Literacy in Amazonian Perú:
Teaching in the Community of San Pedro de Mangua, Loreto, Perú
A single row of thatch roofs houses connected by well worn footpaths line the thin strip of land between the Amazon rainforest and the
San Pedro is a true community. People care for their neighbors, no one worries about their children being abducted on the way to school, and there is no hyper materialism, liked that inflicted on many individuals in American culture. There is an understanding of the connection to the earth as an entity which provides sustenance. At first glance, the community may seem like an isolated time capsule of a bucolic life from the past, but with the growing presence of globalization, the needs of the community are quickly changing and the agricultural lifestyle is threatened by an invasive industrial economy.
Many young people in San Pedro say they want to leave the rural communities to work in the city, however, many of them inevitably stay in their communities since there is often no other option. My host mom told me she and her husband decided to move to San Pedro in order for their children to have the opportunity to go to secondary school.
Truly, the only way to develop a life outside of the rural communities is to finish secondary school and go on to university or a vocational school. Taking this cultural trend into account, I ask myself, “What is the goal of literacy? Should literacy be a tool used only to leave the rural lifestyle behind?” For some, this may be the objective of literacy, however, I think literacy can further strengthen the sense of identity and improve the community through a grassroots mobilization. As education philosopher Paulo Freire writes in 1970:
“In fact, those who, in learning to read and write, come to a new awareness of selfhood and begin to look critically at the social situation in which they find themselves, often take the initiative in acting to transform the society that has denied them this opportunity of participation. Education is once again a subversive force.”
The emergence and pervasiveness of the global market makes education all the more important since it promises to liberate and empower people and communities. Imposition of outsider religious and social beliefs has altered the culture in Amazonian Perú. For example, most communities used to have a plethora natural healers like curanderos (healers), parteras (midwives), and sobadores (bonesetters). With outside influence denouncing many of these useful cultural practices, many communities are left without ways to care for themselves.
Today, the people of the Amazon region are exploited by conflicts over resources like oil
and lumber which are fueled by the “war on drugs” and allegiances between
Literacy should not simply be seen as a way out of the rural life, rather it should be used as a tool to prevent further resource depletion and violation against indigenous cultures. For example, the trash problem that now exists in many Amazon communities did not exist in the past, when local cultural practices reigned. It used to be that all prepared food was wrapped in a giant leaf and after use was discarded; the wrapping would bio-degrade. Now plastics and batteries make their way into the communities and people discard them in the same way, but the plastic and metal materials will never bio-degrade. New solutions and understanding of these new waste products is necessary for the people’s survival. The advent of globalization without education suppresses the quality of life for communities like San Pedro. Literacy education empowers people to understand issues, like trash management, so that they can initiate positive change for themselves and their environment. It’s important to note, that literacy is not a way out of a rural lifestyle; it is a way to understand the community’s connections with the global marketplace.
I had the opportunity to join the wonderful community of San Pedro for a summer as an elementary school teacher. I felt safe and accepted in the community and fell in love with the people, the environment, and the lifestyle. It was an eye-opening experience to observe the education system during a time when literacy has truly become a crucial aspect in this community. The most poignant discovery I made was to understand how power struggles between the masses and the government are manifested in the lack of funding for rural public schools, the absence of teacher support and training programs, and centralism which all contribute to unequal distribution of literacy education throughout the country, especially in the Amazon region.
After two months of working with the students and teachers in San Pedro, I left with many mixed emotions. My feelings about the politics surrounding education are complex. I recognize that as globalization continues to expand to all parts of the world, there is now more than ever a need to promote culturally applicable literacy programs. In Perú, these programs should be designed specifically to meet the needs of different regions of the country. That is, the national curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education has no applicability in the Amazon region.
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