El aula Wichí
THE WICHÍ CLASSROOM
Members: Carlos Jurado. Asociación Civil Talentos
Year of Inception: 2020 – Present
Location: Embarcación, Salta, Argentina
Contact: [email protected]
Instagram: http://instagram.com/carlesjurado
Description
A traveling classroom serving as a symbolic milestone for Indigenous populations, framed within processes of social and economic integration. It also represents the culmination of a network of rainwater harvesting systems in northern Argentina.
Concept and Objectives. Planned Activities
This initiative aims to re-signify the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through the creation of a space that empowers self-determination and promotes the preservation of their culture, language, and traditions.
It provides an opportunity to highlight and strengthen the realities of the Wichí communities in the area, while also functioning as a collaborative and participatory educational platform that fosters new possibilities and knowledge.
The construction of an Integrative Classroom adjacent to the COW headquarters serves as an opportunity to:
-Share and reinforce ancestral knowledge related to language, culture, and traditions;
-Make visible and symbolically represent the Wichí Indigenous reality;
-Strengthen the leadership processes that the Wichí communities have been developing, by providing physical and educational spaces for growth;
-Reinforce dialogue, networks, and collective encounters as learning strategies;
-Generate inclusive opportunities for all members of the Wichí communities, with a particular focus on women.
This project was developed through a participatory and consensual process at all stages, in collaboration with community members at the COW headquarters.
Difficulties
The core structural issue is the lack of social and political integration between the so-called “criollo” population of the city of Embarcación and the Indigenous communities. This exclusion has meant that past efforts, programs, and initiatives have failed to address the problem of integration, functioning instead as short-term measures to assist with survival in the face of water and food scarcity.
The work carried out by different stakeholders—including the COW, the civil association, and a team of advisors—has helped strengthen the Indigenous community’s awareness and participation in collective decision-making processes.
However, the projects undertaken generally have a short-term scope, making it difficult to establish a genuine bridge with the state and provincial educational systems, or to enable real economic independence and sustainable social mobility for the Wichí people.
