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Three million tourists

Almost 3.000.000 tourists have come to Uruguay during this year. Statistically, the tourist number 3.000.000 will arrive today. In many points of the country, including the port in Colonia, local authorities and representants of the Tourism Ministry will symbolically recieve them.


Source: City Council's press release.
           espectador.com

Mizangas - Afro-descendant young women

Mizangas is a group of young Afro-descendant women who work against any form of discrimination and promote Human Rights.


They organize talks and activities all over Uruguay, and sometimes abroad, to raise awareness about the urgent need to stop discrimination and eliminate stereotypes.


In the following video, Noelia Ojeda tells us more about why and how they do this.

*Make sure to activate captions.

Third Seminar of Youth Correspondents

The third encounter for the Youth Correspondents of the US Embassy in Uruguay was held during the 5th and 6th of December in Montevideo. This time the group of young journalists had the unique opportunity to meet Hannah Rosenthal (Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-semitism) and William Owen (Counselor for Political, Economic and Commercial Affairs); as well as very important Uruguayan politicians, such as Julio María Sanguinetti (former president), Luis Alberto Lacalle (former president and current senator) and Vice President Danilo Astori.

Courtesy of United States Embassy in Montevideo

Celebrate Human Rights... and defend them!

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created exactly 63 years ago, and that's why we are celebrating, like each 10th of December, the International Human Rights Day.

This fact by itself, doesn’t say much, unless we are honestly committed to leave aside all our prejudices, and to work as much as we can to ensure that any human being, however different or distant they may be from ourselves, is able to enjoy those rights.

The  following video is an incredibly inspiring presentation by Hannah Rosenthal, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, given during the most recent Seminar of Youth Correspondents.

Youth Correspondents

Information about Youth Correspondents, the programme tha makes all this possible, taken from U.S. Embassy in Montevideo's Youtube channel.

On World Press Freedom Day 2011, former Ambassador David Nelson announced the creation of a new program aimed at encouraging young people to participate in the process of promoting and protecting the freedom of expression by helping them develop skills and networks in the field of journalism.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and in partnership with various Uruguayan press organizations, the U.S. Embassy Montevideo officially launched on June 10, 2011 its Youth Correspondents Program, a pilot project designed to engage young people in a career-oriented activity that gives them a voice in their communities.
Under the program, 18 senior high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 from each of the 18 departments in the country's interior, were selected to work as correspondents for the embassy's Press Office. Each candidate receives equipment and orientation training by prominent Uruguayan and U.S. journalists.
The young correspondents will be required to report on relevant news and activities taking place in each of the communities they represent, and publish their articles, photos and videos directly to their own Youth Correspondents blog. Throughout the duration of the program, the correspondents will receive ongoing hands-on mentoring by volunteer professionals.
This video covers the participants´ first 2 months of activities, including 2 training seminars, the first in Montevideo conducted by a panel of renowned Uruguayan journalists and media specialists, and the second in Nueva Helvecia conducted by VOA´s Multimedia Managing Director Iscar Blanco.
At the end of their one year assignment, a panel of professional journalists will select the best two candidates who will then travel to Washington, DC to participate in a one-week comprehensive media and journalism visit specially designed by the embassy's Press Office.

Uruguay Experience

The BIT Centre (meaning “Welcome, Interpretation and Tourist”) was officially inaugurated on the 6^th of October in Colonia del Sacramento. After carrying out some research, Uruguayan Ministry of Sports and Tourism found out that this city is the main entrance for foreingers in the whole country. For that reason, the BIT is intended to be much more than a visitors’ information centre. It is a place for tourists to get in touch with our culture; an exhibition of all our country has to offer.

When I first heard about this U$S1.500.000 construction, with its extravagant architecture and hi-tech devices, I had serious doubts about its usefulness. I wondered, for example, how interesting could it be for a Japanese visitor to read about my country through a touch-screen, when he comes here to "experience Uruguay" for himself.

On my visit to the centre, I found an airy, bright, comfortable reception, with friendly and laid-back staff. Despite my initial reservations, I have to admit that this was a major improvement – and a necessary one- when we compare to our former information office, which was so tiny and cramped.

At the reception, visitors will find information about what to do and where to go in Uruguay, and the possibility to arrange transport services and accomodation through a private company. There is also a restaurant which offers typical dishes -soon accompanied by shows-, a crafts shop, and a space for temporal exhibitions that now displays a series of murga costumes lent by the Carnival Museum.

The main feature of the centre (and my personal favourite) is an audiovisual production which is projected on the walls of a special darkened room. The video starts by briefly showing a timeline of several events that marked our history, then pictures of Colonia, and the main beauty spots in the whole country. It also makes a rapid review through some elements of our culture, and in only 10 minutes, you get a fairly clear picture of what Uruguay is.

Since the center was opened, in July, more than 4928 people have visited it, only a 26% of whom were Uruguayans. I still cannot tell whether the BIT will be a profittable investment or not, and if visitors are really going to enjoy it. For me, it is an attractive and interesting place, and I think local residents should not miss the opportunity to go. Maybe the authorities should ensure that the centre is involved with the community, and it doesn’t end up being seen as a place ‘just for tourists’.

Mural painting by the artist Tunda Prada, representig our history through a comic

The BIT includes a space for children with books and netbooks

Source: Diario "La Colonia", Information provided by Viviana Beltrán

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Telematch

Telematch is a competition organized by High School Number 1 in order to celebrate the arrival of spring. The custom of celebrating this season with different kinds of festivals has become popular among several institutions in Colonia.

UNESCO International Model

At this moment 7 highschool students from Colonia del Sacramento are boarding the ship that will take them to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to take part in the XII edition of the UNESCO Model at José Hernández Institute.

This will certainly be a unique learning experience for all of them, as they will be involved in formal discussions and diplomatic negociations, in an enviroment that is completely different from what they see everyday.

The event will be held from the 5th to the 8th of october and consists of several debates in which each delegation represents a country (in this case, Vietnam) assuming its position regarding different topics, such as freedom, women's rights, protection of cultural items, etc.

What makes it even more interesting is the opportunity to get in contact with people from all over the world. Students from Italy, Paraguay, Singapore, Slovakia, Uruguay and Argentina have been "diplomatics" at this Model.

Pictures taken from José Hernández Institute's website

One detail that should be remarked is that these seven students attend a public highschool (which is quite unusual at this activity), and have worked really hard to prepare all the information that they need, while at the same time raising the money for the tickets and other expenditures.

We would like like to congratulate them, and wish them good luck.

A new option for tourists

The BIT Center (Meaning 'Welcoming, Interpretation and Tourism' or in Spanish Centro de Bienvenida, Interpretación y Turismo) will soon be oficially open to public. Many authorities, such as our Tourism and Sports minister Dr. Héctor Lescano, will attend the event that will be held on the 6th of October.


As Colonia del Sacramento is the main point where tourists arrive at our country, the building is located in this city, at a short distance from the port. The purpose of building a centre like this is to provide our visitors with accurate and interesting information about Uruguay, so that they decide to stay longer and visit many different places.


The financial outlay required for this project was of  U$S 1.300.000, lent by the Inter-American Development Bank. While many people in Colonia have greeted this initiative with enthusiasm, other still doubt whether the BIT will prove to be useful or not. We'll have to wait and see. 

Picture http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=589088

Source: http://www.destino-puntadeleste.com/web/inauguran-el-centro-de-bienvenida-interpretacion-y-turismo-bit-en-colonia/

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