La Paz is Peace

This morning we had the distinct honor of visiting La Paz school in Rosario. The escuela is located about twenty minutes from the downtown area. The neighborhood is, as Eliana described, "the slums of Rosario." We had no idea what kind of experience we were in for, but it was an experience I will never forget.

We were warmly greeted at the gated entrance to the school by the school´s director. She began by telling us that first we would be visiting a fifth grade class. She let us know that the class had been discussing sexuality and discrimination. We were told that the students learned that hands are good and bad. They can touch us warmly and they can also hurt us. When we entered the classroom we were met with the smiling faces of about 30 uniformed students. The teacher asked the students to share with us what they had learned in today´s lesson. It seemed like a very normal classroom setting, but in reality, it was not.

Our next stop was to an empty classroom where we gathered, sitting in very small chairs at small tables. We shared coffee and coffee cakes and listened intently as the director explained the mission of the La Paz school. She told us that the students came from very poor families. Most of their homes don´t have indoor plumbing. The students come from homes where they experience violent abuse and the school provides a shelter and haven for them. They eat at the school, wear the school uniforms and use the school bathrooms. She said the students knew that we were coming today and wanted to be very clean and proper for our visit. As a result, part of the week was spent with students bathing and cleaning up at the school.

Then the director explained the application process for the school. On the day of registration, families line up in the street. The first twenty children in line are accepted into the school. The other five students in the class come from families who were in line but have the greatest needs. Sometime it is economic need, sometime it is psychological need. The first grade welcomes 25 students each year. The school provides many of the physical and emotional needs for the children. They buy toys and food.

Friday mornings are workshop days. The students have hands-on experiences in which they can apply what they have learned. They use math skills in cooking and music. We had an opportunity to visit the radio workshop. An employee at a nearby radio station comes each week to help the students prepare news items for a radio show and a newspaper as well.

All morning, there were hugs for the students from their teachers. The director hugged students and staff as she walked through the halls. She said the hope at La Paz school is that they are able to change the lives of their students-to give them opportunities. One of their mottos is ¨because you have less, does not mean that you are less.

We walked a few blocks to their new gymnasium. With funding from the Universidad del Centro Educativo Latinoamericano and from the United States, a gym was built two years ago. There is a public city club that the school can use, but the director told us that often there are drunks who come in during the day and they wanted a safe place for the students to play and have gym classes.

We all hugged the director when we left. I truly felt like I had met an angel. Her dedication, her love of those children and her dream that they would have a better life because of La Paz. She truly is an angel of Peace.