Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in August 2010 undergraduate student Cindy Shuck interviewed Guillermo Soto, national director of Fe y Alegría Chile, headquartered in Santiago, Chile. In this interview he reviews the challenges involved with launching the organization, the communities in which Fe y Alegría Chile works, and funding logistics. Soto also discusses teacher training and incorporating Ignatian values into the organization's projects.

Can you begin with a summary of your background, education, and experience in the field of education?

I’m from a middle-class Catholic family of five brothers and I am married with four children. I was in the field of business administration and a member of the Community of Christian Life (CVX) starting in 1989, when I began my theological formation and fell in love with Ignatian spirituality. In 1993 as a result of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, I felt invited to take more seriously the ideals of Ignatian spirituality in my life and more specifically to look for an apostolic experience with the poor that would take me out of my comfort zone and give me the chance to serve in a more engaged way. It was through that arrangement that I was put into contact with a Jesuit priest who lived in Cerro Navia, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Santiago, who had the idea to found a social project in the community because there was donated land available for that use. That was 17 years ago. Today, 120 people work at the Cerro Navia Youth Foundation. I began as a volunteer for president of the board (there were no other candidates). The foundation develops program for youth, adults, children, those with learning disabilities, trainings, among other things. In 2000, we founded a high school for youth in risk of dropping out of school. During all of this time, the volunteer experience with this organization, my focus, priorities and heart changed forever. My desire to dedicate more time to social work grew, but I also needed to finance family expenses and maintain equilibrium between vocation and my earlier options. At the end of 1998 I found a part-time job with a Japanese company to have more time to volunteer with the Foundation. In 2005, Fé y Alegría came to Chile and I had to represent the foundation as one of the founding members on the Board of Directors. Five years later when the National Director left, I applied for the job, we reduced our family expenses and that way I could finally make a reality the dream I have to dedicate myself 100 percent to social work in the broader mission of the Society of Jesus.

What is the history of the establishment of Fe y Alegría in Chile?

The establishment of Fe y Alegría had a mission to take advantage of the experience and identity of the international movement and to join a network of schools that serve poor populations with Ignatian spirituality. With regards to education tied to the Jesuits in Chile, the Ignatian high schools that serve the middle and upper-class populations have always had the network of REI (Association of Ignatian High Schools) very defined which helps them to communicate among themselves and form a community. On the other hand, the high schools of Ignatian spirituality in the poor communities lacked a network, and later in a failed attempt to join REI, it became evident that our problems were not the same as those high schools. In 2004 we began to look for a way to resolve this deficiency. Looking at other experiences of networks for educational and social promotion in Latin America, we thought of joining Fe y Alegría International, which represented all of the ideas and values that our foundations embodied and gave us the possibility to strengthen our mission and bring Fe y Alegría to Chile. This gave rise to an application process that became official in 2005. Fe y Alegría Chile was constituted as a professional association, with eight members, that sustains 12 educational centers in low-income neighborhoods, four of which are for high school drop-outs and pertain to the Súmate Foundation of Hogar de Cristo since they were foundational members before Fe y Alegría.

Why wasn't it in Chile yet?

Perhaps the Society didn´t want it because it had so much success with the Ignatian high schools, one doesn´t know. In 2005 Fe y Alegría was established in Chile and the 12 high schools began to unite. In the beginning, it was very difficult, but now, five years later, we have begun to work together with a common identity and as mutually responsible.

What were the biggest shocks or challenges when you attempted to unite?

Since being a part of Fe y Alegría implied a network agenda with more activities than normal, from the beginning this time investment was one of the challenges. Moreover, none of the administrations didn´t consider Fe y Alegría’s emphasis on social promotion and community a priority. In principle, the principal of a high school is worried about the formal education of his students, and not all wanted to give time and attention to these goals of Fe y Alegría. In Cerro Navia, community programs came first and education second, but in many communities there was only the school and not this community component. We just met together recently, and some still don´t have this component. Finally, many of the administrations weren´t accustomed to having to take third parties into account or make their lives more complicated as part of a bigger project. It can be said that some of these are common problems that come up in the process of forming any association.

