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Empire
The red color
Spanish Empire
French Empire
Dutch Empire
Thirty-five years ago a public school that received the most vulnerable students
But with one particular characteristic:
instead of having three hundred students, there were fifteen hundred
Why?
Because it was densely populated by people who lived in very precarious houses
A very strong migration took place from the neighborhood
because people were displaced due to political and administrative decisions during the dictatorship
This square says a lot
If you see the monument in front of you, called "El roto Chileno" (The Chilean country-side man)
it is in fact a paradox
nowadays most of the people around this sector are Peruvian
"El roto Chileno” symbolizes
some the struggles and wars that Chile
had with the neighboring countries in the nineteenth century
These days, the square overall receives Peruvian
Ecuadorian and Colombian immigrants, who are building their families around this square
They even live in the surrounding streets
The students, especially the immigrant students
live in small apartments shared by many families
resulting in social problems such as overcrowding
Other students come from precarious houses, old tenements
and three or four-story buildings which apartments are rented per room
In these areas, there has also been a migration of people from these sectors due to the existing housing plans
Consequently, they have moved to other locations
So many immigrants arrive
taking advantage of the characteristics of the sector since there are many big houses which are rented per room
Immigrants usually come to Chile with little money
therefore; they arrive to this old and cheap area of Santiago
Given this situation, this school and other schools in the area have a large numbers of Peruvian students
This is our main characteristic
as we are a small school, we are talking about three hundred students
and a bit more than 50% of them are foreigners, and most of these are Peruvians
Which was the only future the “Alemania” School had?
To capture the enrollment of immigrants, especially of Peruvian students
And what school do they recognize?
The “Alemania” School
And that is the beginning of this school without borders, And that is the beginning of this school without borders
In 2000 -I think- the first child arrived, one or two Peruvian children arrived
Later, the number of children increased up to these days
Today, June 30 of 2008, 50,7% of the school students are foreigners
In other words, the foreigner students became the majority
Training students from seventh grade…
Now, that I can see that you are in silence I will say hello again
Good morning boys and girls!
Good morning Miss!
Let's do it again. First, we are going to be quiet and then say a properly hello: Good morning boys and girls!
Good morning miss Gloria!
(National anthem of Peru) We are free people
let us be free always, always free
And rather deny its lights, its lights, its lights, and the sun
We shall miss the solemn vow to which motherland rose to the Lord
We shall missed the solemn vow to which motherland rose to the Lord
Next step!!!! Seventh Grade go ahead
In this school, there aren't only Peruvian students
there are also Ecuadorian and Colombian students
We treat all children the same way, they are children, and children are the same everywhere
From La Legua, from La Legua, from La Legua...
I am one of those people that always have enjoyed moving from one place to another. If I am not comfortable here, I move over there
The idea is to look for the best for the family
And I have tried to give the best of myself to reverse some old ideas that exist in some people`s mind
In the sense that there are a lot of people that thinks that we are on the day after the Pacific War
So, some people don´t have any idea of what that meant neither why the war exploded
And they just base in that they won the war
So, there is always this rivalry (between Chileans and Peruvians)
I think it's the minority of the people, but everywhere you go you find this discourse
And you have to know how to deal with this kind of ideas and of people
To be honest I didn´t want to come. I was happy where I was
For me that they didn´t move me from that place because I was happy there
I had friends there, I had brothers, I had uncles, I had a complete integrated family where I lived
That from one day to the next, they tell you “let´s go”
one remains like “how can it be?”
And in that moment you don´t have neither voice nor vote. Because you depend on your parents
you don´t have a right to say “I don´t want to leave"
And that bothers you a little
It is going to be five years since I arrived. At first I didn´t feel good because I couldn´t get used to the atmosphere
Secondly, I didn´t have the same freedom as before. I couldn´t move as I pleased
And that bothered me a little
And I always thought about telling my father: “let´s go back”
But I was never brave enough to tell him. Because I knew that that would make him feel bad,
that is why I didn´t do it
When I first arrived to this school I felt awful
because all the kids treated me bad because I was Peruvian
They said ugly things to me and I didn´t like it
But there was a teacher, the one I love most in the world, professor Selva
She supported me, and the director also supported me. Almost everyone but the kids
There were only some few kids with whom I got together
But I felt really awful
At first there was resistance to receive Peruvian students
Not of every teacher
but of teachers who were formed in a rigid way
and thought it was a problem, because it is a problem
But problems either you face them and look for possible solutions or you reject them
And I still think that the generation of teachers that have 60, 65, or 70 years old
live in monoculturalism, in a narrow nationalism
There is resistance among them. I think this is going to be a task for young people
Why in some schools there are just one or two foreign students
why? Because they don´t allow them in maybe, because they are afraid of them, of what?
