Liúber Ramírez Cárdenas is a shy boy, but with an innate passion for the plastic arts. 

Las Tunas tunas, Cuba.- Although there is no artist in his family, guided by the art instructor Inés María Cutiño, he arrived at the Eduardo Abela creation workshop, at the Vicente García High School, in the municipality of Majibacoa; there he learned what he needed to win the second place in the international contest Children for Friendship on the Planet, organized by the Belarusian Ministry of Education.

The news was recently announced on Twitter by the Cuban Deputy Minister of Education, Cira Piñeiro Alonso, who also reported that the student obtained the award among more than 4,500 contenders, from 27 countries, a pride for Cuba and, especially, for our Balcón de Oriente (Balcony of Eastern Cuba).

In dialogue with 26Digital, the honoree commented: "I feel very happy to have been selected from among so many participants. In my work, called Save the planet, I reflect several hands that mean the unity of the world to achieve this end. Some related actions are also represented with the theme such as reforestation, recycling and cleaning the sea.

"I worked with mixed technique, using unconventional materials such as sawdust, dry leaves, glue, paint, polyfoam and sand on a supporting canvas. In the workshop, they taught us a lot about it, but I always preferred to paint, this is my first piece as such with those characteristics,” he explained.

Liúber is in seventh grade at the "Vicente García" and likes to paint landscapes and human faces from a young age. At 13 years old, he sums up the feeling he wanted to communicate with the highest award for his creation so far: "The earth is very important for life. We need to create more awareness about the need to take care of it in order to protect the flora and the fauna.”

His immediate dream is that this message is internalized by many people and, in the future, he wants to be a famous painter. That is why he likes to study, although in his free time he enjoys watching television and playing chess or Parcheesi.

Inés, who is and Art Education teacher, and Liúber’s instructor in plastic arts, feels proud of him. "I am excited because I have seen him grow and improve. Besides, this is not something that happens every day. Our center has won in festivals, competitions, but never in a contest of this magnitude."

Liúber's life changed. From his school in La Posta, he prepares to materialize his wishes. This contest is surely the tip of the iceberg on that path. We'll see. Today his first great fruit fills Cuba with joy. !! Congratulations!!