Shakira: Pop star, Humanitarian, Colombiana.

Huffington Post
http://bit.ly/Hptptm

As The Huffington Post reported, Latin American pop superstar Shakira joined over 30 world leaders at the 6th annual Summit of the Americas held over the weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, to advocate for children.

On April 16, 2012, at the 6th Summit of the Americas, Shakira joined President Obama and President Santos of Colombia in order to speak on behalf of President Barack Obama's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. She spoke about the need for education and early childhood development in order to meet the needs of the 35 million children in Latin America. She spoke about the need to eradicate of poverty, and promoted a type of collaborative development in which everyone can be involved.


Here is Shakira's full speech, and here is a highlight:

In the 17 years that I have spent investing and promoting education I can state that without a doubt, investing in education has never let me down because every effort and every dollar invested yields results and they yield results in the short term, because kids grow up fast.

Shakira should be commended for her humanitarian work and certainly serves as a model for the celebrity world in terms of giving back. There is absolutely nothing negative that I can gleam from this type of work in the developing world. Her close relationship to Colombia, being a native born Colombiana, makes her the perfect candidate to speak at the summit. Her voice is quite powerful, with her superstar status, and she is an excellent role model for young girls around the world and in Latin America, as she works to ensure quality education for them. With over 30 world leaders present, Shakira certainly stood her ground. Her activism on behalf of disadvantaged children is the work of a philanthropist that extends far beyond that of most celebrities. Check out this site for more information on Shakira and the wonderful work that she is doing: http://www.shakira.com/philanthropy/


My concern and question pertains to how realistic these goals are, especially if we consider that the 2nd the principal objectives set by the Second Summit of the Americas consist of

1. Ensuring, by the year 2010, universal access to quality primary education for all children and access to quality secondary education for at least 75 percent of young people, with increasing percentages of young people who complete secondary education; and

2. Providing the general population with opportunities for life-long learning.

For more information regarding the Summit of the Americas and Education, click here.


It is hard to know what is being accomplished and where we still have to go in terms of development and education in Latin America. However, we should be careful when making promises because it is now 2012 and these objectives have still yet to be reached.

A Lingering Question

This is not your typical post, but I couldn't figure out where to leave this comment. Something about my most recent experience in Nicaragua keeps bothering me. During one of my interviews about the SAT program, a stakeholder said something to this effect: while SAT is helping in some ways (by addressing rural needs for secondary education), it is also creating new problems. There are more students graduating, and little to no opportunities for them to work or use their education. I think I struggle with this point a lot as a student. Obviously, I want people to be educated and to attend school and receive opportunities that come along with education. But what happens when there are no opportunities? Are we opening a can of worms here? Yes, I think so, and it's necessary, but we need to be cognizant of the other problems we're creating and be ready to find innovative solutions for them.

Drug Violence and Education

Schoolchildren and Teachers Under Fire
in El Salvador

By Edgardo Ayala

Inter-Press Service (IPS)

March 13, 2012

Citation: http://tinyurl.com/6n7yux7

Wilber Geovany Hernández was gunned down as he left his night classes at a school in the capital of El Salvador. He was the 11th murder victim among the country's schoolchildren since the school year began on Jan. 23.

(Article Clipped, see link for details)

Drug and gang related violence has a new target: schools and teachers. In El Salvador, students and teachers live in fear, and are victims of crimes such as extortion, theft, and murder. The presence of violence is not only impacting student learning, but it also has significant consequences for the personal lives of students and tampers with their social development. Additionally, since teachers are constantly in fear of being murdered, many are requesting transfers, which also impacts student learning. The educational situation in El Salvador is already dire; dropout rates in schools that are most affected by the violence have reached 20 percent. There are two million student attending 5,000 schools in El Salvador. Of those schools, 340 schools have been labeled as dangerous and 161 schools are at high risk due to violence. El Salvador has one of the lowest rates of school attendance in Latin America. Nationally, there is 10% illiteracy, but that figure jumps to 22% in rural areas. Children's education is being affected by the drug and gang related violence; they are learning in a less than ideal environment full of oppression and alarm. El Salvador not only needs to work on improving resources for schooling, but also on addressing the affects of crime and violence on schooling. MINED will unlikely meet its target to lower illiteracy rates to 4% by 2014 because of the impact of gang violence on Salvadoran students. Last year alone, 139 students and six teachers were murdered, most of the deaths occurring near schools. Not only do gangs cause most of this violence, but the recruit school children in violent sections of the city, introducing them to the world of drug trafficking and crime. In fact, drug trafficking and consumption are already present in many schools, and sometimes parents manipulate their children and use them to sell. Despite an agreement signed by the Ministry of Education to implement a prevention and protection strategy for schools, the situation continue to deteriorate.

