PAR: Literacy Program from Rio Negro

This afternoon, I was invited to the ten-year anniversary of PAR. In those four hours I spent there I learned a lot about the importance of literacy and the fact that not everybody has access to education.

PAR is a program from the province Rio Negro that teaches people to read and write. The interesting thing is that most of the participants in this program are old people who never went to school. Many of them told the audience their testimonies. One of the ladies has a deaf daughter. Only after becoming literate, she could learn the sign language through which she was finally able to communicate with her daughter!

Raimunda, a seventy or eighty-year old lady, told us that she was really happy because now she can write letters to her brother who lives far away. Now that these people are literate, they can do simple things they couldn't do before, such as writing letters or helping their grandchildren with their homework. They were very proud that they don't have to use their fingerprint anymore because they can sign their bank receipts now.

Maria Eva, my host mom, told me that most of the people in the program are descendants of Mapuches. I think it is true because many of the centers in different cities had Mapuche names. However, there are a lot of Bolivians as well. The Bolivians who participate in PAR are younger. They are in their early forties. Yes, there are many Bolivians who migrate to Argentina to work in the fields. The ones that go to Buenos Aires work in textile factories. Things get more complicated here because I just realized that there is large number of Bolivians here in Argentina. Immigration laws are more open and flexible than other countries. For example, immigrants can legalize their status much easier and faster than immigrants in the U.S. Ana Maria, who works as a teacher in PAR, told me that the Bolivians who live in her locality asked her to teach them. There is a lot of enthusiasm to learn because it takes students an hour of walking to get to the center where Ana Maria teaches! Education is key for accessing to better opportunities that can improve one's life quality.

PAR is not just a program that teaches how to write and read. These experiences demonstrates that this is program of social inclusion that integrates people to society. That is how the participants described PAR.

Memories from the Past: things haven't changed...it is just that I forgot how it used to be

I realized that I was passionate about development when I did social work at a "pueblo joven" (low-income neighborhood) outside Lima City during Christmas time. One time, a little boy decided to share with me half of his piece of cake. I was so touched because that is a lot, if you take into account he had so little. I was determined to help change those children's lives.

However, I was shocked to realized that my four years at Lawrence University had somewhat erased those memories from my mind. Many people talk about the Lawrence bubble and yes, there is one. During my daily life I never saw people begging in the streets at Lawrence! I didn't have that awful feeling of sadness and desperation because one just can't help everybody.

I was shocked to see so many homeless dogs wandering around Buenos Aires. I was shocked to see (ONCE AGAIN) people looking inside other people's garbage to see if they could find something to eat. No, this is not just endemic to Buenos Aires. No. I had seen this before...all my life in Peru. But it felt as if I was seeing these situations for the first time in my life.

The night I was going back to Buenos Aires from the Esteros del Ibera, my friend Fernando and I were looking for a place to eat. Suddenly, an eleven-year old boy, Maxi, asked me if I had any coins. I impulsively asked him if he wanted to eat hamburgers with us. He agreed and sat down with us. I was trying really hard not to cry. He ate couldn't finish his hamburger because he was too full. He told me that he wasn't used to eat that much.

He started following us to the bus terminal and I offered to give him a pair of socks, and some fruit and bread. When we got there, the man selling tickets was with his family eating chicken. He gave Maxi the leftovers and he sat down to eat on the floor. The homeless dogs in the bus terminal surrounded him watching closely every one of his movements. They were hungry too...they wanted to eat chicken as well. I just couldn't believe my eyes! It was as if Maxi was one more of those homeless dogs. Visually speaking, they were basically in the same level...they were all eating on the ground...eating leftovers. But Maxi is not a dog....he is a little boy! I felt helpless. I thought "he was lucky today. He found Fer and I. What will happen tomorrow?"

The only one thing I am glad about is that all these experiences reminded me once again why I want to work in the development field. They help me to touch base with reality and gave me more motivation to continue studying. My father always told me that God gave me a lot of good things and qualities and that it was my responsibility to use those things give back to others who are less privileged. I think he is right.

Updates from my new location: Viedma, Rio Negro

I haven't been writing for a while. I have so much to say! I left Buenos Aires the last day of July. Suzie helped me move out my apartment and, as always, I was always late! Yes, late! my bus was leaving in 20min and I was still trying to change my dollars into pesos! ohh no! I asked the taxi driver to "fly" because the bus was about to leave! Suzie came with me, but she was so scared! The taxi driver was going so fast that we thought we were going to die before arriving to the bus terminal! hahaha She helped me so much. I wouldn't have been able to make it without her. She helped me carry my 3 bags.

The next morning I got to Misiones, Puerto Iguazu. The bus terminal was only 2 blocks away from my hostel, but it was a true challenge to get there. My bags were so heavy. I told myself that is was enough, that I was going to get rid of some of my bags. So I did. I left a pair of jeans, 3 t-shirt and my hair difuser. My bag was still too heavy! I did a little bit of canopy, rapel and mountain climbing in the Iguazu jungle.

