Bright lights covered the crowd as they danced cheerfully to the music and sang loudly to the songs the Mariachis were playing. The tables were decorated with yellow, orange and green flowers on top of tablecloths; each with a different color giving a vibrant mood to the party. Dream-catchers hung from the ceiling above the candy, cake, nachos, brownies, and cupcakes which were arranged to form the number fifteen. Dresses with long, wide skirts twirled on the dancefloor. Waiters offered food as the crowd screamed, welcoming the Papayera with their drums, trumpets, and maracas. The faces of the grinning girls couldn’t hide their excitement and gratitude for the quinceañera party that was prepared especially for them.  

This dream came true for 21 girls from Medellin who attended a quinceañera party organized by a non-profit organization Fundación Juguemos en el Bosque, The Columbus School, La Escuela de Ingeniería and Manik, a decorating company. The party was a huge success but the organization that built up to it was a process that took a lot of time and discipline.

“This event’s main purpose is to celebrate the quinceañera party to 21 girls from protective homes and adoption centers around the city of Medellin,” Andrés García, Juguemos en el Bosque Social Worker, said.

Fundación Juguemos en el Bosque making a difference in young girls’ lives

Juguemos en el Bosque is a nonprofit organization that aids kids and teenagers living in protection or adoption centers around poor areas of Medellin. The quinceañera party has become a tradition that the foundation has been organizing for 4 years.

“The girls are part of homes in different areas of Medellin and the homes get in contact with the Fundación Juguemos en el Bosque. The girls, if they are within a certain age range, can apply to participate in this and usually they are all accepted, to have this party,” Ana Medina, TCS 12th grader and volunteer, said.

Every weekend, the fundación visits the centers where the kids are living and they teach them a value, right or duty through games. At the last weekend of every month, they take the kids for field trips to places like Parque de Los Salados, El Eje Cafetero, Guatapé, among other places.

“Our process in the institutions is to educate through entertainment and making a party to the quinceañeras is a little detail that contributes to the process,” Lucas Velilla, director of Juguemos en el Bosque, said.

The First Steps of the Organization Process

Lucas Velilla, Juguemos en el Bosque Social Worker Andrés García, leader of TCS foundation Mary Luz Mesa and leader of TCS volunteers Ana Medina, sat down and started to see what was needed for the party to be perfect. They didn’t have a special organization strategy, instead, each one started to raise the hand and discussed what each of them could get.

“Andrés García found the place and got the food, the miniteca was hired by Juguemos en el Bosque, a recollection of dresses was made in TCS and Juguemos en el Bosque, the make-up artists were found by the foundation and the plates and kitchen utensils were put by TCS,” Velilla said.

Volunteers; the base of the organization

Volunteers came from La Escuela de Ingenieria, The Columbus School, and others came from nonprofit organizations. The different sections for volunteering were: Decorating, being a waiter or giving a makeover to the guests brought by the quinceañeras.

“Volunteers that had to decorate arrived around 1:00 pm. Each volunteer had a job either to put the tables, the food, organize the flowers, the balloons, the dream-catchers, organize gifts, among other activities. The volunteers that helped the girls with their makeup, had to go to each girls’ house at 3 pm and finally, the volunteers that were going to be waiters, needed to arrive at 5 pm,” Tatiana Botero, TCS voluntary said.

There were 30 volunteers from The Columbus School. A poll was created so that the volunteers could choose which area they wanted to be at. Even though only 19 volunteers answered, these show an estimate of what TCS volunteers did. 15.8% of the 19 volunteers did the quinceañera’s companions makeup and hair. 84.2% of the other volunteers helped decorate the party. 

“It was a great experience because I got to learn what people have to go through and that helping makes me feel better. I loved seeing the faces of the girls when they saw their party,” Maria José Velez, TCS voluntary, said.

The party that made dreams come true

The party was celebrated Saturday, November the 4th at a Jewish Center in El Poblado, Medellin which used to be the place where Casa Martinez, a famous event center, was situated.

“The itinerary was established and perfectly organized before the party started. At 11:30 am the girls arrived to El Parque del Poblado and the Limobus picked them up at 12:00 pm. We arrived at Casa Martinez at 3:00 pm and professional makeup artists were waiting to give the girls a makeover,” Velilla said.

Guests began to arrive at 5:00 pm and at 5:30 pm the girls danced the waltz. After dinner, Mariachis, the Papayera, and a breakdance group accompanied the girls each with a unique show. The hora loca gave closure to the party at 10:30 pm.

“Everything is a very rich ride from the planning to the execution because every moment of these has its adrenaline rush and when you see the party rolling, all the girls are happy and that’s when the objective is fulfilled,” García said.

“I had a really good time because I knew I was giving the opportunity to girls of having a quinceañera party. I learned a lot from them because I realized you should be happy with what you have; I noticed that they were even more happy with a shared birthday party than other girls that have everything for their own,” Valentina Velez, TCS voluntary, said

The quinceañeras ended up having a really special night that they will never forget.

“I’m very thankful for this opportunity, I had a really good time and my favorite part was meeting new friends,” Leidy Laura Álvarez, one of the quinceañeras, said.