Giving children a chance
By Amanda Phillips, 5 October 2000, Nicaragua
I never felt that going to school was a privilege: it
was just part of everyday life for me and my peers, and I suppose
something that I took for granted. But seeing how access to education is
not a given right for many people in Central America heightened my
realisation of how fortunate I have been. Nowhere did I feel this more
intensely than in Nicaragua where Michael and I spent a day at the
Colegio Bautista in the small village of La Concepcion, about 30 km
south east of the capital Managua.
Education is not taken for granted at the Colegio
Bautista, or The Avocado Tree School, as it is familiarly known because
of the large Avocado Tree in the school grounds. La Concepcion is an
extremely poor rural community where it is difficult for people to find
work, let alone to pay for their children to go to school. Indeed 80% of
the population is unemployed. The Avocado Tree School gives the chance
of education to children who are otherwise ignored by the state. A
Nicaraguan Baptist organization CEPAD and British charity The Amos Trust
provide funds to pay the teachers’ salaries ($50 US a month) and the
$2.50 US monthly fees for those families who are unable to pay. $2.50
does not seem a great amount but when you consider that an agricultural
worker receives less than a dollar a day and a domestic worker even
less, you can appreciate that for many the chance of receiving an
education is bleak. A sad fact is that every year some pupils drop out,
whether their families cannot afford the bus journey or whether they
migrate to Costa Rica where there is a better chance of finding work.
The Avocado Tree School, which now has 280 pupils, was
opened in 1997 and is celebrating its third anniversary this November.
The school director Lesbia Galan Calero proudly showed us around the
school and its plentiful grounds which are filled with coffee, avocado
and lemon trees. The land forms a part of the pupils’ education: each
year their efforts of farming the land are rewarded by harvests of corn,
beans and onions. When we arrived at the school we were met by a group
of American volunteers who were improving the school grounds by planting
trees, laying a path and building benches. The school depends on such
support since it receives no government funding. Lesbia spoke with a
mixture of hopelessness and determination as she explained the constant
struggle for education. They have very few resources but they do a good
job of getting by on what they have. I was impressed to learn that the
school has some of the best academic attainment rates in the department.
We met fourth year student Alberto who recently won a national maths
competition. It was touching to see Lesbia beaming with joy as she
showed us a picture of Alberto in the paper, clearly proud of her
student’s achievement. Alberto expressed the desire to go on to study
medicine, but with little money from his parents this is by no means
certain.
We received a warm welcome from each class as we were
greeted by smiling faces and waving hands. What the school lacks in
resources is made up for in enthusiasm. We watched a folklore class
where the 11-13 year old girls entertained us with a traditional dance.
They had no inhibitions when it came to performing in front of a foreign
audience. It was refreshing to see how much they were enjoying
themselves. I couldn’t help thinking that for the girls and boys of La
Concepcion whose life is hard, the time they spend at The Avocado Tree
School is probably the most enriching. Even though the school has a high
academic attainment rate, few of the pupils go on to college. It is not
uncommon that after completing school they end up selling fruit in
Managua market, Lesbia told us. Reflecting on this, I wonder how much
talent is wasted each year.
Despite the problems that the community of La
Concepcion is faced with, I came away from the school feeling that it is
making significant advances. It was a pleasure to witness how education
is making a difference to the lives of numerous children in La
Concepcion.
Amanda Phillips
