Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Peruvian 13-year-old student Jose Garcia Sulca won a gold medal at the XVI Mathematical Olympiad held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, solving all math questions without any mistake.

He achieved a score equivalent to 20, which made him deserving of the golden award.

The Olympiad, held between December 7 and 12, gathered the best mathematical students from Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay, who participated in this event after a disputed classification in their respective countries.

García, who is no stranger to winning competitions, joined the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal two years ago when he was in the sixth grade, one of his greatest achievements according to Andina news agency.

He was born in Ica, Peru where he lives with his parents. Due to the region's scarce economic resources, García was taken in by Saco Oliveros school, where he receives food and daily care.

Two of his classmates, Nohelia Jimenez Valenzuela and Iván Muñoz Castillo, each won bronze medals.

by David Hidalgo Vega - El Comercio
Translation: Vanessa Castro Chesterton- Living in Peru

Kei Kamara is a football placer from Sierra Leona. He plays for the American league and also works as an ambassador for Right to Play, a non profit organization which uses football as a way to help children in war torn countries or extreme poverty situations. Its message is one of solidarity.

As he masters a ball on his head football player Kei Kamara makes it evident why he has come here. In another time and with some very different luck he might have ended up dead, a victim of the bullets which managed to kill so many other dreams and tear apart his country. Kamara is a talented young man who managed to flee Sierra Leona and who now shows of what years of athletic training have taught him in the United States, the country which took him in as a refugee when he was in his teens. Teaching kids a few of his professional footballer tricks is what allows him to give back the happy moments he was able to have thanks to having been rescued.  

Kamara is 24 years old. He plays for the Houston Dynamo’s major league American football team. He is meant to be traveling with his team mates in England to play a few matches there; he however asked to be excused from some of those games so he could fulfill other commitments which he considers equally important, his humanitarian visits. He is an ambassador for Right to Play, a nonprofit organization which promotes games and sport as a way to educate children and adolescents living difficult situations involving violence and poverty.

Kamara knows this because both things plague his earliest memories. His home country Sierra Leona was in a state of civil war for 20 years. He spent half this time at risk. “I have seen my friends die on the streets. I have lost family members because of the conflict. It was a very difficult life”, he remembers. Due to contacts with American citizens Kei was able to travel to the U.S. were his mother had emigrated when he was very young. He has no doubt that was the best way for him to be saved. His new destination, California was a different world.

“The change was a big one. There, in the U.S., I could go to school for free, something that was not possible in Sierra Leona. After school I got to study at university with a sport scholarship because I played football. I had many opportunities.” he says. 

Kamara chose the career of physical education. The fields were he used to practice were also used by the Los Angeles Galaxy football team to train. He was able to watch the players in real life while others only watched through the TV screen. Two years later he joined the league. His life kept changing; he traveled to Mexico, El Salvador, and Panama. By then he had heard of Right to Play.

“One of my first coaches told me about the organization. I told myself that when I had the opportunity I would participate. I wanted to help because when I was a child someone helped me.”

Kei has taught children in Chosica and at the Antonianas de Maria School were he played different games. In one game 7 boys and 7 girls are selected to play a game which teaches children not to be prejudiced. The game consists of the 7 members of the team standing together and passing a small red ball from player to player behind their backs. The other team must guess which player is holding the ball. The ball represents disease, most of all AIDS. The name of the game is “don’t trust your eyes” and it teaches children not to discriminate people because of their appearance.

The first Right to Play program in Peru has already pledged to help children in Lambayeque, Huaraz and Puno. The idea is for other Peruvian and international athletes continue with this work. “The game is powerful” says Kamara. Few things have its strength and resonance.  

News source: El Comercio

To read the original article click here.    

 

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), the public Spanish Open University is to send tens of thousands of books to hundreds of libraries across Peru.

In a book collection campaign known as Librotón 2008, the Spanish university collected 66,000 text and literature books along with multimedia material that is to be delivered to educational centers across the Andean nation.

In an effort to improve the education given to Peruvian students, a convoy has set out for Peru carrying 36 pallets with 1,260 boxes of books, CDs, DVDs and other educational material.

In a press release issued by the university, it was affirmed that the campaign, which included the participation of 26 centers associated to UNED across Spain, was a tremendous success.

Librotón 2008 had the important support of over one dozen NGOs and public Spanish institutions.

The Peruvian Associations Federation, the Municipality of Lima, the Hispanic Peruvian Center and the Peruvian Consulate in Madrid all helped in the campaign as well.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Keeping a promise made to a group of teenagers in Peru's highlands, Minster Araoz went 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) above sea level to the city of Cerro de Pasco and gave these students rewards for work well done.

Despite difficult conditions such as a lack of roads, few teachers and just one computer without an internet connection, students at Alberto Pumayalla Díaz High School won a national competition organized by the Ministry of Tourism.

The students came in first place by writing a report on how their city could take advantage of its non-traditional products such as canola oil, sacha inchi plants and alpaca fiber.

Aside from personally being honored by Minister Araoz, the five students that won the contest were given computers and scholarships to study at San Martin de Porres University in Lima.

"The four computers and the notebook that we are giving you will serve to establish a computer lab at your school and help you develop the knowledge you'll acquire in a short time when you start studying at the university," said Araoz.

Noel Vivar, the teacher who guided the students during their investigation thanked Araoz and the Ministry of Tourism for keeping their promise and strengthening education in the region.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Beginning in 2010, all preschool students in the constitutional province of Callao will be taught in two languages, announced Governor Alex Kouri, stating this would better prepare children to face 21st century challenges.

To carry out this project, the governor explained that 5,000 pre-school, elementary and high school teachers would be taught a second language.

