A Discussion with Fr. Victor Hugo Miranda, S.J., Pastoral Coordinator, College of the Immaculate, Lima, Peru

With: Victor Hugo Miranda Berkley Center Profile

May 23, 2013

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in summer 2013 undergraduate student Nick Dirago interviewed Father Victor Hugo Miranda, S.J., the pastoral coordinator at the College of the Immaculate, in Lima, Peru. In this interview Miranda discusses the personal development of his students, including the formation of their social consciences, and the different dynamics that he sees at the school, including those between students and between the school and the students' families.

What is social justice, and how does education relate to it?

The union of faith and justice is essential to the Jesuit mission. And so we have to promote justice in the social world. We live in a complex reality—some have more, some have less, and it’s not always just. So we get at social justice through the link between faith and justice, because we believe in the dignity of the human being. That compels us to work for social justice, to construct a reality in which we live in a more just manner. So, Jesuit education tries to be a bridge between those two realities.

The process of formation in Jesuit schools tries to create in our students the desire to be in solidarity with others—to recognize that there are other people and that it’s important to share life with them. We strive for this sharing of lives through experiences. For instance, tonight we are leaving with all of the second-year high school students for ten days to live in another community and work with the people there. Solidarity happens through that experience.

You mentioned that this process of formation is essential for the Jesuits. How do you form a conscience here at the College of the Immaculate?

It’s related to what we were just talking about—living another reality and understanding what it means. For instance, these students, who come from the middle class, are going to spend ten days in a completely different world. They’re going to sleep on the floor, experience the cold, eat what the people in the community eat, they’ll have to work with people. Social formation happens through the experience of encountering a new reality. And this makes a mark on their lives.

Do all the students participate in these activities? Are they mandatory?

From a young age, they begin doing little activities. The youngest students, for example, go to a nearby Fe y Alegría school and share experiences with the students there. So from a very young age, we try to inculcate this understanding—that there are other people who are different and don’t always have the same means. When they’re young, they don’t necessarily realize, say, the social differences that exist. But one way or another, a particular sensibility begins to form. And once they’re older, they engage in a series of activities that forms part of the school’s pastoral activities. The frequency varies. Throughout the year, they have different pastoral activities, and some of them have this social focus. Sometimes it’s once a year, sometimes it’s twice a year, sometimes it’s once a semester. It depends on the grade. But once they’re in their third and fourth years of high school, they do weekly social service work.

In my interview with Fr. [Javier] Quiros [Pineyro], he divided class in Lima into A, B, C, D, and E. From which class are students at the College of the Immaculate?

Mostly from B, maybe some from A.

What is the difference between the reality of someone in B from that of someone in D or E? What are the students going to experience and learn in the programs you’ve mentioned?

It’s different to be from the D in Lima than to be from the D in Ayacucho, of course. But generally, the difference is in income, the kind of places that people frequent, access to education. Someone in B generally goes to private school. Someone in E can’t do that, and sometimes they can’t go to school at all. Someone in B has access to different places in the city. They travel internationally.

How do you curb any tendencies for students to understand their role as helping rather than serving or being in solidarity?

The experience in Ayacucho is probably the most emblematic in that sense, because they learn that they’re not going to help. They learn that the work that they do doesn’t help, because they don’t know anything about that work. Sometimes they do it wrong. They learn that they didn’t come here to help; they came to learn how others in Peru live and work. We want to get any idea that they’re saviors out of their heads. Much to the contrary, they’re going to learn. Because they arrive to the fields, and they don’t know. The people teach them.

The experience lasts ten days, but there is work before and after to try to internalize the ideas and think about what it means. Not everyone has the same experience, but we want to help them reach the conclusion that the experience was important. We want them to recognize that it’s not just going to help someone; it’s about encountering reality and coming closer to God in the process.

Obviously you’ve only been here a short time, but do you think there’s a real difference between what the alumni of this school do post-graduation and what those of the other private schools in the area do?

Here at the College of the Immaculate, our pastoral programs are run partly by alumni who remain connected the programming at the school. If there’s any one thing that characterizes them, it’s that they truly remember their social formation experiences. It really impacts their lives. It changes the way that they approach other people.

