My thoughts so far… by Markeda Ann Cottonham – April 4 – Sanare

This has been a great experience so far. I have learned so much history I can’t wait to go back home and teach everyone what I have learned. It all became real to me when we went to the high school and were able to interact with the students. As we began to speak, barriers began to dissolve. The little girl grabbed my hand and guided me to the open activity space and as we held hands a realization swept over me… this was all real… her, Venezuela, BAYGI. And as I realized this realism my heart rejoiced. It wasn’t like I thought the Venezuelan people were less than human it’s just that this is .such a surreal experience. I didn’t let it seep until that moment. She is just like me, I am just like her. This is all a reality and I’m getting a chance to connect with them, that’s pretty cool. So far on this trip we’ve had so many experiences that have been… I don’t want to say life changing because that sounds so corny… but it has, nonetheless, taught me so much and has caused me to open my mind and reexamine my perspective on some things. As a future journalist being able to get others’ opinions on certain topics has really made this trip all the more exciting. We’re not just tourist in a different country, we’re actually being emerged in their culture, in their world. This has defiantly been worth while! Venezuela is a great place with some interesting history, I can’t wait to learn more, connect with more people, explore more places. Venezuela is nothing like I expected, but I am glad that by talking to the locals I was able to clear up some confusion and get to know the real Venezuela.

Eduardo - Sanare - April 3

These past few days have been really fun. I’ve gotten to see, do and experience things I only wished of doing while I was back in Oakland. Everyday we’ve been talking to students and adults about the school system and the Misiones and how they work and a little about the history of Venezuela. Everyone here is open minded and doesn’t discriminate against anybody. Everyone here is about education and equal rights. Education and equal rights for their country and for the entire world. Almost all the people in Venezuela are revolutionists. To me that’s a powerful thing because that means that entire country has unified and that is very unlikely back in the states.
There really are too many things I’ve experienced here that its hard to narrow down and focus on one thing. I’m kind of overwhelmed by the trip. The first day in Venezuela felt like I had been here for about 3 days, so you can imagine the amount of information we receive everyday.
The thing I like the most about the trip is getting to know the people from Venezuela. Getting to know how they live and the things they like to do on their own time. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m interested in learning their culture compared to the culture back home.
I have a lot to say but I can’t seem to get my thoughts together. Ill end this with I like Venezuela and im looking forward to another trip here, maybe on my own time with out chaperones.(not that they made this experience worse because they haven’t, but jus so that I can do other things).

Jose - Sanare - April 3

DAMN! Today was really amazing. Well every day fo me has been amazing. I really have been learning a lot about differences in our educations. To see how Venezuelans really take their education seriously really does motivate me to take my education seriously back at home in the US. People here have repeatedly told me that the people not in schools ARE THE PEOPLE THAT DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR EDUCATION. To me that is powerful because nowadays people don’t appreciate their education, well at least back home. So far this experience has been, I think, one in a life time. Because in these last few days I feel like I have learned so much. About the differences in the education systems in both countries. But I feel like the Venezuelan education system is better because of what they learn in their classrooms is what will really benefit them in their lives and communities. What we are mostly trying to be taught in our schools back in Oakland is most of the time worthless. This experience has helped me to really open my eyes to view things in different perspectives. Like I thought language wouldn’t be a factor for me in Venezuela but you can really tell the differences in the accents and in some words.
Today I can really say was my favorite day because the kids from the high school came to visit us and just really made us have a better experience here and just made me feel real comfortable. I LIKE VENEZUELA A LOT! –Jose Sanchez

Isaac - Sanare - April 2

So far this trip has been the experience of a lifetime. Sharing knowledge and perspective with the kids and teachers of Venezuela has been a real eye opening experience. I think I’ve learned more here in the last four days then I’ve learned in my whole high school career. One thing I have especially enjoyed is learning about their culture and politics. The Venezuelan people are a proud socially conscious group that aren’t afraid to speak their thoughts or keep an open mind. In the last few years these people have really united and fought for what the people want. The rich Venezuelan elite has been trying to keep the people oppressed and under wraps for a long time. It seems to me that their new president, Hugo Chavez, has acted as a modern day savior. Hugo has a bit of a Robin Hood policy that the rich despise but the poor worship. Hugo’s ideas and plans were so taboo to the Venezuelan elite that they actually kidnapped him and told the people he resigned. Now, like I said, the Venezuelans are conscious people, so when this happened they didn’t believe it and they got their president back. I feel this is how we should be in the United States, united. We could learn a great deal from these people, I know I have. I just wish I could share the experiences I have gotten here with the rest of the sleepers.

