“eso es el INEPE, queridas compañeras”

today was maybe one of the coolest experiences of my life. i went to INEPE, a school in south quito, the poorest part of the city. INEPE is a really good private school but everyone pays what they are able, so kids from the barrio go there, along with some middle-class kids too. the kids whose parents can’t pay at all repair things at the school on saturdays or work in the organic greenhouse which raises food for the free breakfasts and lunches at school.

in addition to traditional classes at the school, even the youngest ones take english, and there are dance and art groups. also, a big part of the curriculum is “formacion humana” which is where they learn important values, foster a culture of community and taking care of the school and of themselves (they have showers at the school, so that the kids who don’t have water in their house can bathe before school), learn to criticize and self-criticize, ask questions (why do i live in poverty? what can i do to change it?). and i don’t think ive seen happier children in my life. i seriously cant describe how bursting with joy the whole place is.
there are 580 students at the school and 92 workers. many of the workers are former maids or unemployed parents of the kids at the school, who receive training from the school to become art teachers, cooks, nursery caregivers, etc. many other workers are former students, who received scholarships from the school to go to universities, then come back to be teachers, secretaries, or administrators. in fact, there is a former student administrator for every grade level who do frequent evaluations of the teachers and students. the curriculum is not planned far in advance but is specialized for the needs of individual students and the group as a whole, and is really about empowering students. i don’t know that ive ever seen any sort of organization so well run and so sustainable.

(one of) my dream future(s) = finding a partner with similar values, living in a community with many needs, identifying one of those needs and developing something awesome to help alleviate the problem without compromising any of our values. and the director of the school and his wife have seriously done all that. in the late 70s, as hippies recently married, they started a youth organization for kids of quito barrios, and it spread all over the country. they began to have kids and decided to start a school for their kids and their neighbors to raise their kids with good values and a good education in an area that had no good public schools. the community lent them a house, and the first school had only 8 kids in it. as time went on, the kids from their youth organization became professionals and began to donate their time to the school and it began to grow. during the late 80s when lots of NGOs began to come here, they looked into getting funding but never felt it was right because they didn’t want to compromise their values for the objectives of an NGO. for 14 years, the school was totally volunteer run, but now a french NGO, which has a similar vision, funds them well. i think i could be absolutely happy working in that school (or starting one like it) for the rest of my life...