Who was the first director of Fe y Alegría? Was he from outside the education world or was he known by those in charge of the high schools?

The first director was José Reyes, who was very close to the Society of Jesus, well-known and respected by the group.

How many students are enrolled in Fe y Alegría high schools? Can you elaborate on some of the common characteristics of these students’ lives?

In total there are 6,000 students, and all of them are between 70 percent and 100 percent in the IVE., the index of poverty in Chile, so truly they are some of the poorest students in the country. Their communities are very vulnerable and with a wide variety of deficiencies and social problems: violence, alcoholism, drugs, lack of infrastructure, environmental contamination, trash, teen pregnancy, school drop-outs, etc. They also have high levels of unemployment and the majority of jobs are very far from where they live. The origin of this double-marginalization—social and geographic—became accentuated during the years of the military government of Pinochet, when they relocated all of the poor neighborhoods—which before were dispersed among the rich neighborhoods—to the outskirts of the city, creating ghettos that intensified the social vulnerability of the marginalized and excluded. A very original idea, no? In this way, these communities were converted into invisible places, which was more comfortable for the rich, but since the highways were constructed on top of these communities, they disappeared from the view of middle and upper-class people.

With regard to their families, many of them are single-parent households in that only one of their parents is home, either a grandparent or a responsible adult. The majority of the adults don´t have high qualifications for employment, and it is precisely this factor that leads their employment to be so unstable and precarious.

What are some of the challenges in teaching these students?

The students that we receive have, as a result of their social marginalization, have very low levels of self-esteem, basic competencies (like language and math), social abilities, study habits, and cultural capital from their parents. This situation becomes clearer still in the four schools of the Súmate Foundation of Hogar de Cristo, which educate older students who have dropped out of school. In the other schools of Fe y Alegría, we accept students from Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten up until the last year of high school (3 to 18 years), but likewise it’s also difficult to deliver these most basic abilities and we still don’t do it very well. Why? Because in many classes there are more than 40 students for one professor. Also, the university graduates who come to teach aren’t prepared to work in this type of school or this low-income context. It’s difficult to find teachers who have the social preparation—who understand the reality of these students—even if they have the professional training to teach. And if we find those who have the social preparation, many times they don’t have adequate academic training. This problem makes it difficult for us to find good teachers. Finding good administrators is also a challenge that we face.

How are these high schools funded?

Public high schools are divided into completely municipal and partially-subsidized, and under the condition that they don’t charge their students, they receive a subsidy from the government between $80 and $100 per student per month, with consideration of their attendance (an average of 85 percent nationally). However, in low-income communities where the work of educating is more complex, poverty is expressed in lower percentages of attendance and higher percentages of dropping out, which in practice translates into fewer resources for the poorest school, which ends in the accentuation of inequality. In the last few years there has been an attempt to correct this situation with a special subsidy (SEP) for the most vulnerable segment of students, but that doesn’t succeed in reversing the fact that a private school invests four times more than a public one. Our high schools raise some amount through enrollment fees. These fees are a matter of valuation and dignity, which intends to make parents feel that by making the effort to pay something (according to their abilities), they value the education of their children and on the other hand they feel that they have the right to demand a quality service.

Moreover, we count on donations from private companies, donor campaigns, and grant competitions of the government. The international foundation of Fe y Alegría also funded us in the beginning in order to start the network, but even though there are many aspects to improve in Chile’s education, in other countries of the region the situation is infinitely more complex. Thus, after five years of support Fe y Alegría international has decreased its contribution. Now we are looking for more funds from donors in Chile.

How did the province react to the establishment of Fe y Alegría?

The establishment of Fe y Alegría has helped the Jesuits boost their presence in low-income communities, reinforce their commitment to the poorest and most excluded in society, and has opened a great platform of collaboration between the lay community and the Jesuits, which represents one of the major challenges of the future. Fe y Alegría is administered by lay people in collaboration with the Jesuits, and has a director and a professional team that of lay people and a president and ecclesiastic advisory of Jesuits.

