Festival celebrates Latino culture and stresses health
Latin music played from a stage in City Hall Plaza yesterday as thousands of people bustled about at the second "Celebra la Vida Con Salud y Música" festival in Boston.
While many families brought their children to get their faces painted, enjoy the sunny plaza, and see dance and musical performances, including Latin Grammy-nominated artist Milly Quezada, the festival was as much about celebrating Latino culture as it was about focusing on the population's well-being.
Presented by La Alianza Hispana, a Boston Latino family support services agency; and the national Hispanic health education campaign, Celebra la Vida Con Salud, the event was held again this year to bring together national and community health organizations involved with Hispanic health.
"The main issue is that we educate people in a way they can relate to," said Carmen Ramos-Watson, national executive director of Celebra la Vida Con Salud. "Latinos as a people love celebrations - of music, of life. In creating such an enjoyable environment, we make the festival more educationally accessible."
As families moved among the health exhibits, people could be heard engaging with volunteer educators in Spanish and English regarding such topics as Alzheimer's disease, the human papillomavirus, and food safety.
"This really is important for Hispanic people, to know what is offered for healthcare, for education, and for your kids," said Emma Figueroa, a Puerto Rico-born Dorchester resident who visited exhibits with her daughter.
Evelyn Rodriguez of Taunton also attended the festival with her family.
"They've done a great job in outreach and providing bilingual services - it really is excellent and well-planned," she said.
The festival featured screenings for HIV/AIDS, prostate cancer, cholesterol, and sexually transmitted diseases, with a focus on education and prevention.
Citing 2006 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Boston Public Health Commission, event organizers Janet Collazo and Ramos-Watson noted that while Latinos constitute about 14 percent of the US population, they have disproportionately high rates of preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and heart disease.
"At a local level, we have been working in the communities for 38 years to educate about the health disparities that exist within the Latino communities," said Collazo, executive director of La Alianza. "Events like this allow us to both give a hands-on education to families and also give direct medical services through access to care and connection to resources." 