Make no mistake: the education situation in El Salvador is what I like to call a train-wreck. Too often, we hear about the murders and unspeakable crimes that occur due to drug and gang violence in Latin America. What we fail to understand is how the drug wars and subsequent gang violence affect education in Latin America. Of all we've written about thus far, we've mostly skirted over the biggest example of interconnectedness in Latin America: drugs. This is without a doubt the most negative example of interconnectedness, but it is a huge factor. After all, the drug trafficking business links several Latin American countries, from producers in Colombia to traffickers throughout Central America, to Mexican drug cartels operating on the boarder, to the buyers in the United States. As this article highlights, this dark and dangerous 'business,' fraught with violence, corruption, and fear, is taking a very real toll on the quality of education for primary and secondary school aged children across Central America. For El Salvador, drug and gang related violence seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back. The country's education system is already in dire straights, with high dropout rates, rural illiteracy, and abysmal attendance rates. Yet, the influence of drug and gang related violence is only fueling these educational challenges, in addition to creating new barriers in the fight to provide accessible and quality education in El Salvador.

This article raises several questions for me. The first is, why are students and teachers being targeted by gangs in the first place? It seems to me that students may be looked upon as an easily influenced and susceptible population, attracting drug gang recruiters. Given this mentality, it is easy to account for the high dropout rates in places where drug and gang violence is high: gangs are recruiting new members. I have witnessed this first hand during my most recent research trip to Nicaragua. While in an isolated and mountainous rural community in northern Nicaragua, I spoke with many students who talked about issues the community was having with a bunch of disgruntled youth who formed a pandilla (gang) and were essentially terrorizing the town. The gang even broke into the SAT school building to steal food that is used in the primary school feeding program. Current SAT students who I spoke with indicated that these gangs posed a big impediment to education in this region of Nicaragua. After all, gang recruitment leads to school dropouts, which leads to a less educated population that is engaging in more violence. Drug gang recruitment from schools is not only a dangerous problem; it is a vicious cycle! However, SAT students in Nicaragua also believed that education could be used as a means to get these gang members back on track. In fact, a teacher in the community was attempting to rehabilitate gang members through education, with some success, which I think speaks to the power of education and teacher devotion to learning. While I'm not sure that such an initiative would work in El Salvador, where over 20,000 people belong to one of two major gangs in the country, I think it is an important point to consider.

Now, I'd like to move to the matter of teacher extortion in El Salvador. The article touches on the 'protection payments' that teachers have to pay in exchange for their safety, but the article never gets into why teachers are being singled out by these gangs. Moreover, I think that in terms of quality of education, excessive teacher transfers will obviously have a negative impact on student learning. After all, teachers don't want to remain at one school for a long time because they fear extortion, violence and death at the hands of these merciless gangs.

Finally, I want to touch on two points that I found upsetting. The first is the fact that schools have seen parents using their children to sell drugs. I cannot even imagine this experience. Obviously, desperation drives people to do unimaginable things, and this is certainly one of them. Furthermore, the article highlights how the Ministry of Education and the police force of San Salvador were attempting to address the effects of drug and gang violence in schools. One of their methods was sending groups of school children to prisons to scare them into avoiding a life of crime, which was a highly criticized move. This does not seem to me to be an effective strategy to prevent children from entering into this violent but potentially lucrative business. Rather, education can potentially play a key role in keeping students out of gangs and away from the drug trafficking scene. I hope that the Salvadoran government, as well as Ministries of Education across Latin America that are experiencing the affects of the drug trade on education, can begin to investigate education's role in helping to solve this country-wide problem.

