Tim says his inspiration for La Colmenita was his father, who was killed in the 1976 bombing of Cuba Airlines. His father was enthusiastically involved in the community, and loved music and theater. It took 14 years, from 1976 to 1990, to develop La Colmenita into a fully functioning children’s theater. During that time, the project gestated in his mother’s home where the children came to practice their scenes and music
numbers.
Tim sees La Colmenita as his father’s legacy, one that encompasses his father’s values: humanity, creativity and forgiveness. He sees no place for bitterness, even for victims of terrorism. Indeed, all those children who pass through La Colmenita must demonstrate these core values not
only in their work, but in their day-to-day lives, in order to remain members of the troupe.
“If adults use their worn out phrases and world view on children, they can expect children to be obedient human beings, but they won’t
be creative,” says Tim, who adds that he has total faith in “the infinite resources of children.” The real task of education is “to create human beings without fear or prejudice.”
It is these children, he says, who go on to become responsible, ethical, generous and caring adults.