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
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