Puerto Rico and the Loss of Language Rights

Rick Santorum Calls Himself 'Senador Puertorriqueño' In Puerto Rico

The Huffington Post

March 15, 2012
Citation: http://huff.to/santorumPR

 

Rick Santorum is making a splash down in Puerto Rico ahead of the island's Sunday GOP primary.

On Wednesday he told Puerto Ricans that they should make English their primary language if they want statehood, and that evening he said that Pennsylvanians called him "Senador Puertorriqueño" while he was a U.S. senator. Politico has excerpts from a town hall in San Juan.

"I was referred to by many in my state as Senador Puertorriqueño," he said. "They used to make fun of me, ‘Why are you representing Puerto Rico?’ Well, someone has to because they don’t have a voice. I felt a responsibility to the island."

Rick Santorum, the Republican (GOP) candidate nominee in the upcoming U.S. presidential election is visiting Puerto Rico and yesterday publicly claimed that in order for the island to reach statehood it needs to adopt English as its "principal" language. He also states that the bilingual, English and Spanish, system currently in operation will continue to deter Puerto Rico from achieving its "goals". Furthermore he shared during an interview that he was referred to as Senador Puertorriqueño, or the Puerto Rican Senator, as an indication of his apparent alliance with the Latino community. Yesterday the former Senator also sat down with Luis Fortuno, Puerto Rico's governor, who has already endorsed Romney. In regards to a referendum that is up for election November 6th, Santorum recommended that Puerto Ricans vote in favor of statehood, and confirmed that he would not support a state that did not endorse English as the official language. Santorum's statements seem rarely threatening actually. 

We often exclude Puerto Rico from the dialogue surrounding Latin American countries because this Spanish-speaking island is controlled by the United States government -- no doubt a politically charged decision. I think we should not be alarmed by Santorum but concerned about his proposal, which of course is not a new idea but one which tends to sting for Spanish-speakers and Puerto Ricans. As a long-time resident of the state of Pennsylvania, and of voting age and registered for nearly 10 years, I have never heard of Santorum referred to by this name, Senador Puertorriqueño. In regards to enforcing English as the only acceptable language for the proposed state, it should be known that the United States does not have an official language. Decisions regarding the statehood of Puerto Rico should not be determined by English-language policy, or proposition.

This is because the issues are separate, and should remain separate in my opinion, and making the shift from bilingual to monolingualism is a transition heavily affected by development, education and globalization. Development in the sense that the nation has little room to thrive and grow economically in its current world standing. Puerto Rico has but one seat in congress which is not given a vote. It would be wise to propose nationhood for a place that has been continuously robbed and oppressed culturally and linguistically for the last 500 years! Languages hold power and help define who we are as people. With the loss of Spanish in Puerto Rico, what else is lost? With statehood what is gained? How will education be affected and how would such a grandiose shift occur rapidly enough for Puerto Rico to maintain itself? It seems that there is a yearning from the United States to consistently erase any difference between it's borders that could threaten the already-established organizational patterns established to maintain power. We should reconsider the scope of international influence. Through what lens are we, as educators and people interested in development, to view Puerto Rico? I think we might also view Santorum's efforts as a way to speak to other states, since he inevitably must have known he was destined to lose the Puerto Rican vote -- was he not speaking to a difference audience through this English-only message? I think that Puerto Rico will continue to stay dependent on the United States if they move for state hood, and especially if they heed the advice of Santorum in embracing an English-only stance. I doubt that either will happen in the near future.

The Progress of Education in Latin America

Photograph: Manu Dias/AGECOM Bahia

Moving Latin American Education Forward

Latin Business Chronicle

February 15, 2012

By Gabriel Sanchez Zinny
Citation: http://tinyurl.com/7jahvuo

In the last few decades, Latin America has fared poorly in various international educationtesting assessments. The most well-known, the Program for International Student Assessment, administered by the OECD most recently in 2009, only included nine countries in the region, but the results were not encouraging, as these nine participants finished somewhere between 44th and 63rd place, out of 65 countries tested. Chile placed at the top of the region, with Uruguay close behind, but both countries still ranked well below average. However, there are encouraging signs of education reform in Latin America, and they provide a foundation for improving education throughout the region—a daunting but feasible and necessary task.

