Issue 238

March
2010

"Fifteen years ago, this little school was started with a group of street children under a tree." Lisa Martin spoke with quiet awe of Marina Sanchez Hernandez , the Nahuatl Aztec teacher who was fired by an unquenchable conviction that the Indian children who migrated into coastal Zihuatanejo to beg or sell gum with their mothers needed an education. They could not speak Spanish and were not welcome in the local Mexican public schools. Until Marina had a classroom, a tree would have to do.

By the time Lisa found the school, five years later in 2000, it consisted of a few wooden shacks covered with tarpaulin and old bedsheets over bare dirt floors. The few books Marina had gathered had to be wrapped in polythene bags to protect them from the rain. Armed with $300, donated by a Rotary Club in Rockport, Massachusetts where Lisa lived at the time, she realised that she had found the perfect place to invest the funds. She took photos back to her Rotary Club , which caught the infection of Lisa's enthusiasm and raised $5000 for her to take back with her next year with the priority of making urgent repairs to make these primitive classroom s more weatherproof and providing shelves for those poor books. The Netza Project, a USA charity that supports the school and the right of all people to access education, had started. With growing support of Lisa Martin and many others, the struggling Netzahualcoyotl (Netza) School for Indigenous Children was on the map.

Although it borders the richest country on earth, Mexico is a still a poor Third World country with 25% of its population living in destitution on less than $2 USD a day. Education is drastically underfunded, with not enough schools even for the Spanish speaking children, and affording teachers a starting rate of only $200 a month. The majority of authorities are not used to the idea of welcoming Indian children into their schools, and the very idea of Netza school was a challenge to many of its preconceptions. Nevertheless, the school's rising standards and and the determination of Marina and the parents quelled doubts, and it now has a permanent home and more teachers who help bridge the gap between Spanish, the official language of instruction, and Nahuatl plus three other indigenous languages. The fire of their passion to raise the aspirations of their people is spreading. Over 450 Spanish and indigenous speaking children are learning together, in approximately equal numbers, and they accept one another. They enjoy school, attend regularly, watch one another's achievements and say, "I can do that." This year, two of the students have gone on to college, and next year there will be six.

Mothers bringing their children in from their remote village homes are fiercely protective of their children. How do you persuade them to let their children go to school? we asked Lisa. "Not easy," she conceded. They bring them to the school, show them that it is safe and welcoming, and the free hot lunch also helps. Gradually the confidence comes. Then the mothers, too, want to learn. "Any parent can attend any class at any time," Lisa declares firmly .

There is so much more to do. There is no orphanage in the city or refuge for abused mothers. The number of children who can be helped by the Netza Project is tiny in comparison with the number of children in need. Nevertheless, this is a step that may challenge the authorities to recognise that it has a duty to its indigenous and most poor population and an opportunity to release a vast store of human talent by giving children an opportunity to thrive.

What can we do? Bookwell School gives an answer. Small donations can help real children. £15 could provide a child with a knapsack with the equipment he or she will need for school. Our own donation of £1000, given in the name of our readers, could hook up water and electricity supplies to a kindergarten building to accommodate a hundred more children, or support two students going on to high school studies.

Peter Watson
 

Brown eyed Netza students (Photo by Abby Ross)	Boy with book at NetzaSchool (Photo by Abby Ross)
Netza Project Founder and ED Lisa Martin Jan30 2009 (Photo by Abby Ross)	Dos Amigas Netza students (Photo by Abby Ross)
Founder Director Marina Sanchez Hernandez (Photo by Abby Ross)	Netza students in line (Photo by Abby Ross)
Netza students Grade3 Dec2009	Lisa Martin and teacher in Grade one
Mexico Map	Marina Sanchez and LisaMartin(right) with Netza Grade 3, Dec 2009
Indian mother and child Zihua, 2008	Lisa Martin and Nahuatl baby2008
Zihua Bay view - hotels in front of school	View of the city from Netza school and playground
Netza school in 2007 on new site	Uniting students across continents Dec 2009 Grade 5
Street children trapped in poverty