Bolivia's indigenous children learn lessons for life
8 January 2009
Life
is often hard for Bolivia's indigenous people, and the disadvantages usually
start early. For example, the pressure to go out to work to earn a
living means that many indigenous children fall behind in school and never
really get the chance to catch up.
But Mónica Chujllu Condori, aged 14, is one of the lucky ones. She is a student at the Circo Infantil, a new educational centre in the historic city of Sucre that caters for children from indigenous families.
"I feel better here because I've learned so much," says Mónica. "I have someone to help me with my studies and homework, and I have books and friends. In my house, I didn’t have anything, and I didn’t do any homework."
At first, Mónica resented leaving home to board at the DFID-funded centre. But now she is glad to have had her eyes opened to new ideas. "I don’t waste time," she says, "I like doing the workshops. I feel that when I leave here I could really do something."
Playing a part
Circo Infantil was set up as part of a project to help children from poor families who, due to their race or ethnicity, are denied a full part in the life of their country.
The project, which is supported by DFID and the development agency International Service, aims to give every indigenous child the opportunity to learn social and vocational skills.
Some of the children come daily to the centre from their homes in urban areas around Sucre, many of them working children who have fallen behind with their studies. Other students, like Mónica, come from rural areas and board at the centre.
At the centre, students can take courses in subjects including painting and decorating, computing, and lock-making. The locksmith's course, in particular, has proved popular with city-dwelling day children, who are keen to learn the lucrative skill of making locks for houses and cars. Others looking towards white-collar careers opt for the computing course, the graduates of which move on to work placements, mainly in the offices of non-governmental organisations.
A chance to grow
In addition to teaching its students skills that will set them up for their working lives, Circo Infantil provides a healthy and diverse environment in which to grow. As well as having its own bakery, which turns out 4,000 loaves a day, plastic "polytunnels" line the centre's grounds. Within these are cultivated fresh vegetables for the student's meals and cookery classes. There is even a rainwater recovery system, set up by visiting Canadian students, which makes use of run-off water from the centre's roof.
To prepare younger children for the training courses, a range of workshops are provided. These touch on nutrition, vegetable growing, health and safety, and food hygiene. Catch-up classes are also available in traditional school subjects, as are extracurricular classes in music, art and drama.
One of the major benefits of the centre is that it allows students to learn from each other's experiences. As a way of exploring and celebrating their often quite different backgrounds, students collaborate to produce art and music CDs that draw on their respective traditions. This helps to raise cultural understanding and tolerance in a country where indigenous groups form almost two-thirds of the population.
The career training and social experiences that students pick up at the centre leave them well prepared for fuller, more productive lives. On top of learning how to find dignified jobs to support their families, they are, crucially, given the confidence to speak out for other marginalised communities - helping to break the cycles of poverty and violence that hold back the indigenous people of this part of South America.
Facts and stats
- Bolivia has the highest proportion of indigenous people of any country in South America, with almost two-thirds of its population descended from original inhabitants.
- There are around three dozen indigenous groups in Bolivia. The largest are the Quechua-speaking groups (2.5 million people), the Aymara (2 million people) and the Chiquitano (180,000 people).
- Some of Bolivia's severest poverty is found among its indigenous population. With support from donor countries and NGOs, Bolivia's government is making efforts to reduce poverty among the indigenous population.
- In many of Bolivia's rural areas, the average family income is as little as $150 a year. Most rural areas lack basic services such as water, sewerage, health posts and adequate schools.
- Under a Partnership Programme Arrangement (PPA), DFID funded International Service with £1,470,000 for 2007-8. In 2008-9, funding will rise to £1,514,100.