Article clipped; see link above for full version

Despite the low grades that Latin America has received on international education testing assessments, there has been a surge in funding for education throughout the region. In the past several years, Latin America nations have, individually, spent about $200 billion per year on education and as a region has received more than $5 billion from multi-lateral organizations. Their approach to education has also recently changed. Once focused on school attendance and retainment of students, ministries of education are now concentrating on investing in the quality of schools. Primarily they are beginning to follow the models of their fellow global nations like Singapore, Finland, and South Korea. Studies in these countries have shown that teachers are the essential school based factor that influences achievement rates of students.

As a result of the large amount of funds required to propel these ventures, Latin America have seen a new set of investors join the education scene. Business companies and other organization have stepped up in order to address these educational woes, providing support when public sectors do not have the resources or capital. Organizations like Argentina's EducAr 2050, Mexicanos Primeo, and Brazil's Todos Pela Educacao, are promoting the value of stronger curricula and effective teachers by integrating improved management skills and introducing technology into the classroom. It is the hope of these regional programs and initiatives to not only provide better support to the education system, but to also improve the learning conditions and quality of education for future generations.

When I initially read this article I was skeptical of Latin America's tactics to solve their problems with the quality of education in their respective countries. Immediately their intentions were good, to invest large sums of money in their education system. However their quick reactions only fulfilled their short term goals. When Latin American countries' focus shifted from short term to long term, they refined their approach and found global models that produced the results that they desired. Even then I was wary of their choice to have outside education systems be the model of achievement for their own. The last time I read an article about Latin America modeling other more "developed" nations' education systems, it ended in protesting on the streets in Chile (see my post Hidden Strife within Chile's Education System). However I was pleasantly surprised that, unlike the case of Chile, less government involvement and more private initiative seem to not only support the financial aspects of education reform, but also the personal side of education.

For me this article touched upon many of the same issues and concerns seen in Jaime's post The Case for Local Business Support for Education in Nicaragua. These companies took an interest in promoting education reform not just because it would improve the achievement of students, but that improving the quality of education now could lead to many other long lasting results. The benefits that society could reap from these investments could transcend present time and support the success of future generations. While this article focused more on national organizations rather than local ones, I feel that the concepts are very much similar. This sense of nationalism and pride propelled these organizations to take a calculated risk and invest in the future of their country's education system in hopes that the results generated would indeed produce an overall benefit to society and not just improve one set of achievement statistics.

Breaking Gender Stereotypes in Latin America

Mathematics and Women: Breaking a Vicious Cycle

By Claudia Uribe and Hugo Nopo

Inter-American Development Bank

March 8, 2012

Citation: http://tinyurl.com/7yakjop

All over the world, girls seems to struggle with mathematics and science more than boys, and Latin America is no exception. Studies show that from a young age girls perform below boys on math and science tests, and this gap widens with age. More efforts are needed to understand the causes behind differential performance, how it might relate to observed patterns of gender segregation later in life (particularly in the labor market), and how it can be addressed through education.

(Article clipped, see link for full version)

This article indicates the issues that girls face in math and science learning, and points to how education can help lessen this gap between boys and girls. The article highlights that in some countries like China, girls and boys' performance in math and science is equal; however, recent brain imaging indicates that differences in brain structure and function could allow for different learning patterns in boys and girls. Due to these differences, a variety of education strategies need to be taken into account to provide extra support for girls in math and science education. However, the article also focuses on the gender-based stereotype that girls face ("engineering is for men," "girls hate math"), and how this impacts girls' views of themselves as well as teacher's view of female capabilities. Gender-based preferences in labor also continue into adulthood, where women choose jobs that are either "women's work" or segregate themselves into certain niches (like being nurses instead of doctors). In a 2009 PISA evaluation in Latin America, boys did better than girls in math and science on average, and this gap only increases with age. In order for this challenge to be overcome, stereotypes need to be disbanded, more female math and science teachers are needed, and parenting styles need to be altered.

