in a corner of the municipality of El Salvador, in Guantánamo Province, art remains a powerful tool for flying.