The next morning, I went to a tour that took me to the Paraguay to go shopping and to the Brazilian side of the waterfalls. I was with two other couples. One italian couple that were kissing all the time. They didn't even talked to me because I think the girl was jealous or something. The other couple was older and we didn't have much to talk about. I was really bored. When I got to the Brazilian side of the waterfalls I decided that was going to go my own my way. I decided to go rafting in the waterfalls!!!! the only problem was that everybody was Brazilian and the guide gave me instructions in Portuguese! I barely understood what to do and it was my first time doing this! we were in the water and suddenly I hear "to the other side!" and everybody was jumping to get to the right side of the boat. Right away I hear again "to the other side" and everybody was struggling to get to the left side....I didn't make it! I fell out of the water and almost drowned in the falls! hahaha What an experience! Holding tight to the rope around the boat was really helpful though. My teammates got me back on board and everybody clapped!

The next day, I went to the Argentinian side, which is more beautiful than the Brazilian side. It is truly beautiful. I was amazed by the amount of water and the strength which it was flowing. I went on the "Great Adventure". A group of tourists, including two cute Spanish guys, and I went on a boat to literally "shower" in the waterfalls. We were so close to the waterfalls and there was a rainbow! I have never seen a rainbow. Nature is beautiful there!

That same night, I got on a bus to Mercedes. I was in my way to the Esteros del Ibera. I got there by noon and all the banks were closed until the next day and I couldn't exchange my dollars for pesos. No money! Only 40 cents! I asked why everything is closed. People told me that at noon or 1pm they close because it is siesta (napping) time. Some stores open again around 4pm until 9pm or so. I met this girl from Germany, Jenni, and we went to a Chamame show. This music has a little bit of a Brazilian influence and it is a lot of fun.

The next morning, Jenni, other people and I went to the Esteros del Ibera. The bus only goes to that town twice a day and it is not for sure that there is a "colectivo" (bus) every day. I felt trapped because the lady at the hostel said that I needed to stay there for 3 days because of transportation. No internet, no roads, no phones, no banks! i loved it! So beautiful. I love to go shopping for meat and wine to these little stores. A tango dancer, Fernando, Jenni and I stayed at this hosteria. We had the lake right in front of us. We went on a walk and saw wild animals, like carpinchos, deers, and monkeys. Then, we went on a boat to the lake and I saw yacares or little crocodriles! We were so close that we could touch them....but that was not a good idea.

On Sunday night, I went back to Mercedes where I took a bus back to Buenos Aires and then to Viedma. However, we were stuck in the highway for like 5 hours because it was too foggy to continue driving to Buenos Aires. I had breakfast on the highway with hundreds of trucks and buses! On Tuesday morning, I arrived to Viedma where Maria Eva, the lady I am staying with, was waiting for me.

Viedma is pretty small, but the people are very nice. The banks also close at noon here. I really like Maria Eva because she a very caring and sweet. She is a Mapuche and she is teaching some of Mapuzungun, the Mapuche language. I am learning a lot here...not only about the Mapuches and discrimination, but about myself too. I am going to be traveling for the next week or so to different communities. These communities are very far away from cities and they are hard to get to. I will be able to learn more of the language and their culture there. However, there are very few speakers of Mapuzungun because the government banned it. Now, there is a change of attitude. The Mapuche are trying to recover it and teach it at schools.

This is just the beginning of my stay in Viedma and Rio Negro...let's see what this month will bring for me!

Unhappy encounter

Yesterday, I went to interview a professor from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. He is a professor from the faculty of humanities and has helped in the research area of INADI. I heard from people outside the INADI about his expertise in indigenous topics. I was really excited

I was supposed to get there at 7:45pm, but I was an hour late! I didn't meant to be so late! Anyways, I finally talked to him. It was an unsuccessful conversation. Maybe it was because I was so late that he didn't have a good attitude towards me. I was very frustrated. I am sure he knows a lot, but he was pretty reluctant to talk.

I am interested in knowing his perspective regarding the discrimination and exclusion indigenous people from Argentina face. I was mainly interested in his opinion because he is white and belongs to the academic community. So far, I have mainly interviewed indigenous people. I also want to interview non-indigenous people to better understand how the "other side" (non-indigenous people) thinks.

He just didn't get the point of my study. He asked me what was the central theme of my study. I explained him that because of personal reasons I was interested in learning about the ethnic discrimination and exclusion Mapuches, Aymaras and Quechuas face in Latin America. He still didn't get it. I didn't know how to explain myself!!! He thought that I wasn't nothing new. He said something like "ok, indigenous people are discriminated, so what?"

I tried explaining him that this project wasn't my master's thesis. I unsuccessfully tried to make him understand that my project is more about the experience and the exposure than about doing a complicated survey. Then he tried to give me advice of how I should do my project. He suggested I should stay in one city for the whole year. I guess from his academic point of view, I lack the "skills" and "methods" to do this project. I had prepared some questions too. He made me read him the questions, but didn't answer any! My project might be too "generic," and maybe that is why he was reluctant to help me.