To preface this post, I'll provide a bit of background on a important concepts: Functionalism, Neo-Marxism, and Feminist Perspectives, which have been creeping into my daily life ever since I became a graduate student here at UPenn. Functionalism basically states that society is a complex system, and everyone does their own part in order for it to function (think a Ford Factory assembly line). Neo-Marxism essentially critiques Functionalism, and addresses how social class unfairly impacts everything. Feminist perspectives, as I understand them (check out the book School and Society by Feinberg and Soltis; I know it's a boring academic read, but trust me, you'll definitely learn something!), address gender-based stereotypes about math and science in the classroom, and assumptions based on gender that occur in the home. First, I want to comment on the section of the article that focuses on the differences of the male and female brain structure and function. I am not disputing science; however, I think that despite the good intention behind including this information in the article (ie: evidence which promotes innovative education strategies for girls), that the information about girls' math and science education in parts of Asia and Europe contradict it. For example, in Singapore, Sweden, and China, girls are on par or perform better than boys in math and science. Instead of focusing on differences that are evident in brain imaging, perhaps we should be focusing on what exactly is occurring in these classrooms and cultures that is positively affecting girls' math and science education.

Next, I want to comment on this issue around gender-based stereotypes for girls in math and science. This article points out that girls perceive math and science as fields dominated by men, and that teachers have a certain perception about girls in math and science. Since fewer girls take part in math and science, sexist assumptions what women are incapable of entering these fields are perpetuated, and this can even affect girl's self-esteem, causing them to underestimate their own abilities for fear of challenging these assumptions which they have internalized. I'm naturally bad at math, and as a child, I definitely played right into this stereotype. But even one of my best friends, who is an engineer, had to contend with these issues for most of her academic life. Given these examples, my question is how can one really alter culturally based stereotypes? After all, machismo is quite prevalent in Latin American culture. In fact, an interesting study was done evaluating how many Latin American men and women agreed with the statement "a woman's place is in the home," (see: http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata77.htm). The Inter-American Development Bank article suggests that stereotypes can be challenged by using critical examination of gender roles. Based on my research of the SAT program in Nicaragua, I would say that this point does carry some weight. For example, the SAT curriculum, does indeed help men and women confront issues surrounding gender in Latin America. Women in the program have actually sat down with their husbands and asserted themselves, and because of how it is written, the husbands actually understand!

However, as the article indicates, another major problem is that most math and science teachers are men. Therefore, girls don't have many female teacher role models who are strong and proud of their math and science achievements. Given machismo and other cultural aspects that fuel stereotypes, how can girls truly be encouraged to become math and science teachers in Latin America? Finally, the article indicates that part of the problem with gender-based stereotypes lies at home, where traditional attitudes are displayed about women's roles in the household. The article advocates giving children equal roles in the household, but this seems easier said than done.

There is no doubt that this is a serious problem that many girls in Latin America face. I just wonder what can really be done about it.

Culture and Knowledge Transmission in Nicaragua

Reinforcing the transmission of Mayangna culture, knowledge and language

By Natural Sciences Sector

UNESCO Media Services

January 25, 2012

Citation:

http://tinyurl.com/7zdeqry

Like many other indigenous peoples, the Mayangna people of the BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve, Nicaragua are concerned about the erosion of their culture, language and knowledge. Around the world, indigenous people are experiencing rapid social, cultural and environmental change. While this change may offer new opportunities, it may also put at risk their rich cultural heritage by disrupting the processes by which indigenous culture, language and knowledge are transmitted.