This Is Why I Teach - Jason - Sanare - April 2

I have so many wonderful experiences running through my mind that I want to share. Every time I travel with students my heart and mind are opened in so many ways. It is great to connect with the community we have created in Venezuela and give that experience to another group of students. We have visited schools, neighborhoods, people and places for the second and third time and it is starting to become familiar. Seeing students from both countries hang out and learn together is always a highlight.
I am learning even more about the community-based projects that are a big part of the Bolivarian Schools. The way they weave together the content and the project and come up with outcomes that directly benefit the community is a model I need to help get started at Oasis.
The student’s eagerness to learn and desire to question is stronger on this trip than ever before. I see questions being answered and lights turning on every time we talk to people in the communities and students in the schools. Most USians have been immersed in media propaganda that paints Venezuela as a bad country with an evil dictator. I am glad the students are getting a different perspective to bring home. My support for Chavez is reassured by what I see happening in Venezuela. He is a model world leader that is truly doing something to help the majority of the people in his country. I have so much more to write but we are off to another school. I miss and love mi novia and am ecstatic to be having a baby.

Peace and Love Jason Gardner

What School Should Be - Day 3 - Sanare - Jeanina

Today we went to a high school called Bolivando La Pastora. Of all the schools we went to this one effected me the most. We divided into groups and got a feel for what they do in their school. The students I spoke with were in their 5th year of school. I learned that the time bC (before Chavez), education wasn’t offered as it is now because schools were only in the main cities, so for those who couldn’t get there worked. La Pastora has been open for 5 years and is about to have their first graduating class. I was taken by the way that the students are appreciative of school. At the same time it makes sense to me because they actually learn things that they can relate to, things that benefit their community. One of the students told me that the parents teachers and students congregate and work out schedules and the material they will be learning. Mostly they learn things about there land, how to take care of it and how to love and take care of each other. I never liked school but if my school was like this I would be all for it. Besides that, I reflected on my self and how much effort I put into what I do. I feel like kids should start taking school more seriously because even though it should be, its not free for everybody. Education is a gift that everybody deserves. The funny thing is people associate education with an actual building. Knowledge isn’t visual. What would be wrong with going outside sitting in a circle with notebooks?...could you not gain the same amount of education with out textbooks and projectors?

Jeanina Ward - April 1, 2009

What We Don´t Learn in the US - Day 3 - Justin

Not to sound repetitive, but our media has been feeding us completely wrong information in order to brainwash our minds and scapegoat others. It has been done countless times these past years. In the United States, all I recieved was information about how Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president now has been doing wrong to his people and the world because he isn’t sharing his country’s resources with the rest of the world. Today, visiting the small high school up in a small town above Sanare, my reality of Hugo Chavez, the people of Venezuela, and the United States changed.
We met up with a group of students, ages anywhere from 12 to 20. They were high school students who were benefiting from Chavez’s re-election. Talking to them at first in our discussion was really interesting. All the kids at the school were extremely motivated and wanting to work. None of the kids there had the usual demeanor that kids in the States had, the unwillingness to be here. When we would ask them, do you like school? They would always reply “yes” with a different reason why they loved school every time.
That really wasn’t the main surprise to me. From prior experience, I’ve realized that those who don’t have the luxury of school has always appreciated school more than those who has had it for their whole lives. The kids at the high school are ecstatic about the fact that they get to go to school and learn, because their parents did not have that opportunity to do so. For that reason, they also had the full support of their parents to do well and succeed in school.
Now, my epiphany of the day. While talking to the kids, we asked them, “What do you appreciate about the school system and what it has done for you?” Their answer was that ever since Hugo Chavez came into power, they have all recieved longer hours in school, and more days in school. Providing each kid that wants an education, an education. That was the first time I got to see first hand the benefits of a Hugo Chavez government and why people in this country loved him so much. The realities of what he has done for his people versus the way that he is portrayed by the United States media is ridiculous. The one thing that really won me about Chavez was him providing a free college education for all those in his country. Speaking to the kids, every single one of them wanted to go to college, and each and every one of them will have that opportunity, as long as they still wanted it. That is ridiculous considering how many people in the United States want to go to college and what they have to pay for it. I know many people that would kill for a college education to benefit their life. I know I would kill for the benefits they have, my estimated tuition next year for college is going to be about $26,000, when every kid here in Venezuela has the opportunity to go for free. It just amazes me what a 3rd world country does for it’s people compared to the most powerful and richest country in the world would do for it’s own.