How do you incorporate the educational ideals of the Jesuits into the education in schools of Fe y Alegría?

Jesuit education is based on a quality education that integrates the whole human person. There are three dimensions of a person that we want to develop in our schools: psycho-social, academic, and spiritual. We don’t want education to be reduced to the strictly academic; rather we want to impart values to our students for their personal formation. We want them to develop life skills, reinforce their self-esteem, be supportive, committed and democratic citizens, etc. With respect to evangelization, we are conscious that we live in a plural context and that we are at the service of this plurality, which we view as a good. But we are interested in opening our students, their families and communities to the spiritual dimension, to testify with our practice and proximity to the poor, the good news of the gospel, as a sign of hope and direction, to be in other words messengers of faith and happiness. It’s a great challenge to be a church and educators today in low-income communities, with the challenges and change of paradigm that globalization and secularization of society represent, but it is from real character in a true dialogue by which we can evangelize and be the evangelized for the poorest. As one Jesuit who worked with Muslims put it, when asked “How do you evangelize in this context?!” he responded that his method of evangelizing was to help them be better Muslims each day.

How do you think you can improve the teachers who come to teach at these types of schools? Does Fe y Alegría have a way of influencing the training of teachers?

Certainly the training of teachers is vital, as much in their identity and spirituality that they declare with the certainty of their body as in their academic skills, psycho-social state, and values. In this sense, Fe y Alegría is permanently investing in the training of teachers, administrative teams, social workers, etc., without which it would not be possible to dream about the development of the vision and mission to which we feel ourselves called. Another sphere to which we are committed is that of gaining visibility and take risks influencing educational and social policy, which are definitively where the structural changes that will permit us to advance in justice and equity are at stake. A good example of this intention is our social promotion program Junto al Barrio, which goes into the poorest communities to work with the social networks, support them, empower them, raise up their needs and create a platform for connections so that government plans, businesses, and NGOs can operate efficiently and make contributions to the community in those territories. Last year we did this program in three communities, and after the earthquake this past February the government recognized this model of participation and social cohesion and used it to generate an 18-month program in the 81 emergency encampments created after the earthquake, as a temporary solution as they constructed a definitive solution. This experience has been an important step for Fe y Alegría because the project was done directly with the government and received funds from the European Union, which brought us to the table at a very good level and helped us gain visibility in a subject matter central to our mission.

Do the communities you’re in support the effort of Fe y Alegría?

Today the majority of the schools are valued by the families and students. There is a good atmosphere of coexistence in the schools and we have been successful in bringing and retaining the poorest students. However, we are still not capable of teaching at the level we want, there is still a lot missing to fulfill the promise of a quality and integral education for the poor.

Do you emphasize “men and women for others” in your schools, and are students involved in the community?

We have some programs for leadership and community service, but this type of project needs time to develop itself and we need to learn how to do this while respecting the culture. Perhaps it will manifest itself in the implementation of Junto al Barrio in more communities, or we will create a popular pastoral with this end.

When I have asked educators what “threshold” of education that must be passed in order for Chileans to overcome poverty, some have responded that it’s not a question of a threshold because there have been many poor students who have been able to study and graduate from universities, but in the end they aren’t able to improve their situation. Others have told me that it is a matter of one’s “connections” and social status.

What is your opinion of these perspectives, and do you believe that education in Chile can really help students overcome poverty?

There exists an ethical and political foundation to what we do. Up against a situation of injustice and marginalization that affects the majority of our communities, Fe y Alegría has a prophetic role to denounce and to work towards social transformation, seeing in education and community promotion a privileged path to contribute to the construction of a more inclusive and humane society. The starting point for our students and communities is very precarious, and we have to work towards reversing these deficiencies. We must ensure their basic competence in language and math, help them develop social and employment competence, empower them so they are active subjects in the transformation of their lives, their communities, and ensure that they are committed and democratic citizens who contribute to the growth of the country.