Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in June 2011 undergraduate student Codie Kane interviewed Rosa Letis Menjivar de Cordova, a school teacher in Nueva Trinidad, El Salvador, and a leader in a local women’s microfinance group. In this interview, Rosa Letis Menjivar de Cordova discusses the development of popular schools in Nueva Trinidad, the leading role of the parish in this development, and the challenges of transitioning from a popular to a government-supported school.

Tell me about your experience as a teacher and community member. How did you arrive at your present career?

I originally attended a popular school. When I was 18 years old and in the fifth grade, it became apparent that the school needed more teachers. Our teachers had the idea of training us, the students, to help. They presented us to the community directive. They said, “We have great students: let’s turn them into educators.” The directive agreed and, in 1990, I began teaching.

The parish at Arcatao supported this endeavor. Father Miguel, in particular, came here and promised to help the community expand education through training students to teach. In this way, the other popular students and I began to receive workshops sponsored by the church. We learned pedagogy, teaching methods, etc.

We realized, though, that we would have to pursue further education if we wanted to continue. We started by finishing middle school and, subsequently, went on to high school. We had to go to Arcatao four days a week and study at night. I completed seven years of study in three years, all while still working regular hours.

The process was facilitated primarily by the parish. They organized our classes and found us teachers. They gave us food and classroom materials so we didn’t have to worry about buying our own. They even occasionally found the funds to give us a small amount of money. It usually only consisted of about $12, but it meant a lot to teachers working without pay.

After the peace accords were signed and the war ended, we knew we had to go on to university. We were unsure of how we would manage to do so and continue working, however, because there were no colleges in the region. Fortunately, the Universidad de San Salvador responded to our dilemma and created a distance learning program explicitly for popular teachers in Guadjia. We studied with them on weekends for three years until we graduated in 1999.

Until that point we had been studying and teaching at the same time. It was essentially voluntary for nine years. The parish helped through giving us a stimulus, but only of about $12. After, we had to deal with the Ministry of Education.

At this point, despite the fact that we had been giving classes for years, the ministry had not yet officially recognized the popular teachers. We began negotiating with them for a place in the national education system. With the help and support of the parish, we eventually came to an agreement. The government created the Education with Participation of the Community (EDUCO) program, effectively absorbing the popular teachers while at the same time marking them distinct from the rest of the educators in the country. We worked under EDUCO for a long time. Throughout, we felt threatened. The ministry had certain requirements that they wanted us to meet and said that, if we didn’t, they would cut jobs. They said, for example, that it wasn’t appropriate for parents to be teaching their children. But here we’re all family. They also said that we had to have 28 students in each class. Since each grade was well under that number, we were forced to combine grades. Some teachers were teaching, and still teach, two, three, and even four grades at once.

How did you overcome these challenges?

We were resistant. We showed the ministry that their requirements weren’t relevant here—that we were good teachers even though we may have had our children in class. We showed them that our students were learning and that our jobs were necessary.

Solidarity also played a big role. All the teachers in the school were working together, and the community was behind us in our work.

Describe to me the current state of education in your community, Carasque. What are the positive aspects? What are the challenges?

The school here has a lot of needs. The Ministry of Education hasn’t helped us, and it’s obvious. We have few resources and, because of this, our students are somewhat behind. The school’s roof, for example, leaks. It hasn’t been redone in 25 years. When it rains, it rains inside. We also lack technology. We don’t have computers and thus can’t offer computer courses. We don’t have a science lab either.

At the same time, education is very different now than from what it was. Before the war, the quality of professors was significantly lower. They were outsiders who came here for only a few days at a time. Their teaching methods consisted of writing letters on the board and forcing the students to read aloud. Now, with better professors, students progress more. All of them reach ninth grade, and the majority graduate high school. Many even go to university. They get scholarships from the parish and go to San Salvador to study. We have professionals coming out of the community. They’re going further than us, their teachers!

How does this affect your community?

At the same time as education has progressed, the community has also. Now that everyone has access to education, the community is relatively developed. It has roads instead of dirt paths and a variety of communal buildings. People who left during the war are surprised by Carasque when they return.

Do you see education, then, as a form of community empowerment?

Yes. Now people from the community have their own jobs. They support themselves and they also support their family members.

What’s the future of education here? What’s your vision of an ideal future?

We need to keep improving education so that students leave here better prepared. I want students to be able to envision a better, easier future for themselves. I want them to be able to defend themselves, rather than leave here as delinquents. But to get to this point, the school needs more and better resources.

How has your experience of popular education impacted you? Has your time as a popular teacher impacted your views on education and your current teaching methods?

I’ve always tried to maintain the spirit of popular education. We can’t afford to lose it. I even describe the conditions in which the popular teachers worked to my current students so that they know the history of what we went through.

I still use some popular education methods. I do a lot of group work, for example. I have kids participate and keep them moving, rather than having them sit in their seats and listen to me lecture.

In your experience, what has been the role of the Church and the parish in education in this community?

The parish has always supported education here. They frequently send people to teach English, for example, because our school has none. They also give scholarships to students so they can continue their studies. They help a lot in terms of resources. What the ministry doesn’t provide, they supplement.

What inspires you and has inspired you in your work?

I love working with kids. I don’t do it for the salary. I never had the illusion that I would be making money in education. From the beginning, I was just trying to help in any way that I could. I wanted to share what little knowledge I had. I still have this in mind when I work.