On our way to the lodge in the Amazon, we detoured to visit the Santa Maria School which was located off one of the tributaries of the Rio Negra. The school is located in a caboclo village. Caboclos are a mixture of the indigenous Indian population and Portuguese.
The first thing we saw as we pulled up to the dock was a yellow and black motor boat which is the Amazon's equivalent of the school bus! Most of the students lived in the village but those that didn't were picked up by the school boat. Our guide Sid told us that the government is making a concerted effort to improve the lives of the poor by providing easy access to education. Brazil has successfully implemented a program called Bolsa Familia in which the government gives conditional cash transfers to low income earners as long as they send their children to school. This removes the incentive to use children for labour and keeps them in school longer. The program includes free access to basic healthcare especially preventative medicine. This program has been copied by several other countries as well. We had learned about this in class before traveling so it was doubly rewarding to see it in action first-hand.
The school knew we were arriving and the students had prepared several choreographed dances for us that they performed as soon as we arrived. The students ranged from age 4 to around 16. They were wearing uniforms which consisted of blue t-shirts and any kind of pants, shorts or skirt at the bottom. They sang and danced a total of four songs for us. At the end the principal asked our class to sing a song as well and they obliged with a spirited performance of Simeon Benjamin!
Many of the students wanted photographs with our class and much to our amazement, dozens of cell phones were whipped out as the kids found their favorite person to have their picture taken with. As Caiti pointed out, for once the tables were reversed and we were the ones on display. Samantha with her long blonde hair was a clear favorite as both the girls (and boys) gravitated towards her.
In the room we noticed a drum set and a Yamaha keyboard. There was also a laptop and a screen projector with the Teacher's email address up there for our benefit. The principal stated that they involve the kids in many activities such as song and dance to keep them out of trouble.
We then took a tour of the main building. We saw the principal's office , the only air-conditioned room for miles. The students wanted to linger there as long as they could. The principal had been there five years and had been a teacher for 12. His office had a computer, printer and fax machine. I also noted approvingly, a shelf full of thick, neatly organised binders!
The school had three classrooms, toilets with running water for boys and girls, drinking fountains and a play ground. There were a couple of raised beds for planting vegetables which the students tended to as a way of learning about horticulture and farming. The students also received snacks and a meal while they were in school to ensure that they were getting adequate nutrition.
It was good to see the efforts that the Brazilian government is making on behalf of the poorer, marginalized segments of the population and we left with a richer understanding and appreciation of the issues we had discussed in class. An excellent example of supplementing the classroom with this sort of travel experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment