A Discussion with Mariana Acevedo, Coordinator, Don Bosco Youth Center, Montevideo, Uruguay
With: Mariana Acevedo Berkley Center Profile
May 24, 2012
Can you tell me about your background and how you started working in education?
I am a trained psychologist, but here I work as the role of coordinator. I have been working with youth for years, and I have focused on education. I have worked with youth through the Ministry of Labor organizing work trainings. My role was in the social aspect: helping the youth write a resume, teaching them how to interview for a job, and following up on their progress. I have also worked in a youth center as a psychologist, but even there my role was strongly influenced by education.
So I came to this position with a background that had prepared me to work in education. When the possibility to work with Fe y Alegría emerged I liked the prospect. I am not working in my exact field of training, but the tools I learned in my training help me to work with the youth here everyday. I have to do more paperwork here, but I also have the flexibility to more directly accompany the youth that come to us.
Can you tell me about the structure of this project?
This project started three years ago. Our social worker was noticing that many of the children that had graduated from our primary school and were now starting to study in secondary school were feeling very unprotected. They were very affected by the change, and many came here looking for help with something or to talk to one of the adults. Many also dropped out of school. So the school started looking for a way to keep accompanying these students, and the social worker and director came up with a plan for an after-school academic support project, which would run at opposite times to the secondary school schedule.
When the project was being worked out it was decided to also add different workshops, such as computer science and English, and initially the project was meant to only serve alumni of this school. Soon however it became clear that this was something the entire neighborhood needed, and students who had not attended Don Bosco wanted to participate.
The project, which was initially only supposed to be a one-year program, was successful, and the students benefited from the support. So, the next year we added a second year, and now there are three consecutive years of after-school programming offered, and we hope to keep it at that level.
Nowadays students from all over the neighborhood come, both alumni and other children, and there are about 25 students in each year. They are given everything they need in order to study and do their homework, including teachers to assist them.
Can you tell me about the most important challenges and successes you see in your work here?
One of our challenges is the building upkeep. We have very specific economic limitations here, and this leads us to sometimes work in not ideal conditions; for instance, in winter it is very cold in here.
Regarding the work team, we are very few adults trying to serve a lot of youth at the same time. There are eight of us who work here, but we do not all come every day. We have noticed that nowadays, especially in a context as critical as this one, the youth are going through such conflicting and complicated situations that they need us to listen to them, guide them, and talk to them. And sometimes we can’t meet all their needs: for instance, when up to 10 children want to talk to you at the same time. This is the result of both lacking material and human resources. There are also a lot of achievements and goals we have met. What moves us most is to see children be able to integrate themselves, find a place where they feel safe and happy, share their experiences with their peers, and trust us and seek help from us. I think our biggest achievement is when we feel that the children have made this their place, that they enjoy being here, and are happy. We have a very close relationship with the children, because we are with them everyday. So we know just from their faces when they are sad, happy, or going through something.
How many children attend the after-school program?
There are about 50 to 60 children coming right now, and the number is increasing. But not all the children come every day.
How does Fe y Alegría affect your work?
Fe y Alegría is very invested in meeting the needs of the workers at the educational centers. They are always there when we need them, and we can ask them for support. They also work in the training of educators and organize meetings for all of us to attend. Last year they organized an event on working with youth, and in addition a psychologist came to the school and talked to the youth about sexual education. So, we can feel that there is support for our work here, and someone is interested in our progress.
How do you experience the aspect of faith in this Catholic institution?
I think children who attended primary school here come with a different kind of education in values and faith than others. In the after-school program we work more on values and less on religion, because we have students who belong to other religions, and we want to respect everyone’s religious freedom. But we do sometimes talk about religious celebrations with the students, such as Easter.
How has education changed over the last decades?
I have noticed something very characteristic about education today that was not the case when I was a student in high school. Depending in what area you are in, the difference in public school quality is increasing. In the poorest areas, educational quality in public schools has declined significantly. Children who attend these schools have less homework, fewer requirements; children learn less, and sometimes they don’t even have teachers.
So the level of education achieved is completely different between private and public schools. The children who attend private schools are sometimes more stressed, because they have more work to do, but the public school students never have anything to do. So there is a huge difference between students, and the private schools they attend [in this area] are not even the most rigorous.
It is my impression that public school educational quality has declined, especially in the poorest areas of the country, and I think this is starting even in primary school. In another place I have worked I met children who were 15 years old, had already graduated from primary school, and didn’t know how to read or write.
I think this is a phenomenon that has become more prevalent today, because I do not remember it being this way when I was younger. Schools were at more equal levels, and one could attend public school without fearing a knowledge gap once one reached university. It is even possible that public education was more rigorous than private education back then. And now this is changing, including at the university level. So it seems like we are going backwards instead of forwards in public education, while private schools are maintaining their level of quality.