There’s an optional social formation experience in January, also in Ayacucho, for fifteen days. Students and alumni can go, and many do. And alumni are always talking about these things. I was talking to an alumnus who now attends a very elite university, and he was telling me how surprised he was that other students don’t have the same interest in social issues that he does. Even though he’s studying international business, he still remembers. Ideally, he wants his work to contribute to a more just world.

So you think that most students leave the College of the Immaculate with a more developed social conscience?

Yes.

What are the obstacles to this understanding for those who might leave with a less developed social conscience?

The school isn’t the only formative element in someone’s life. There are lots of other influences with which your education mixes, such as one’s family.

So what type of relationship exists between families and the school?

There’s a very good relationship. It’s pretty close, I would say.

Those that don’t leave here with a changed mindset do so because there are personal questions involved. But it’s hard to leave this school without something; most of the students begin in kindergarten. Something changes them, something touches them.

There’s a close relationship between parents and the institution. And something you’ll see at this school in particular, but really at all Jesuit schools, is that the students really love it. If you walk through universities in Peru, it’s easy to pick out alumni of the College of the Immaculate. There’s real pride, a special link, largely because of their participation in the formation experience.

Do you think the school should try to reach out more to poorer students and integrate them into the student body, or is this something that couldn’t happen until students mature?

This is complicated. Personally, I think that yes, it could be done. But this would imply a kind of accompaniment in every way—with families, with people. Because studying here implies its own set of situations and relationships. If someone very poor comes to study here, they wouldn’t be able to go to the same clubs, go to the same parties, go on the same vacations, wear the same clothes. It would be a whole host of very delicate situations. We would have to work together with the family. If there’s no process of accompaniment, it would be extremely difficult. I think that the school is capable of doing it, but it’s not something we have planned at this point in time. What’s definitely true is that some of the people who are here aren’t from families who can immediately pay for it outright, and there is financial support that we offer.

Are there problematic dynamics among the students here?

I think they integrate well, even though some can do certain things and others can’t. Because the differences aren’t as extreme.

So would you say that it depends on the degree of difference?

Yes. With more difference comes more complexity.

How do Fe y Alegría and the College of the Immaculate fit into the larger mosaic of Jesuit education?

The goal of both [Fe y Alegría and private schools like the College of the Immaculate] is the same: form well-educated individuals. Both do the same thing, in different contexts. So, in a sense, Fe y Alegría allows students to achieve things that they wouldn’t be able to in the public school system. If those students were to go to a public school, they would have a lower level of education. So we’re talking in qualitative terms here. The College of the Immaculate is academically very good. So in that sense, they both contribute to the same goal. And they work to establish connections, particularly on the pastoral level [through activities such as the visits].

It’s always possible to work in a more coordinated way. One very good thing is Javier Quiros [Pineyro]’s promotion to the head of Fe y Alegría. He has a lot of experience in private education. He was the director of this school for a very long time and currently serves as the vice president of the Network of Jesuit Schools in Peru. So with all of his experience, he can establish a better relationship with Fe y Alegría.

The private Jesuit schools have always worked together. Right now, we’re in the process of doing some pastoral work together. I suppose the next step would be working more with Fe y Alegría.

What are your goals in this new position? Is there anything you want to maintain, change, or add?

I don’t want to change too much. I think consistency over time is important because it helps you evaluate programs. What’s being done here is generally sufficient and quite good.

Something that I feel called to is accompaniment, particularly trying to accompany what happens after the [formation] experiences. Students have a really powerful experience. But then what?

Right now, there aren’t any experiences after the formation activities themselves. The idea is, how can I accompany the students after they get back from Ayacucho? How can I help them be conscious of what they learned, so that it’s not just a parenthetical experience in their lives? I want to help them integrate it.

In general, social concern is a transversal theme in education here. For example, the experience in Ayacucho, we’re all involved—not just me, the pastoral coordinator, but also the academic teachers, some teachers, and students. In this way, we’re able to integrate it into the design of our education more broadly.
Opens in a new window