Sacred Valley Tour!
June 11:
Today we got to participate in an Andean ritual. It was shorter than I expected but it was very interesting. This ritual is usually done during the months of July and August but luckily, we were not only able to see a ritual but actually participate in one. This is a ritual that honors Pachamama, otherwise known as Mother Earth. Pachamama is an important figure for the people of Peru. It was a nice experience being able to see how Mother Earth is honored. After this ritual, we went to see a sustainable house. The sustainable house was built with the help of the Fe y Alegria school.
Selfie with some llamas!
June 12:
Today we started our day with visiting another Fe y Alegria School. This is many of the Fe y Alegria schools in Peru except this one is different. This school is intercultural-bilingual which means that they focus on human rights and equality for their students. I really like the intercultural bilingual because the school focuses on the Quecha culture. Unlike the other schools, we have visited that teach Spanish and English, this school teaches Spanish and Quecha. I think this is important because it shows the students the importance of Quecha culture and the language. Amparo, our school guide, mentioned various times the purpose of the school is to open the world to their students. Empower the students with the tools they need so that they can decide for themselves what is best. Something else that I liked about this school is the fact that they teach the professors about the culture of Quecha. This is because, as Amparo mentioned, graduates aren’t prepared to teach children of different culture. Most come in thinking they know, but in reality, they don’t. I like this because it allows experts, people who know the culture, teach it to the professors.
June 13:
Started the day by waking up super early and headed out to tour the Sacred Valley. In the Sacred Valley, we visited Inca ruins in the town of Pisaq. This place was breath taking, as so was the walk up. Worth it! Following this, we visited the mercado and I bought some goodies. After, we ate (what else is new) we headed to Ollantaytambo. In this town, we visited the religious site which was also breathtaking. This was lots of steps which also took our breath away, literally, we were all out of breath. I enjoyed learning about the way this town came to be, as well as, more about the famous architecture from the Incas, such as the trapezoid and the way they put the rocks together without using cement.
Pisaq ^^
Ollantaytambo
If education attended to equity and justice, life would be great. That being said, every student would be treated fair and equal no matter what. Unfortunately, I'm not sure this will happen. Today, there are many students that are not treated the same as their peers. This is unfortunate because sometimes, the teachers don’t put the time to get to know their students and see the positives that they bring to the school. Rather, they assume they “don’t know” and keep going on without the student. Personally, I believe these two elements should necessarily guide education.. What I mean by this is that education should assure that every child gets treated equally as their peers. It's important to give each student an equal opportunity to become successful. Obviously, this is not something that can happen overnight, but I believe it starts with the teacher and the relationship between the students.
Smiles,
Liz