Juistin Kwok - April 1, 2009

Taking Education Seriously - Day 3 - Sanare - Tiffany

Tiffany-Day 3-Sanare

Today was the best day out of all days that I have been here. My favorite part of the day was going to the highschool in the countryside town of Caspo. I think breaking up into small groups was a great idea. This gave me a chance to really speak up and express my ideas because if I was in a big group I would of never spoke up. While we were in our small groups with the other students from the countryside it made me realize that just because you speak a differeny language from somebody else doesn’t mean that you can’t communicate with them. Communicating can come in all different forms, shapes, and sizes. Today my views on the education system in California that I recieved changed, after I heard the students from Venezuela share their knowledge with me. I believe that their education system is a lot better than ours. I think that it is very sad because we have a lot more resources and technology. I think that one main reason why their education is better than ours is because of the teachers. What I mean by this is that you can tell that the teachers really care about educating their students. One of the teachers today said, “ When we educate these students it is like creating a seed in the soil to give back to Venezuela for the future generations.” On the bus ride while we were on our way to the school I remember asking, “Is there any disadvantages of being educated in the countryside?” The woman replied, “yes” because in the “city life” of Venezuela they have a vast majority of resources that better their education. I beg to differ with this because it’s not the resources that makes the education system better but the desire and passion to want to teach and want to learn. People who complain about not having resources and complain about how this affects their education is B.S. You don’t need a text book to learn, you don’t need a computer to learn, yo don’t a notebook and a pencil to learn, all you need to learn is an “OPEN MIND.” Those other things are just extras that would be nice to have. At City Arts and Tech High School we don’t have text books and we obtain the same and even more knowledge than other schools. Something that I seen today is that these students really take pride in their schooling! Pride is a reality that the students in the San Francisco community need to be beat with to get it implant in their minds so they could implement it in their everyday life.
My ancestors fought for us to have an education and we sit there and complain and complain about how education is boring and worthless when in actuality education is the very thing that is going to open many doors for us and have us soaring high with countless numbers of opportunities. Looking back at my research question which is,
“What impact will Venezuela have on my lifestyle when I arrive back to the U.S.A.?” one thing that I am going to change about my lifestyle is taking more pride in m education. This is because of the education aspect impact that Venezuela has had on me in these past few days. I’m sick and tired of defining the stereotype that Black children take their education for granted. It’s time for a change and I Tiffany Mone't McDonald will be apart of the change. It’s never to late to change! Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today but instead be the change you wish to see. My favorite saying is, You are not finished when you lose, you are only finished when you quit,” and I will not quit but instead start to and continue to strive to be the best that I can be.

- Tiffany McDonald - April 1, 2009

Day 3 - Sanare - Ilisha

Day 3 - Sanare - Ilisha

We began the day late after waking up an hour after we were supposed to since the rooms were so dark. After a rush to get dressed and prepared for the day we went to the posada’s restaurant in order to eat breakfast and get to the bus by 9:30 in order to visit our first group of students in a nearby small town called Caspo, around Sanare. The bus ride there was a scenic and revealing sight of how the countryside rural lifestyle works. There were rows and rows of what I assume were coffee plants and multiple fields among the trees and greenery. Even though my expectations had been hot mornings as a prequel to hotter afternoons it was actually pretty cold on the way there and the cliffs were covered with fog. We reached the school and were met expectedly with shyness from the students who were a total of 75 for the whole school. In order to make integration easier we split into five different groups making sure each of us had someone who was able to speak spanish and translate.
During our talks with the students they explained some of the requirements for them to graduate and it was interesting how the idea of a large project in order to graduate was similar to our own. They talked about how they are split into 5 different project types; for example one will do agriculture focus while another will do a scientific and another will do something that connects with social growth. All projects must be something that will actually better as well as make a change to the community. The students all seemed very mature and were able to explain themselves very well. It was pretty amazing to hear a 13 year old girl describe the complicated dynamics of vermin culture and how it affects the crops around them as well as making growth much more organic and therefore able to produce future generations based on healthy and natural growth.
Though not every single one knew what they wanted to do later on in life many did, and they were working hard to achieve their goals. In order to move forward toward college level education they have to move past the obstacle of living in such rural and isolated settings in order to get to where the next available university is located. It isn’t their lack of motivation that holds them back but the access, it seems very hard to move ahead and stay ahead. What I felt was so great about our discussions with them was the fact that it was a give and take session. We spoke with them and answered as many questions as we could and they answered our questions as well. To listen to them was great though and it gave me insight to how little there is a sense of togetherness and community building and care in our own country.
Afterward we shared and did a community building exercise, something that differed depending on which group you were a part of. Ours happened to be the one where everyone in the group had to get over the rope without speaking and or touching the rope itself or you had to begin again. It was definitely an interesting and scary experience to be picked up and handed over to a crowd of waiting hands on the other side. I had to laugh when I finally touched my feet to the ground in the end.
Our time was pretty short with the students and we left soon after saying good bye. Our next step was to visit downtown Sanare. Our forty minute search for a bakery ended with one of the ones we had passed several times before and we went back to just relax for the rest of the afternoon.
We watched a movie, “Venzuela and the 4th World War,” about Venezuelan politics and government which was really interesting and gave insight on how much corruption can be part of governments when there aren’t ways for things to be balanced between the people and the purpose of the nation. It was pretty sad to see how hard it was for the people to finally feel as if they were being represented fully by someone they had voted in rather then just the people who were rich. I’m looking forward to what we’ll be learning tomorrow.

-Ilisha