It is easy to open a door and let the kids in, very easy
One learns every day; one realizes that Chilean and Peruvian students, that their difference is just their origin, their homeland
But their condition as a boy or a girl that comes to school to learn is what prevails
Here there are some people that don´t understand for example that a Chilean and a Peruvian can get along and live together, be ok together
There are some people that don´t get it
But if they are able to understand some day that this school has Peruvian, has foreigners,
that would be a good thing because then they are going to know how it is to be with someone from another nation
That people become aware of why we are here
It is to get more opportunities, because there must be a reason to move to another country
Perhaps where they live, there aren't as many opportunities as here
It´s always discrimination, xenophobia, I think it will never end
it will always exist
but how can we decrease it?
I think discrimination will decrease once these kids grow
I have been thinking a lot: a kid that studied at the Alemania School,
where we sang the Peru national anthem,
had Peruvian friends, and maybe one of my best friends was Peruvian,
maybe I even had a Peruvian girlfriend or the other way around, a Peruvian girl had a Chilean boyfriend, etc., etc.
I think this kid will have a whole different attitude than us, I think that is the path
As these integration spaces in schools are provided, where schools are more tolerant,
open and receptive, we will be teaching differently
Children will live under a different context
So this kid, I think, will finally have a whole different attitude and this will result in
that maybe in twenty years from now, we will become a country with less discrimination
less xenophobia, we will not look down on Peruvians, Bolivians, because we always look down on them
In our school, people don't care much if you are from another country,
or of your skin color, or other things
This school is concerned about education and that is the good part
You will always have support, help
and that to my family, and especially to me, is very gratifying
The good thing about this school is that immigrants are welcomed
In other schools there is a limit for acceptance of immigrant residents,
in this case Peruvians
And this school is the school with more Peruvian students,
that welcomes more Peruvian students
And that is good, because if one of us moves to another country looking for better economic opportunities,
we'd like Peruvians to receive us accordingly in their native country
I would describe it in one word: wonderful
Wonderful meaning that now I have more confidence with people, everyone accepted me
And that is the best thing that happened to me when I moved here
Nobody stared at me funny. I wasn't considered the freak of the school
Now, the one thing that makes this school different, more distinctive
is this diversity within the school, this binationalism we have. Because we could say we have a “binationalist” school
I would say this is the main characteristic of this school, the thing that makes us stand out
I think we will achieve, maybe even to “nail it” in some issues that will favor this situation that characterizes this school
I say to them that “if there is a school that welcomes children from different nationalities,
it is very important to get to know the culture, I think that it´s the most important thing,
that other children tell you the story of their country helps you to become a better person and also a better school”
And this school is trying to do this
We, the teachers, recently understand this situation, even within the school
the principal and the former principal lead the school to work under what is called the multiculturality, the multiethnic concept
Hence, there are no differences here between being Chilean or Peruvian or Colombian,
concerning students' rights and duties
In this school, children have the same rights and duties
I think they should open to bicultural concepts,
open, because learning about customs, learning about their native countries
Let them explain because they move here and one would ask where do you live? What do you do?
For me, this is to open the doors and maybe later we would be much more people that think openly
And if one school is “open mind”, then another school is “open mind”, it would be fantastic,
and in Chile this is lacking: the chance to welcome children anywhere
Because where there is one child there can be twenty or thirty more children
And to think we could move to another place, having the same situation they're having now
and we would want them to welcome us the same way we welcome them
“Give them a chance”, it is not difficult, it is pretty easy
It is easy to give affection to immigrant children and say “We'll be there by your side”
Today, the mission of the Alemania School is to assist this immigrant people (this is not legally written in paper)
But, what is lacking? A qualitative jump
How can we address the culture level, the learnings?
Picking up the multiculturality concept and not just state we are a multiethnic and multicultural school
Facing diversity, multiculturality and all the elements that immigrants provide us:
What does Paulo Freire tell us?
Let's look at the person in front of us, let's look at the child, let's look at the teenager
We should avoid prejudice, avoid the social stigma
And what do we do? Under this situation,
a teacher should bring out the potential the children might have
We should give them more freedom, let them participate more,
live with more democracy which is learned within the family members,
but is reinforced at school, and the society should support this process