(Article Clipped, See Link for Full text)

Due to globalization, indigenous groups are frequently faced with changing social and cultural interactions that lead to new and exciting opportunities; however, globalization may threaten their indigenous cultural background. This UNESCO article deals with indigenous knowledge in Nicaragua from a biodiversity standpoint, since indigenous peoples play an integral role in maintaining environmental biodiversity and protecting the environment form exploitation. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that indigenous knowledge is preserved. The article indicates how the Mayangna indigenous group solicited support from UNESCO's LINKS program to aid them in preserving their local indigenous knowledge about biodiversity in today's globalized world. First, the Mayangna recorded knowledge on natural history, habitats, invasive species, their language, and legends into a book, which they hoped would be incorporated into the Mayangna educational system. In fact the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua recognizes the importance of adapting curriculum and education to local contexts, especially for indigenous children. Members of MINED are working in conjunction with Mayangna educators to adapt and develop curriculum materials, such as teachers guides and textbooks. After a pilot phase and final phase complete with monitoring and evaluation, this project proved successful and will attempt to integrate Mayangna knowledge and culture into the new national curriculum.

I thought that this article was interestingly juxtaposed against my post last week about the Mayans in Mexico and their need to modernize. Unlike the Mexican government, which just went in and built new homes in an attempt to allow the Mayans to live a more modernized life (typical), I found that I was very pleased by the actions of the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua in their treatment of the Mayangna indigenous group (despite the fact that I've never heard of the Mayangna people in all my time in Nicaragua...which is curious). What this article says to me is that perhaps globalization does not have to equate to the death of indigenous culture. Especially if we're talking about environmental conservation and preserving biodiversity, we need to think about ways to preserve this local indigenous knowledge. For so many centuries, indigenous tribes have been taking care of our planet and living in harmony with the environment. Because of this, as the article points out, indigenous communities house "80% of Earth's remaining healthy ecosystems." From an environmentally conscious standpoint then, it is imperative to consider local indigenous knowledge if people want to preserve what biodiversity we have left on the planet.

However, beyond being an article about indigenous people's importance in the realm of preserving biodiversity, I thought this article implicated the importance and possibility of integrating local knowledge into education at a national level, allowing for a dialogue between the traditional and the modern in Nicaragua. With UNESCO acting as an intermediary, the Mayangna logged all of their local knowledge and customs in their own language into a book, which needs to be incorporated into the Mayangna curriculum in order to ensure the transmission of Mayangna knowledge. However, more than that, the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua has actively been working alongside the Mayangna people through education in order to support their local knowledge and culture. While there are obviously many challenges ahead that both the Mayangna and MINED have to face in order to fully integrate Mayangna knowledge and language into the national curriculum, the fact that the Ministry does make indigenous knowledge a priority and engages in dialogue with indigenous peoples is an important first step. As someone studying development, I feel like all we talk about sometimes is how difficult it is to establish collaboration with the people in order to ensure equity in education and development, especially given the context of globalization. Really, a lot of the discussing I have as someone trying to navigate the world of development make me want to bash my head against a wall sometimes. Even my idealization of local knowledge construction has been dashed (after all, we have to ask the question of who exactly is constructing local knowledge?). Despite all this, in the context of educational development regarding indigenous people, I think that Nicaragua is on the right track.

Peace Corp Pulls Volunteers out of Honduras: 1 Week Later

Honduras Peace Corp Withdrawal: Volunteer Pullout Comes as Blow

The Huffington Post

By Freedy Cuevas and Adriana Gomez Licon

January 18, 2012
Citation: http://huff.to/GJuvSp

 

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The U.S. government's decision to pull out all its Peace Corps volunteers from Honduras for safety reasons is yet another blow to a nation still battered by a coup and recently labeled the world's most deadly country.

Neither U.S. nor Honduran officials have said what specifically prompted them to withdraw the 158 Peace Corps volunteers, which the U.S. State Department said was one of the largest missions in the world last year.

