By José Manuel Martínez / Translated by Samai Páez
For almost 50 years, the Catholic Church, through agreements with the Colombian State, was responsible for the education of Inga indigenous children in the department of Caquetá. However, dropping out of school, the loss of their culture and the displacement of their mother tongue became serious problems. In 1994, in response to this situation, the Yachaikury School was born in the Inga territory, in Caquetá, with the aim to hold back that reality.
Flora Macas Zighe, Inga anthropologist, one of the creators and, in the present rector of the Yachaikury Special Indigenous Rural Educational Institution (IERI, for its spanish acronym), together with her partner Waira Jacanamijoy, artist and leader of the Inga village, of the Yurayaco community of the Tandachiridu Inganukuna Association, founded the Yachaikury School, which means "to continue learning", based in the Inga reserve of Yurayaco, in the municipality of San José del Fragua, in the department of Caquetá, in southern Colombia. "When the school started, we didn't know if we would be able to manage education," says Macas. From here, they began in the search for indigenous teachers who will speak their mother tongue and together they formed a project to reinforce traditional medicine and knowledge about plants, teaching of the mother tongue, popular art, social organization and the management of territories.
In 2003, the School received the operating license that allowed them to operate as a private educational center, by the Departmental Education Secretariat of Caquetá. In 2009, they began to raise the educational project of the Inga village at the national level and, through eleven years, it remained standing through donations and partnerships. In 2014, it was a before and after for Yachaikury, since they managed to move from the private to the public. According to Macas, the Colombian State decided to send the Ministry of Education for 2015 with the aim of establishing alliances, sign partnerships and designate some teachers. At the same time, universities and other organizations began to show interest in collaborating in this area.
Nowadays, 253 students attend Yachaikury, from five to 19 years of age, distributed between its main headquarters and 11 other educational venues, located in neighboring municipalities, such as Solano, Belén de los Andaquíes and Solita. Girls and boys, along with their teachers and grandparents, learn to be researchers. They discover which plants are suitable for consumption and have healing properties. They grow their own chagras (transitional cultivation space of indigenous peoples,) planting traditional crops to obtain healthy foods, natural medicine and recover seeds. In addition, they learn to fish, take care of their territory and organize themselves as a community. 60% of the children who have graduated, between 2006 and 2020, returned to their territories to contribute as leaders or teachers of their own schools and communities. In addition, 15% of graduates began to train in professional careers, while two alumni continue as traditional medicine trainees.
The shared values between the Entre Soles y Lunas Foundation and the Yachaikury School is the comprehensive approach that both entities apply in their projects. The Entre Soles y Lunas Foundation is an international organization that promotes good practices in transparency and governance, working to ensure efficiency and excellence in project management. Its focus is jointly worked with fields of education, communication, culture and art, always aligned with the fivefold social, economic, environmental, spiritual and cultural impact in harmony with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Within its work, the Foundation carries out initiatives such as "Heritage in Motion," which investigates and observes the impact of material and immaterial heritage on human beings and their contexts, formulating projects that respond to social, economic and environmental needs. This vision of promoting the integral regeneration of communities and raising the quality of life in harmony with the planet aligns perfectly with the educational model of the Yachaikury School, which also seeks to preserve indigenous culture, and strengthen the social fabric of the communities.
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