What I want most
“I see education as a part of how I relate with others. In my case, respect and warmth are values I’ve learned in school and with my family,” says 16-year-old Luis David, an oftentimes shy junior-high student newly returned to education in the Bolívar Department of Colombia.
The fact he is in school at all is a welcome turn for the adolescent boy who has missed as many as three years of education, due to poverty and instability at home. Unfortunately, Luis’s father does not play an active role in his life and his immediate family consists of his mother, Matilde, and older sister, Dayana. At one juncture, Luis’s family left their home in Cartagena and relocated to the city of Cali for a number of years to live with his grandmother and seek out better opportunities.
However, it was not to be. During this period, young Luis did not attend school and the family situation did not much improve, as the better opportunities they were seeking never came to pass. The struggling family’s time in Cali proved short lived, and soon enough, they were obliged to return to Cartagena. Once back in Cartagena, Luis opted to work with a neighbour, most mornings, fixing dish-washing machines and the like, as well as running errands to earn money to help support his household. Clearly, the rigours, reality and hardships of life in Cartagena had combined to deal Luis and his family a difficult set of cards.
Fortunately, Luis would get a second chance at education. A joint partnership between Education Above All’s Educate A Child programme and the Fundación Pies Descalzos (FPD), the “All in School” project provided just such an opportunity to the beleaguered young boy and his family. Through a robust awareness-raising campaign, comprising radio spots and even TV commercials, Matilde would learn of the All in School initiative underway in her neighbourhood, specifically the flexible-learning module, and enrol both of her children!
Upon entry into the programme, Luis, along with hundreds of other needy children, received a free school-kit and uniform to help facilitate his transition. “I still use my bag! And everything you gave to me…” says Luis with enthusiasm.
Today, Matilde is overjoyed that her children are back in education, saying “This is what I want most; that they learn something every day and improve themselves…”
At the moment, Luis is thriving in education and doing classes 6 and 7 simultaneously, so he can make up for lost time, which is made possible by the flexible-learning initiative of the country’s education ministry. As part of the initiative, marginalised children from diverse populations who face special challenges (Luis is overaged and comes from an Afro-Colombian community) in accessing and being retained in the formal education system qualify for this option. And it is working. Luis’s favourite subject in school is Maths.
“I’m good at it, I really like Maths!” he states emphatically.
Luis’s Maths teacher, Elizabeth Báez Meléndez, remarks “[he] is a kind, warm boy willing to move forward with education, especially in Maths. He has shown interest in the subject and currently it is his favourite… He is a committed student, a fast learner, and willing to work hard to continue with his studies and personal goals, especially to help his mother.”
Looking at a future of renewed possibility, Luis stays focussed on completing and continuing his studies, but reveals his passion for the arts, specifically music. Because of his value system, acquired in school and at home, he sees music as a means to create community, promote coexistence and improve people’s lives.
Luis asserts, “Music has the power to connect with people, and I want to have an impact…”
Still, the journey ahead for Luis is not without its challenges. As he is just now back in school, after having missed so much previously, Luis is often at the older end of the spectrum in his classes, because of that and the fact that he is shy, it can be difficult making friends. In addition, his school is quite a distance away from where he lives. When he can get a ride on motorcycle, it takes him about 20 minutes, but when he is on foot it is a considerably longer journey to school
Nonetheless, Luis is heading in the right direction. If he maintains the positive momentum, he is slated to finish high school in 2026. It is truly remarkable how access to quality primary education can change one’s outlook and the perception of what is possible.