It is the first time Peace Corps missions have been withdrawn from Central America since civil wars swept the region in the 1970s and 1980s. The Corps closed operations in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1991 and in El Salvador from 1980 to 1993 for safety and security reasons, but has since returned to both countries

It is no secret that for all of Central America's beauty and mystique, it is tainted by violence. Equally, it is well-known that many US groups have developed organizations aimed to combat this issue through different, dynamic educational programs. However, a week ago the US Peace Corp made the decision to withdraw volunteers from Honduras, which as the author explains, has come as a "blow". While similar withdraws have occurred in the past, most notably in Nicaragua and El Salvador, for safety and security reasons, for now projects in water sanitation, working with youth and HIV prevention are on hold in Honduras as drug-related crime has recently spiraled seemingly out-of-control. The move comes after a 27-year-old volunteer was shot in the leg Dec. 3rd during an armed robbery, and after a robbery and rape that occurred in late January of another volunteer. It is noted that this is a difficult time for Honduran NGO's (clearly) and that additionally, aid from Spain was "drying up" due to that country's own debt issues. A 2011 UN report states that Honduras has more violence than any other country in the world! It is unclear what effect these various changes will have on the Corp agency, and no other groups have pulled out as of yet (for more info. on this topic in Central America, see this article: El Salvador/Crime/Education)

I understand that the number one priority is the safety of the volunteers, and also, in turn, the reputation of the Peace Corps however violence is crippling education efforts leading to reports of rape, robbery, and other random acts of violence that operations no longer continue on a normal basis with Honduras in its' the current state. This is a United States government organization -- it would be incredibly irresponsible, and reprehensible, to maintain operations at the current level. However, the organizations departure from the Central American nation signals a message to the government of Honduras to take action.

As history reveals, the Peace Corp has reacted similarly in other countries, for example, in Nicaragua when the government was going through sharp changes in regime in the early 1990's, and it was simply too a dangerous place to live and work for expats and international volunteers. Bluntly put, this current situation is tragic from any perspective. People wanting to help in a place that so direly needs assistance, but halted, because the situation is actually so bad, that it is dangerous: this is the Peace Corp worker reality in Honduras at the present state. The authors report from Mexico and Guatemala, which is ironic that they too are outside of the country.

We need to consider this case in context of the value of human life. For the last 2 years I have worked as a teacher and most recently, as the Director of Adult Programs for a non-profit in the Nicaragua called the Barrio Planta Project. All humans experience violence but the amount of expose can certainly increase as expats living and working in Nicaragua. For a former co-worker her experience was enough to encourage her to quit her position and leave the country. She took a job in Guatemala and is now working in Antigua, which is relatively safer than other areas of that country but certainly not immune to the same problems found throughout Central America in terms of drug-related violence. I am lucky that nothing has ever happened to me, and I continue to make what I consider to be "smart choices". However, this organization has large implications beyond the individual level and their efforts in development, as United States citizens acting as educational ambassadors with countries around the world. What is the impact of cutting services and which services are specifically affected? 

Hidden Strife within Chile's Education System

Photograph: Juan Carlos Cardenas/EPA/Landov

Chile student protests point to deep discontent

BBC News, Santiago

August 11, 2011

By Gideon Long

Citation: http://tinyurl.com/3udmf46

Chile is usually regarded as one of the most orderly and stable countries in South America, so the images that have come out of the capital, Santiago, in recent days have been especially shocking.

Thousands of high school and university students have marched through the capital's streets, as well as those of other major cities, demanding a radical overhaul of the education system.

Invariably the demonstrations have ended in violent clashes between masked youths and police officers armed with tear gas and water cannon.

The scenes have been reminiscent of the pro-democracy protests of the 1980s, when Chileans clashed with the forces of General Augusto Pinochet.

Article clipped; see link for full version.

On several occasions in August of 2011, thousands of Chilean students and citizens took to the streets to protest the nation's current education system. For such a "stable" Latin America country, the protests turned quickly violent as Chileans and police clashed ultimately ending in hundreds of arrests and injuries to citizens, policemen, and property. The backlash that the Chilean education system finally received has been masked by its relatively high educational standards in comparison to its Latin American neighbors. However, citizens believe that there are deeper inequalities being perpetuated by the education system. A large blame for these inequalities is placed on the structure of schools. The majority of schools in Chile are privately run, either tuition or voucher based, a much smaller percent are state-run institutions. The unavailability of financial resources amongst Chile's poor and lack of public education has, in the eyes of Chileans, given an unfair advantage to those wealthier citizens. Their call for an end to for profit education has been met by the Chilean government with skepticism and insistence that this demand cannot be met. With the government’s current plan to re-organize and their approval rate rapidly declining, they will have to confront this issue of “educational apartheid.”

