In the summer of 2013, the Zapatista communities opened their communities and homes to some 2,000 people from all over the world, affording these visitors the chance to learn first-hand about the Zapatistas’ lives and their ongoing struggle. La Escuelita or Little School offered what was described as the “First Grade” course entitled Freedom According to the Zapatistas. This first class of La Escuelita was so popular that two more sessions of the class were organized at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014.
More sessions of La Escuelita are planned and Schools for Chiapas will help publish details as soon as they are available. Click here to visit the main Zapatista web site.
During their stay with La Escuelita, each student was assigned a full-time “Guardian/teacher” and lived with a Mayan family in one of thousands of autonomous Zapatista communities throughout the five zones of the state of Chiapas. For the first grade study, the students were given a study pack consisting of four books and two videos focused on Autonomous Government and Women’s Empowerment. Participants take part in community collective work in the mornings and study with their own private teacher in the afternoons and evening. and experience the daily life of the members of the communities.
Click here to read a comprehensive article about the background and workings of La Escuelita by Raul Zibechi.
Click here to read the four books of the First Grade of the Escuelita in Spanish.
English translations of these books are beginning to appear (many thanks to the translation team). Click here to see which books are available in English.
Click here for the original documents in Spanish.