This experience, however, made me realized that I like that my project is so "generic" and that I am not staying in one single place. Of course, there is trade of! However, in this way, I will be able to have a general perspective of this social issue in South America, which is what I want. Later on, I can go into depth...later on!

Ambiguities: there is not such a things as one truth

The amount of information I have been processing in my head is such that it is taking me some time to understand things. Learning more about the different pueblos indigenas of Argentina, their location, language, and cultural identities has been interesting, but also challenging. The problem is that on top of that, I realized that sometimes my informants give me different sides of the same story. Their perspectives differ and then I don't know who is right. There is not such a thing as one truth. Everything has two sides....or more! I have to be careful and try not believe everything people tell me. I need to be aware of my biases and their biases.

This is also true for a bigger scale of things. Today, I was talking to Eva Puca, an Aymara that is part of the CJIRA (the Commission of Indigenous Lawyers in Argentina). She said that I will be able to compare the reality of the indigenous communities with that the IMF and other global agencies show to the world. Only after learning about both sides, I will be able to form my own opinion of what is "true". I am excited to learn more about these different perspectives and discover that one "true."

Fear can really stop you

I want to talk about fear. The fear that I have been feeling for the past month since I arrived to Buenos Aires. My project is about ethnic discrimination and social exclusion against the indigenous communities. As I said before, all I know about this topic I learned once I started doing my project in Buenos Aires. I am scared of expressing my thoughts and opinion because I am scared of offending someone. I am scared of sounding (or being) paternalistic. Today I read that being paternalistic is a way of discrimination.

It is harder when you are not really sure what you are talking about. I didn't know how to use properly the words "pueblo" and "comunidad" because they are synonyms in spanish. However, they refer to different things. So I had a hard time asking people from which "pueblo" indigena they are from. Pueblo indigena refers to the bigger indigenous group of people (I still have problems to explain what it is!). Examples of pueblos indigenas are the Mapuche, the Quechua, the Aymara, the Huarpe, the Guaranis, etc. A pueblo indigena is divided into communities. For example, there are Mapuche communities in Argentina and Chile, but the pueblo indigena Mapuche is only one! One nation!

I am scared of being misunderstood, of being rejected. This is what stops me from writing. The last thing, I want to do is to hurt anybody, to make somebody feel bad. However, the topic of discrimination against the indigenous people is so touchy that I am scared of making a mistake. I feel that maybe if I knew I have indigenous blood, things could be different.

However, there is one thing for sure. I still have to say what I think and not be afraid because fear can really stop you. I think it is a process of learning how to talk about this topic. The other day, I was talking to Carlos Martinez Sarasola, an anthropologist who specializes in the ethno-history of the indigenous people of Argentina. He told me that the only way to do fieldwork and build relationships with the indigenous people is to establish an equal relationship with them, and I agree with him.

New Discovery

In December, Argentina will be hosting the VIII Latin American Congress of Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE). A few days ago, I worked at the Ministry of Education of Argentina helping out with an important national seminar, where teachers from all over the country got together to discuss the logo and motto of the Congress. I had the opportunity to talk to many indigenous people who are currently working as teachers or are very involved in the process of promoting (or institutionalizing) the IBE.

This exposure make me realized many things. I realized that everything that I have learned about discrimination against the indigenous people in my life, I learned it here in Buenos Aires. I realized that even though I was interested in this topic before, I never made any effort to get involved and learned what was going on in Peru with respect to this topic. Thus, I have no idea what the government, the indigenous people or the civil society are doing to stop discrimination; to form a better Peruvian society where there is respect and equality.

I also realized that before it wasn't a big deal for me to find out whether or not I have indigenous blood. Now it is. All the people I have interviewed so far know about their genealogy, but I don't. So when they ask me if I am from an indigenous community, I don't know what to answer. I don't know for sure that I don't belong to one. Plus, knowing if I have indigenous blood will open many doors to learn more about myself and my cultural and genealogical heritage.

I also experienced an awesome feeling. Before starting the seminar, the people from the Autonomous Educational Council of Indigenous People did an inauguration ceremony: the Pachamama ritual. No words to describe how happy I felt. My feeling of happiness is not exactly because of the ritual. It is because I didn't see this ritual from a paternalistic or superior perspective. I respected and appreciated their culture and our differences. This is a good beginning!

It felt good because it is easy to be paternalistic. I am aware of my biases and my background. I grew up in a society where there are two extremes. You could have paternalistic or derogatory attitudes toward this large sector of the Peruvian population. When I say indigenous people, I am not trying to encapsulate all the indigenous people in one category. That is just not possible.

Most of the indigenous people that migrated to the capital city in the past decades tried to assimilate into the mestizo society. They didn't want to be different, so there was no appreciation of the indigenous culture from the rest of the society or even from the indigenous people themselves. There is no much of a middle ground. Equality is not an option yet. What is worse discrimination is visible because there is a diverse population in Lima. There are white, mestizos and indigenous people as well. So, friction was inevitable. Otherwise, most people from Lima are not very preoccupied with what is happening to the indigenous people; as if the indigenous people were invisible citizens with no rights. This is my view of this complex situation.