La Escuelita en marcha

After 2 weeks of a fairly intensive training with the Mobile School crew reflecting and playing around key themes like self esteem, creativity and recreational therapy with children in the street context, we finally took to the streets with La Escuelita!

Not only was today an unusual day because we are not normally out Mondays but we also arrived lumbered with a rather large coach on wheels. To access our usual spot we also had to run up a narrow street en contravia (but hey…) making a huge detour around the Plaza attracting quite a lot of the Plaza´s locals´(shoe shiners, drinkers, retiree) attention…A quick reminder: the Mobile School is a large green square (on which one can draw with chalk), that measures when opened-up at its full capacity some 1.50 meters and weighs some 400kgs. The weight of the beast is linked to the sturdiness of its beauty no doubt but also to the 250 panels it contains tackling critical themes for children such as alphabetization, nutrition, creativity, health, etc.

So we arrived, after having distributed this morning a few ¨pulgitas¨ inviting the kids to attend our new session, a little late…as dressing up la Escuelita for the day takes some time! One needs to think about what (theme/game) to put where, how much of what: a little more concentration tasks, or a few more drawing games…what the heck! But perhaps a little more calculation could be challenging, or associating colours, simply fun. Once geared for the occasion and the required number of hands had arrived, we reeled our new gem across the city-centre, stopping traffic (being a 6foot2 ¨gringa¨ helps at times!) and asking for local police´s help for crossing, we eventually made it some 20mns late.

The kids ran up to some of us, a little perplexed, asking what it was we had there, what was inside, what they could do, and even what they needed to do…Funny how there is no age for routine. Once it was all unraveled to them, the kids made their way around & about, perusing the options and stopping here & there. Needless to say our tent along with the few books we have available for consultation were a pretty ¨unsexy¨ offer next to la Escuelita! Most of our Fe y Alegria students together with a few of our pedagogues were posted at different games to lead or support the kids in their election and explain to them how to play when unclear.

The interesting concept about this whole Mobile School really is, self-learning. One can choose to do so in groups, pairs or even alone. Kids can freely walk about, pick up an activity, give the wheel a spin, try their luck and just move on. Nothing holds them to it, beyond their personal interest, and that is the key to our real challenge.

So, la Escuelita won the hearts of quite a few of them today, a few we know well actually. These are kids who mainly accompany their parents in their daily jobs when outside of school, if they don´t work themselves…which means they spend most of their days in close vicinity, on the street. This school could become their new friend as we have just been approved our extension to 10 hours weekly. A few of their parents passed by too and mentioned how they thought it was an ingenious idea- indeed it is a great concept, and we are super chuffed to have been elected a Mobile School ¨carrier/holder/messenger¨ here in Ecuador!

The next step is to find a safe little shed close bye for la Escuelita so that we can move the beauty with ease without rushing her around unsafely. And the next real exciting challenge is to ensure we integrate this comprehensive didactic gem to our activities in a creative and dynamic manner as it has unbelievable capacities to contribute to expanding our kids ‘realities as well as imaginaries.

Keep watching this space as we take new directions...