Thursday, May 20, 2010

Young.org.pe

published in blowbackonline 5.16.2010

In 2002, there were only two intercollegiate organizations led by people younger than 30 in Lima, Peru. Today, there are more than 200 organizations in Peru founded and led by people who have not started or are just beginning their professional life.

In Peru, “young” is no longer synonymous with inexperienced; emboldened with new communication technology, young Peruvians are finding innovative ways to tackle one of the country’s greatest challenges – an education system that is on par with Haiti’s.

But why now?, I asked Álvaro Henzler – executive director of Enseña Perú, the Peruvian version of Teach for America. “It’s not that I am crazy,” he explained, “or that I am better or worse than my siblings (who pursued more traditional career paths) it’s just that the country’s context is permitting these types of things.”

In the last 30 or 40 years, he explained, Peru has experienced a profound political, social, and economical abyss. For 40 years, there has always been a feeble element in the social-political-economical axis. In the midst of so much instability, the priority was survival and social endeavors like Enseña Perú did not pay any money. Fujimori (president 1990-2000) for example, was very successful in boosting our economy and ending terrorism, but his rule was marked by a democratic deficit.

Since the year 2000, Álvaro affirms, the three elements of this axis have grown stronger, and people have begun to love their country in a different way: they have discarded the developing country dream of working to climb out of a hole, and instead work to build something since there is no hole. Goals cease to be distant accomplishments that will be enjoyed solely by future generations, and become checkpoints that can be reached in the near future and benefit the country these young people are living in today.

Chantal Le Bienvenu, president of the NGO Minkando, explained to me that empowered by this country-wide context, young people today do not feel like they have to wait 20 years until they can do something for their country. The new generation being formed in universities that emphasize social responsibility and promote internships in rural communities wants to get involved today. And using technological media like webpages, facebook, twitter, etc., they can coordinate, promote, and discuss their projects and ideas in ways their parents could only dream of.

“A context marked by more possibilities,” explained Chantal, “brings out the best in people.” “And companies,” she added, “are starting to recognize the value in people that are involved in social projects.”

Chantal and Álvaro, both members of said generation, head two newly-funded NGOs dedicated to improving education in Peru.

Chantal believes in the value of alternative education and highlights the lack of healthy spaces available for children to develop in a more integral manner. Traditional education in Peru, as Chantal points out, is based mostly in the repetitive regurgitation of information that does not take into account each child’s individual needs. Surrounded by poverty, machismo, discrimination, and violence, these children need more than that. Minkando’s volunteers visit some of the poorest communities in the provinces and through interactive games create spaces where each child is valued and learns to relate to others in a more positive manner.

Álvaro thinks the greatest impact is obtained through the teacher in the classroom, and thus works to bring recently graduated students from the best universities to occupy these roles. Enseña Perú’s young leaders are not volunteers; they receive a salary and work full time for two years in schools in Lima and the neighboring Callao. According to Álvaro, Peru ranks highly in cuisine, economy and finance because the most talented Peruvian people got involved in these topics. “To improve our education system,” he concluded, “we have to get the most talented people involved in education so they impact children and train themselves to become leaders in this area.”

But although they are fully committed to their projects, both Álvaro and Chantal agree that their answers to the education problem are part of a bigger whole. “Something different is happening,” Álvaro noted, “because we are thinking less about ourselves and our NGOs and more about how we play a role within a community of agents from various organizations that fulfill an important role in society.”

In a country whose entire history of civilization has been marked by vertical leadership models – the Inca, the viceroyalty, the Roman Catholic Church, military presidencies – rejecting the paternalistic tendency to depend on a “superman” to singlehandedly solve all problems, and instead choosing to create a network of actors to address an issue is truly remarkable.

While in 2002 there were only two intercollegiate groups led by people under thirty, there are now so many NGOs that at least three groups have been formed to create synergies and avoid duplicating efforts. Each organization maintains its independence and focuses on what it does best, but in recognition of common goals, these groups function like platforms for cooperation and communication that potentiate their member NGOs as a network. Enseña Perú and Minkando, for example, belong to Jóvenes por la Educación. “Our parents,” Chantal observed, “could never have started coordinating bodies like this because they depend too heavily on internet resources.”

Many of these NGOs even exhibit horizontal leadership structures similar to the ones employed in these coordinating bodies within their organizations. Chantal explained that Minkando is an incubator for new ideas, incorporating input from their volunteers into the visits to the provinces, and even creating new programs suggested by their peers.

Apart from the obvious benefits of working with young people – flexibility in schedule and lack of major responsibilities – Chantal believes there is an added benefit in working with “young talent”: a greater openness to new ideas, creativity, a thirst for adventure. The active role volunteers adopt in Minkando proves how much she values the abilities, commitment and ideas of her peers.

The educational system in Peru is notorious for its hostility and complexity. Álvaro, Chantal, and all those that work with them have taken advantage of a historical opportunity in Peru’s history to rise to the challenge. I think they will be successful not despite their youth, but partly because of it.