Situated across the famous Havana harbor and clearly visible from the city center, the neighborhood of Regla seems to operate at its own speed. Regla is the result of its particular history, built around the lives of the descendants of slaves and sustained by both the unfulfilled aspirations of working-class ancestors and the àṣẹ of African deities. A land of persistent stereotypes and contradictions, where the welcome image of a catholic church dedicated to a black saint merges with the always-criminalized strength and mystery of the Abakuá secret society.
Even before the pandemic struck – when the world was a very different place – Regla was already lacking the opportunities and spaces to celebrate its heritage and its people. For many, it was cause for frustration but for the Regla-native Alexey Rodriguez aka “el tipo este” and the Baltimore-born Amberley Alene, it was a source of inspiration and a clear call to serve.
In 2018, Alexey and Amberley founded ReglaSOUL, a community project providing care and resources to the citizens of the municipality of Regla in Havana. Through self-care and mental health workshops, plant-based traditional medicine, nutrition seminars and musical events, ReglaSOUL develops innovative frameworks to promote individual and community wellbeing.
“We started the workshops to inspire people and change the perspective they had of their own neighborhood. We wanted them to feel better, relieved, with a renovated perception of themselves and the place they call home,” says Amberley.
ReglaSOUL’s activities seem to focus on reviving the point of connection between wellness and blackness, “The history of Regla is intertwined with the tradition and presence of African culture, for us is important to connect everything and present it in a coherent way”. They’re focusing on fundamental issues that have been neglected for many years. “Mental health is one of the main points of our project. It has been a taboo in our communities for many years. We’ve created different workshops to initiate the conversation on how we can change our life narratives, find balance and become conscious of the traumas we carry with us.”
Rodriguez and Alene have been promoting Regla as a destination. ReglaSOUL organizes events like retreats, cooking classes or Reiki healing sessions, having many international NGOs and universities among its partners and clients. Beyond bringing new sources of income through these activities, ReglaSOUL makes Regla more visible and provides new opportunities and spaces to celebrate its heritage and its people.
Despite the pressure and uncertainty of the moment, ReglaSOUL seems committed to strengthen its mission. “Our message of health is today more important than ever. We’re changing the format of our activities, using some digital tools but maintaining the intimacy of our interactions. We now want to present and connect different black-driven projects in the Americas without traveling. We created SoulTribe to share the work of black people around the region focusing on health from different perspectives”, says Amberley.
ReglaSOUL proves how its holistic method, moving away from a classic approach to health and community engagement, combined with passion and sensibility as well as cultural and social awareness, can empower people’s lives and maybe under the current circumstances, it can even become a key part of a pivot to survive the pandemic.
