For many of us, school was a mixed experience at best. But for those who are fortunate enough to have had loving and dedicated and creative teachers, school was an expansive field of opportunity. The classroom, a safe space where exploration was encouraged. Maybe we recited poetry for the first time, or learned that we loved math (haha). Those experiences are ones that launch us into new fields of inquiry, and offer the tools to continue that search.
A few months ago, we shared the story of a community who had been without a school for more than 8 years. Their circumstances —like hundreds of communities across Chiapas, neglected by the State and stranded in the crosshairs of organized crime—had effectively paralyzed education for their children. Fearful of travel into town, and knowing that the nearest school had influences from criminal groups, the community sought the skills to educate themselves and their own kids.
The parents (or education-promoters-in-training) have now been working eagerly for 9 months, receiving workshops in pedagogy and then applying those skills. And between the church and the little community kitchen, they have held their classes. Now, thanks to the support of people like you, and a generous matching donation, this work will continue into 2025, under the roof of a community-built schoolhouse.
As of the end of the rainy season, and the beginning of this month, plans have been made and materials are being purchased for the construction of a space dedicated to learning — to the shelving of books, the safeguarding of art supplies and a sanctuary for the sharing of knowledge.
We will be sharing images of the construction as it progresses!
Looking into the coming year
In January, as we began the initial pilot project of community literacy and education promotion, we knew that there were dozens of communities facing similar situations.The precarity of fundamental life activities such as education and access to healthcare in the prevailing violence has limited many families to mere survival. In communities where education has been interrupted, youth and particularly young women, are called upon to maintain the households, forgoing further studies. This coming year, having learned so much already, we are looking to put our experience to work developing education modules and extending this work with women’s collectives, peasant organizations and other organized communities.
To all who engage with others in a dialogue of knowledge, who listen for the sounds of new ways of seeing and thinking, who are eager for the tools to grok the world around us, to repair and to build, we hope that you will share this with others, and support this effort if you can.
Please Join Us in Supporting Autonomous Community Education!
