Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in summer 2013 undergraduate student Nick Dirago interviewed Sr. María Elena Bravo Cubas, S.M., director of Fe y Alegría #1 in St. Martin de Porres, Lima. In this interview Cubas discusses the realities of the neighborhood in which the school is located, the process of managing the different dynamics among students, and the social and spiritual development of her students.

Could you trace your path to directorship of this school?

Fe y Alegría formed me as an educator. I learned to be a teacher with Fe y Alegría. I learned about education in values, transformative education, the importance of workshops. In my opinion, Fe y Alegría builds a very close, horizontal organizational climate. We want to create an environment where the student feels good, feels important. This is a marked difference between Fe y Alegría and the public schools, where the environment is very vertical and the student is just a number. We have a very clear vision and mission at Fe y Alegría, something defined to strive for. Like the Jesuits say, we are always striving for quality education, the best education.

What is the relationship between education and social justice?

I think there’s a direct relationship. Education develops in a person a certain set of capacities that teaches them to live with others in the world and transform the world. And that’s exactly where social justice comes in: teaching students to read their reality, through the various academic disciplines. It has to be through the lens of looking at reality and changing it.

Fe y Alegría is a popular education movement. If it doesn’t work to transform the world, it’s not education. It starts from the world as it is and works to change it. Students here learn exactly that, how to look at reality, take hold of it, and transform it. The students have to be agents of social justice, even though they come from a poor area. It’s not an attitude of, “Oh, poor me. The state and society…” No, it’s “I have to be an agent of change.” So, there’s a very close relationship there.

Where are we? What is the reality that one might read in this neighborhood?

This part of Lima is in the northern part of the city. This district is considered poor, but not extremely poor. And the particular part of the district where the school is located is occupied primarily by settlers from the provinces. They all had different motives for coming here.

The only development that we have in Peru is Lima. It’s the only place where you can find a high quality of life. If you want to go to university, to get a job, you often have to come to Lima. So Lima has expanded a lot in recent years, and this area of the city in particular has grown considerably. Many who came here were displaced by the violence from 1980 to 2000. There are a lot of Quechua speakers, and most are self-employed or involved in the informal economy. Many homes are also workshops. They’re small businesspeople. Many women work in wealthier houses. But it’s coming up in a way with new generations.

The students here are a mixture with regard to their family’s economic situation. We have the child of a lawyer—not a terribly rich one, albeit—alongside the child of parents who sell coffee on the street. So that’s the challenge that we have. So, within the school, that’s the challenge that we face. We have a very diverse student body—some who are employed in the informal sector, some who are not wealthy but at least have their necessities, and some who are severely lacking even the basics. The challenge is: learn to live with each other despite the differences that they have; to look at each other as equals.

Are there any dynamics that you have to manage among the students with different backgrounds?

We have a project called “A New Dawn” that’s based in the pastoral department. It aims to build community among the students. They develop in several senses: personal, with regard to their self-esteem and self-acceptance; spiritual, with regard to matters of transcendence; and some form of community involvement.

We start with a diverse group of students. And “A New Dawn” is a space where they learn to look outside of themselves and learn that they have points in common. Something really beautiful that happens is that poorer students don’t feel bad about being poor; they understand that it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Then, on Saturdays, the students head out into the settlement areas for an experience we call Street Library. They prepare stories and readings and skits and share them with the children in those areas. All of this work is very personalized. But in the background what we’re going for beyond simply reading the story is to establish links between the two realities and encourage students to learn to read it. "A New Dawn" is one of the principal ways that we accomplish this.

Could students from this area go to the same school as students from the College of the Immaculate?

First, it’s important to acknowledge that there are real and legitimate differences between our students and the students at the College of the Immaculate. Even if in our neighborhood students can afford some name-brand shoes, they come from different circumstances. Their families don’t have [European] last names. Peru is a very racist country… The point of origin [of the families] is different. The students here, their parents might have different jobs—one might be a professional and another not—but the point of origin is the same. And we encourage the students not to forget where they’re from. Living together is good, and it can happen. But you have to look after the process carefully.

And there has to be a process of developing a student’s conscience first?

Yes. And the process has to be natural. But we’re very mindful of little signs of discrimination. Accompany, accompany, accompany. In that way, we can achieve acceptance. It’s not commonplace, but it’s possible.

But if there’s no process of formation first…

No, then you can’t do it. It can make the poorer students feel bad. I think it’s possible. I saw it at a school in Colombia: students from a very young age had gone through the process of formation, and they were so humble. And when they arrive at a school where the students aren’t as wealthy, they’re more aware. You absolutely can educate wealthier students with sensibility and the ability to look at others as their equal.

In Colombia, the quinceañera* is a big deal. And one of those students asked her father, “Dad, how much are you going to spend on my quinceañera?” He told her, and she said, “I want you to give me that money. I don’t want a trip or a party. I want that money to buy a house for a woman that I’m going to visit [as part of my school’s formation experiences].” And she did; she bought her the house.

So I think you have to carefully monitor the integration process. I do think it’s possible for the students to accept each other. But you need accompaniment in education for that.

Is this process of formation happening sufficiently in the private schools in Lima?

No. It’s a very exclusive society; it excludes many people. When Toledo was president [from 2001 to 2006]… he had dark skin, like most Peruvians! And you had people making fun of him for where he comes from. The same think is happening with [current president Ollanta] Humala. It’s a very racist commentary in this country. So there’s a general affinity towards whitewashing at work in Peru. We haven’t taken pride in our races or learned to accept each other as we are.

Education in Peru needs to step in here, exactly in the areas of integration and inclusion. It’s a long path, but it’s possible. Our children are wonderful and they have so much to contribute.

*Coming of age celebration for young women at age 15.