Argentina: Improving Children Access to Education

ACDI, together with local organizations, promotes revaluing culture by implementing recreational activities in educational institutions.

Culture is enriched by the constant practice of ancestral traditions and the transmission of knowledge through generations, therefore the importance of rescuing collective memory to strengthen cultural  identity.

In this framework, in Caimancito, Jujuy Province, together with the families of the “Yaeka Yanderaikuere” Guarani community; “Juan José Pasos- No. 427” Primary Schooland the “Protection Agency for Adolescent Children and Families” (OPD) we designed conjunct actions to celebrate the festivities of the “Aboriginal Communities week”. 

Activities were planned and carried out in order to integrate the Guarani culture into the educational space, seeking to revalue it with the active participation of the members of the community (Creoles and aborigines). The activities were developed didactically, so that children could learn about the Guarani culture through games and words. Together with the physical education teachers, games were played to learn more about the Guarani language (native language). In addition, there were integration activities so that the students could appropriate some words and also significant concepts for their culture, such as the Pachamama ritual.

The Pachamama ritual is a ceremony where a series of offerings are made to celebrate the protection and fertility of mother nature; to remember that everything we have, comes from the earth. In the province of Jujuy, this ritual  consists of digging a hole to feed and drink the Pachamama. Coca leaves, chicha, alcohol and cigarettes are deposited. Then, these offerings are covered with earth and wine. To complete the ceremony, the participants hold hands to express the spirit of brotherhood that reigns, and dance around the already covered hole, to the sound of the box, flute and copla reciting.

We believe that promoting the integration of the community in educational spaces enriches cultural identity and the sense of belonging, which is so important to preserve and transmit Guarani culture in younger populations.