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Workers and unions revive the 'Promise of the Three Kings' [Puerto Rico]
an article by La Perla del Sur, Puerto Rico
The 'Promise of the Three Kings' keeps alive the traditions of Puerto Rico and to once again demonstrate it with stoicism and solidarity.
a small army of cultural workers and members of the UTIER solidarity program revived the popular 'Promise of the Three Kings' at the Cultural Center of Ponce on January 10.
click on photo to enlarge
The Cultural Center of Carmen Solá de Pereira in Ponce opened wide to receive a battalion of defenders of the popular 'Promise of Reyes,' a small army composed mostly of cultural workers, assigned to the Solidarity Program UTIER, who for the second consecutive year took upon their shoulders the responsibility to perpetuate the event.
"The reason of being for the 'Promise' is the defense of labor. During 2008 and 2009, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture workers removed support for this activity and we managed to rescue the event in 2012, entirely by worker effort," said Luis Pedraza Leduc, the coordinator of UTIER PROSOL.
For this group, he said, the main interest "is to support the claim of workers that their work can become a service to transform the country."
In line with this objective, the workers' prayer to the Three Kings was that a culture of peace should prevail in Puerto Rico in favor of children, that the cultural centers should be kept open and their workshops defended.
The Promise began when the boy Jose Ortiz lit the candles that lit the altar, where stood three figures of the Three Kings, the Virgin of Guadalupe, the star of Bethlehem and symbols for an offering to the baby Jesus of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And to the far right of the altar lay a small urn where believers laid their requests to the Three Kings.
One by one, children of different generations lined up to deliver the most intimate desires, with the hope that the Magi would take their orders directly to the Child Jesus.
The well-known Orocoveño singer, Eduardo Villanueva Serrano, accompanied by the music of Ángel ‘Guiso’ Pérezinterpreted the promises with cuatro, guitar, güiro and bongos, giving a special touch to the event without departing from the prevailing religious fervor. Villanueva Serrano jumped at the opportunity to include improvisations that made this celebration unique.
"I am here to learn from this culture because in my country, Ecuador, we do not celebrate the Three Kings as celebrated in Puerto Rico. We don't give gifts on that day" said Gerardina Yumbla, who has lived in Ponce for 20 years.
For its part, the well-known economist Rey Quinones Soto was surprised by the overwhelming support to the activity, which he labeled as beautiful. . .
(Click here for a Spanish version of this article)
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
How important is community development for a culture of peace?,
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Latest reader comment:
Community plays a important role in developing culture peace. We should promote our cultural values by interacting with each other and making these values part of our daily lives. A good example of this would be raising our children according to beliefs and values which are important for us and our cultural peace. We can also promote cultural peace by making small commuinties within big community and share different ideas and bring new ones in.
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