Taking a closer look at this issue in Chile, one can see how the social oppressions occurring throughout society have transcended into a contentious problem. From a Neo-Marxist perspective, despite the economic growth that Chile has experienced in the last 10 years, Chilean citizens feel that that the education system has either stagnated or deteriorated during that same time span. When one considers that the increase in revenue could have been put to use to further improve the nation and address the social concerns of its public. Some analysts figure that Chile's embrace of a radical free market has caused this led to a general sense of unease despite the revitalizing affect that it has had on the economy. This makes one questions whether economic success and wealth can in reality lead to development in the face of such social oppressions.

Another point to be learned from this case study is the government's tactic to resolve this issue. Ministry leaders claim that the education system is indeed flawed, but insists that it is not a failure. They look to reorganize the system after successful European models that do have a fair distribution of private and publicly funded schools. However, the nations that they are looking towards as examples, the Netherlands and Belgium, do not have the underlying socio-economic inequalities that are present in Chilean society. My question to the Chilean government would be how do you plan on addressing the central issue, the socio-economic gap, if the model you are recreating does not have and did not address such an issue? Especially since your attempt to model other country's economies has not helped your overall nation's situation. Clearly this social unrest is speaking to larger volumes of underlying issues present in society and something is going to eventually give.

UNIALBA Higher Education System: Socialism or Functionalism?

Logo ALBA: Argentina Indymedia

LATINAMERICA: Higher education integration for bloc

University World News

August 14, 2011

Citation: http://tinyurl.com/82w8knd

Member states of Latin America's left-leaning political bloc known as Alba are organising to create an integrated higher education system. The eight participating nations aim to pool resources with a view to strengthening their universities. But the initiative, which has a strong socialist and anti-US agenda, has come in for widespread criticism.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, or Alba - which includes among others the governments of Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba - was founded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in December 2004.

The alliance's higher education integration initiative was announced in Nicaragua in June and emphasises strengthening universities and sharing advances made with each of the member countries.

But while pooling resources in higher education is a positive step, according to Kevin Casas Zamora (pictured), a former Costa Rican vice-president and political analyst with the Brookings Institution, it is dangerous when linked to a political agenda.

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Members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, as known as ALBA, are proposing a collaborative higher education system. It is their hope that by pooling all of their resources together that these eight nations will be able to form a network of universities that will support the demand for more venues of higher education in their respective countries. However, this proposal has gained a significant amount of criticism because of the political agenda that is often associated with such projects accomplished through this alliance. In this case, how can education and free thought be fostered in an environment laden with stringent socialist and anti-U.S. ideologies. Not only does the underlying "education" seem to be problematic, but also the coordination of a cohesive curriculum and grading structure. While ministry officials from the two main countries, Cuba and Venezuela, assure that the a unified, integrated system is possible, critics remain skeptical of the accomplishment of such a large venture.

With this type of politically driven university system it is important to consider the role that education will play outside of the institution of learning. Now from a functionalist perspective one could see how this system would easily be able to satisfy the needs within both local and national contexts. However, the implications of this UNIALBA system could have more complex and global implications. It is hard to ignore that these ALBA nations would use this system to propagate the standard set of norms supported by a socialist society. This system has been presented by ALBA ministry officials as a way to not only open up more opportunities for their citizens to learn and grow, but also as a way to preserve what they believe to be their values and beliefs. Within UNIALBA, their way of life could be culturally and socially reproduced. (see

http://tinyurl.com/c87jnx5)

While this may be a very rational response preserve the common identity of these nations, their socialist and anti-U.S. views might support a narrow minded world view. Not only could this type of curriculum be designed to eliminate all opposing ideas, but it could also present a space to openly challenge relations with other non-socialist countries within and outside of Latin America. These are the types of questions that need to be raised in order to solicit the true nature of this education system. What consequences will this type of education system have on these Latin American citizens? Will their underlying political agenda pose a threat to other Latin American countries? One might even go further to see if the support for these ideologies on such an immense scale does pose a threat to U.S. national security?