Almost 200 poor teenagers posed in donated ball gowns and danced traditional waltzes on Saturday as Mexico City's government threw a mass quinceanera coming-out party for disadvantaged girls.
The keynote speaker was a 16-year-old who said she missed having her own quinceanera, the traditional right of passage for girls near their 15th birthday, because she was busy caring for the baby she had at 14. She urged the other girls to make informed choices.
Many of the participants at the ball in Mexico City's main plaza were juvenile offenders, shelter residents or girls from families who are poor.
PHOTO: AP
"I'm very happy, because this is a tradition which we should all continue," said Rosa Nayeli Lagunes, 14, who showed up in a red taffeta dress with an embroidered white bodice.
Fourteen-year-olds who will turn 15 this year were also allowed to participate in the event.
Quinceanera parties in Mexican society often rival weddings in expense and fanfare. But girls from poor families often miss out on the tradition. The parties have become increasingly popular in the US as the country's Hispanic population grows.
A truck brought bouquets of roses and lilies and huge sacks of rose petals for the event in Mexico City's main plaza. Instead of traditional carriages, open-top tour buses were sent to ferry the girls to the ball.
Mexico City authorities said they contacted officials at the Guinness Book of World Records to see if they had set a record for the largest quinceanera, but it was unclear if any Guinness representatives were on hand to certify the event.
The city's Youth Institute, which organized the event, said about 180 girls participated, including some older than 15 who had never had a coming-out party.
The city government also showcased sexual education information at the event. Some of the girls were given sashes to wear, each bearing the name of an area in which young people have rights -- education, recreation and a clean environment.
This week, Mexico City enacted a law legalizing abortion, the first of its kind in Mexico.
Many of the girls spent the day at a city building, doing their hair and applying donated makeup.
"They are excited, with their dreams and their dresses," said Deyanira Moran, an outreach officer for the city's Youth Institute.
The only thing in short supply at Saturday's ball were tuxedo-wearing boys -- usually relatives -- known as chambelanes, who traditionally serve as escorts at such events.
"Not everyone" has an escort, Lagunes said. "We've been sharing them."
Since taking office in December, leftist Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has become known for offering free cultural events, including free "urban beaches" at local parks made with trucked-in sand.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
RSS