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GENERAL OBJECTIVES:
• To address and reduce conflict among students from 6th to 11th grades of the Educational Institution Ciudadela del Sur through a peace training with a national and international view.
• To promote mutual understanding between the Educational Institution Ciudadela del Sur and 5 invited schools from other countries by bilingual communication.
• To generate the "CISUR Peace network" to take action against conflict into the school and replicate possible outcome with other national and international schools.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The Educational Institution Ciudadela del Sur is a public school (free tuition) located in Armenia, Quindío, Colombia, South America that educates over 2.200 students per year, from preschool to 11th grade with a constructivist pedagogical approach that promotes inclusion, research, technology, environmental care, bilingualism, sports and culture.
Ciudadela del Sur has become the second biggest school of the region and is in the top 4000 of the best schools of the country, understanding that this position is usually awarded to private institutes with high tuition costs invested in avant-garde education models.
Rotary Armenia International worked with Ciudadela del Sur three years ago, when the Global Grant "ReciCRAI" was implemented. To illustrate, the project was made in "La Fachada", one of the four headquarters that the school had and its main aim was to generate positive peace actions in students from 1st to 5th grades, teachers and the community by the use of recycling as the tool to work cooperatively, embellish the school, train parents to find a new source of income and the awareness of the importance of taking care of the planet. The successful first grant for a Rotaract Club in Colombia was possible due to the commitment of the community and its deep interest in better possibilities for them from peace processes. However, after its result monitoring it was marked that other headquarters had more problematics. After research, interview and polls (attached to this file), it was demonstrated that nationality, gender, sexual orientation and power war were the causes of conflict that usually got students involved in verbal or physical aggression, broking harmony into and outside the main headquarter, where students from 6th to 11th grade studied. "Empathetic" was created to address that conflict in three phases:
PHASE 1: "war and peace in Colombia"
Students involved in aggression and conflict are going to be part of this phase as a pedagogical action to repair the mistake. The objective of this process is to change from the root the students fix minded concept of conflict as a way of solving differences. So, this process will start with a training about Colombian conflict with its performers, motives, victims and outcomes during the last 60 years of war. Then, a training in the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations will be presented in order to understand the long-term consequences of the conflict in the growth of any country. In addition, a take action stage will be made to invite students to understand the damage that a conflict could cause to a place, in this case, the school, proposing possible solutions or interventions by the creation of the "CISUR PEACE NETWORK". Finally, a certification of the leaders of the network and a take action plan to exterminate conflict at school will take place.
PHASE 2: "building up an international network for peace"
Ciudadela del Sur has a focused group per grade from 6th to 11th level, in which students have demonstrated great proficiency in English abilities and excellence in the other subjects. As a consequence, the school has signed an agreement with the University La Gran Colombia to have the possibility of studying 2 semesters of Modern Languages program during their last two years of high school totally free. This has opened a huge possibility to those students, understanding that tuition in this kind of institutions could be unaffordable and unthinkable for a community whose economic income is very low. This important aspect is the door to implement the second phase in English, with selected students that will be the leaders to present Colombian conflict to other schools abroad the world that will be connected by Fulbright . To explain, the selected schools from other countries will have the responsibility of presenting their conflict perspective too and creating a new network, in this case international, to think about possible solutions from the side of young people. The process must be carefully scheduled and measured by the knowledge of students by polls and interviews.
PHASE 3: "CISUR Booklet"
Students from first and second phase trainings and activities are going to be in charge of replicating the knowledge around the headquarter by workshops and dynamic activities previously scheduled. The participation of the community, teachers and administrators will be included into this process and the outcome will be measured by coexistence polls every 6 months. Then, the memories of the experience will be collected in a booklet with a Spanish and English version to spread around the region (physically) and the schools that participated from other countries (virtually).
Peace is a fundamental topic for the development of any country. Leaders are made at schools. Empathetic mix both topics and will empower young people to become positive actors into conflict, switching their negative role into the school with a global view that could create hope and new possibilities for their life projects.
NOTES:
1. According to the Ministry of Education, The Colombian education system is made up of: early childhood education, preschool education, basic education (five grades of primary and four grades of secondary), high school education (two grades and ends with the bachelor's degree), and higher education. https://www.mineducacion.gov.co/portal/secciones/English-version/Vice-ministry-of-Pre-school-Primary-and-Secondary-Education/355502:Colombian-Education-System
2. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international educational and cultural exchange program, creating connections in a complex and changing world. Led by the U.S. government in partnership with 160 countries worldwide, Fulbright builds lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries-building mutual understanding between nations, advancing knowledge across communities, and improving lives around the world.
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