2023-10-26 08:00:00
The teachers from Escuela Albergue 262 in Guañacos gathered the children together and read them the story “The Magic Ball”, by Susanna Isern. In that place in the north of Neuquén, everyone listened to how a hedgehog granted wishes to the inhabitants of the forest. As if the fable had moved to that place tucked between mountains, at the foot of the Andes Mountains, they began to think about their own desire. They agreed: it was getting to know the sea and it seems that the hedgehog put his quills in and it became a reality.
At the beginning of the year, the teachers went through the so-called setting stage and proposed activities that they would do in the new school year. There, they commented that during the summer, they had seen the students of the hostel school on the networks, how they shared the popular festivals in the north of Neuquén.
They thought it would be good to address that topic. The wool festival that takes place in Las Ovejas was a good starting point. They came up with the story called The Magic Ball, and included this trip as a project.
«We propose that the school opens opportunities, so that they know other places that are not within their reach due to the conditions and distances that living in a place entails. Their families are foster parents or employees of the development commissions, and it is not easy for them to go to the beach,” said director Ana López Miño.
They chose the study trip to be to the tourist units of Chapadmalal. A little over a week ago, Isaiah, Ruth, Thomás, Dilan, Eliseo, Santiago, Gonzalo, Ariel, Enzo, Andrea, Siomara, Valentina, Uriel and Solange, between 6 and 13 years old. The teachers Rubén Barros, Mauricio Escobar and Ana the director left from the school, 30 kilometers from Andacollo, between the Cordillera del Viento and the Andes Mountains.
They passed through the quiet streets of their town, with 500 inhabitants, with low houses and dirt streets. They traveled kilometers and reached the sea. “They are very genuine children, they show their emotions and that’s what they did when they saw the sea, they started screaming. I went to the sea many times, but seeing them was very exciting. What I felt was that they brought summer to the beach,” says Ana.
Share the images in which you can see how they play in the water, with clothes on they were encouraged by the waves. To the song of “it’s very cold”, they let themselves roll in the sea, on the coast and opened theThe giant eyes when I wet his face, “it’s salty,” they said in amazement.
The difficult mission of making a dream come true
Watching them play in the waves was a magical moment, as much as the hedgehog’s wool, but it hadn’t been easy to get there.
They also believed that being able to get to a large city like Mar del Plata would make it a richer experience. In that place, through the Social Tourism program, they gave them lodging and full pension, for free.
They had to pay for the trip, and they were doing well until everything fell apart. «In August we had almost all the money, but transportation doubled its value. It seemed impossible, we made a bonus contribution, we communicated what was happening to us and help began to arrive. Businesses and families donated the little they had. Until Uocra said that they donated the cost of transportation,” says the director.
That meant that the money they had collected was used to go on a lot of excursions that they had not planned. They were able to tour Mundo Marino, the Aquarium, learn about the sea fauna, so different from their northern animals and learn about defending nature.
They met other boys of the country in Chapadmalal and shared that same feeling, from others who knew the sea. “The faces of happiness of these guys and girls to see for the first time the sea is priceless. How they ran to the shore shouting happy and putting their little foot there, ”says Ana and confesses that she cried to see them.
They toured Mar del Plata, going through the shopping center They wondered why things are so cheap. They explained to them that it is closer to the industries. Antonio, the manager of the Café de las Nubes located on the 29th floor of the Manantiales Towers one of the tallest buildings in Mar del Plata, received them very well when they came for a delicious breakfast.
At the Manolo confectionery, we shared the most traditional churros on the coast of Buenos Aires. They also tasted seafood for the first time at the Chichilo Restaurant in the port. And in the Argentine Naval Museum they were sailors for a day.
They went to the Monk’s Tower and They saw boulevards that usually appear on TV, they danced, they enjoyed themselves and they were happy.
Guañacos, that educational community that fights
The director speaks with pride of that town, which arrives from Plottier every Monday to work. «It is a fighting town. The school is 50 years old, but the first one should be 100 years old. In ’68, they were expelled, the grandparents of our childhood had to leave their lands and the school was demolished. Later, by a provincial decree, they were able to return and it was built again. “They have confidence in public education and the community values the school very much.”
It is a hostel school. There are children who live near the area and others in the distant fields. Some fall to sleep, others do 15 kilometers every day. As they have mobility they carry and bring them, they know that when they go to high school there will be no option, and they must let them go to Andacollo. They prefer to travel, otherwise they spend more time in schools than at home. “They make a lot of sacrifice.”
“It’s about transforming schools into places of opportunity. And these trips are not just recreational, they can get to know other spaces and see that there are other horizons. We value rurality, and the countryside, because it is part of their essence, their history, but also that they are encouraged to move and study in other places,” concludes Ana.
Before saying goodbye, he returns to the emotion and thanks. It wasn’t the magic of the hedgehog, he says it was a great chain of solidarity and empathy that made it possible. He appoints the Uocra Union and its secretary Juan Carlos Levi, the Mayor of Guañacos Alejandra Vázquez and the deputy Angela Barahona. To the Rincón Transportation company. To Antonio, Graciela, Walter, Adelino and Leonel, retired police officers from Neuquén who bought sneakers for each of the boys and all those who bought the bonds.
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