Among the languages teachers can choose to learn are English, French, Portuguese, Italian and German.

Despite the variety of languages teachers can choose to learn, Governor Kouri affirmed 85 percent of them would want to command the English language.

The decision to make all of Callao's preschools bilingual is a part of the region's educational reform and was published in Peru's official gazette on Friday.

An auction is to be held to determine the institution that will be in charge of teaching these 5,000 teachers a second language. The institute to handle this task will be named on November 15, said Kouri.

"The amount that has been calculated to be invested is 4,890,570 soles", said the governor, explaining that books and other pre-school material would begin to be replaced next year.

Assuring students would have adequate bilingual material to learn, he also affirmed that the teachers to be taught the second language would receive appropriate training.

There are approximately 8,000 teachers in the region of Callao.

Peru’s president Alan García said this morning that the government would purchase three hundred thousand laptops for children during 2008-09, with the aim to open the way towards modern and digital education.

“Until now, we have acquired 140,000 computers, of which 40,000 have been delivered and 100,000 are still in the process of distribution; and for next year, there is a budget to purchase 150,000 more computers. We have the support and commitment of regional governments to bring thousands of computers to schools”, he stated.

“The delivery of laptops allow children to be incorporated in the future’s education, and I am sure this will represent an exceptional jump for children’s imagination and criterion’s capacity”, he said.

García reaffirmed that education is one of the mainstays of his administration, and that in addition to this program, there is one similar developed for teachers that goes together with electrification projects in the country, which, so far, have benefited 2,050 towns.

The Peruvian president offered these statements during the presentation of the achievements of the One Laptop per Child program, before national and foreign entrepreneurs.

News source: ANDINA

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

In an effort to reduce the unemployment rate among young Peruvians, the country's government has launched a national plan that aims to increase the number of working youth 50 percent.

Statistics show that the Andean country's unemployment rate among Peruvians between the ages of 15 and 24 is twice as high as the number of adults in Peru without jobs.

According to Luis González (right), a specialist at the International Labour Organization (ILO), 14.26 percent of Peru's youth (5 million citizens) in urban areas do not have jobs.

González pointed out that of these 5 million citizens, at least 3 million were not studying or receiving any type of training.

He affirmed that this was especially worrisome and dangerous because if this scenario continued, these people would never have a chance to get a job because of a lack of studies.

"If the person continues to be isolated from the educative system, it is most probable that poverty and unemployment rates will continue increasing," said the ILO specialist.

"The solution for us lies in training, that's where we believe the government should focus the majority of their effort because the more training received the more likely it will be for (a young person) to successfully enter the market," explained González.

The International Labour Organization and Peru's Labour Ministry have developed and launched "Plan de Empleo Juvenil", which is aimed at reducing 50 percent of the country's unemployment rate among Peru's youth by 2015.

Stating this was the first plan of its kind in Latin America, González affirmed that this was an ambitious goal but that the government had shown a genuine interest in achieving it.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Cinthia Laura Chaupin and Nathaly Huapaya proved that being blind was not going to hold them back from fulfilling their dreams and reaching their highest aspirations.

The two girls were lauded by the heads of San Marcos University, the oldest university in the Americas, after being admitted into their university, one of the hardest to get into in Peru.

With smiles on their faces that reflected the satisfaction of having reached their goal, the girls assured they would take full advantage of everything the university had to offer.

"The hardest part of the exam was the math and physics because you have to imagine the problems, the rest was just a matter of studying," said 17-year-old Cinthia on Monday as her loved ones proudly gathered around her at an awards ceremony.

"My dream is to get a doctorate in Political Sciences and be a militant member of a political party," said Nathaly, thanking her parents and teachers for their dedication, trust and patience.

"This prize is for them," said the 17-year-old girl.

Both girls received computers and certificates from the university, who gave the hard-working students a warm welcome.

Over 20,000 students took the admission exam on September 21 to attempt to get into the university. 1,762 students were accepted.

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Over 30,000 teachers in Peru will have the opportunity to purchase a laptop through the "21st Century Teacher: One laptop per teacher" program.

The program, which is in its second stage, has been organized and is being headed by the country's ministry of education to contribute to teacher's personal and professional development, said government representatives.

This second stage of the program was launched in Arequipa by Manuel Cok Aparcana, head of the ministry's informatics office.

Cok explained that 8,000 teachers in Peru's "White City" would have a chance to purchase a laptop through the program.

While 2,681 teachers in Arequipa benefited from the program during its first stage, a total of 28,000 teachers nationwide received government bonds for the purchase of a laptop.

Aside from being provided a $150 government bond, which can only be used for the purchase of a laptop, teachers are granted a loan by Banco de la Nación.

Teachers interested in taking part in the program can get information at their local UGEL (Unidades de Gestión Local).

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

"This is madness," affirmed historian Cristóbal Aljovín in response to accusations made by congresswoman Mercedes Cabanillas that parts of high school textbooks in Peru were condoning terrorism.

Aljovín, one of the historians responsible for editing social studies textbooks for high school seniors in the Andean country assured there was not content praising or supporting terrorism as Cabanillas had stated.

"Neither Shining Path nor the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) is praised in the textbooks," stated Aljovín.

"As a matter of fact there are strong phrases against these groups. On page 20 it says that Shining Path is a terrorist organization responsible for 54 percent of the deaths and disappearances that happened at that time," explained Aljovín.

"What kind of praise is that?"

The 2008 edition of Social Studies for Seniors published by Norma book company is the text being questioned by a group of legislators and Mercedes Cabanillas, the former congressional president.

They claim the views expressed in the textbook are distorted and in favor of terrorist groups.

Congressional representatives have also questioned the fact that the text states that Peru's Armed Forces used violence to suppress citizens.