|
 |
| Students at Bonifacio Pereira secondary school in El Chorrillo, the poorest area of Panama City, pray together at the end of a lesson in Christian values. All the students have access to Bibles supplied by the Bible Society of Panama. Panama City, Panama. Photo: UBS / Dag Smemo (PAN03DJ-60.JPG) |
Panama City, Panama — Panama City seems very modern, with skyscrapers and office buildings jostling for position close to the Pacific Ocean. However, modern life brings many challenges. We went to visit Bonifacio Pereira secondary school in El Chorrillo, the poorest area of Panama City. Here, at least 50 per cent of the population is unemployed, and drugs and crime are serious concerns. We met 40-year-old Javier de la Cruz, a teacher who has taught Christian values to more than 400 students every year for the last 20 years. Two hours a week are dedicated to teaching Christian values in state schools.
“There are major social problems in this area,” Mr de la Cruz tells us. “Many children come from broken homes and problems like poverty, drugs and sexual abuse are common. The students often turn up armed at school, they might be drunk or on drugs, and they are undernourished. Hardly any of them can afford school equipment, and the school has no resources to help them. Very often, the teachers themselves will lend a helping hand, paying for a pair of shoes or parts of the school uniform out of their own pocket.
“Despite all these problems, the children behave incredibly well in class. They might seem rude when you pass them in the corridor, but in the classroom they pay attention. They know that education is their only chance to escape the poverty.”
His school is situated in a particularly tough area, where many of the children are struggling with post-traumatic stress after the killings that took place during the war. These wounds heal slowly * [More...]. Many of the students do not go on to attend college, because their families need them to earn money. In the two months leading up to Christmas, many of the children will be absent, working to earn money for their families. The teachers are constantly struggling to motivate the children to finish their education, and many of them see it as their mission to help young people find a better future. They spend both spare time and money to help their students.
Friendship
Teaching a class about friendship, Mr de la Cruz takes chapters five and six of Ecclesiastes as his text, asking the students about their experiences with friendships and whether they think the Bible can give guidance on this issue. The children read out verses in turn from Bibles supplied by the Bible Society. Mr de la Cruz covers the blackboard with notes during class, but the main element of the teaching is the extraordinary relationship with his students. He is strict, but the bond is obvious and the children can feel his love and concern.
 |
| Teacher Javier de la Cruz uses Bibles supplied by the Bible Society of Panama as the basis for teaching Christian values to students at Bonifacio Pereira secondary school in El Chorrillo, the poorest area of Panama City. Panama City, Panama. Photo: UBS / Dag Smemo (PAN03DJ-44.JPG) |
The students answer and comment on their teacher’s questions. They talk about their everyday life, listen to his questions about friendship and realise that they can take advice from the Bible to use in their own lives. Mr de la Cruz hopes that they will carry this knowledge with them through life. Perhaps they will turn to the Bible in a future situation, too, because of what this class has taught them.
Social values
“The teachers are the real social workers,” Mr de la Cruz explains. “The parents give the children little or no support and cannot be counted on the way you would expect. They send the children to school so that the teachers can look after them.
“We use the Bible to give young people social values. This way we avoid many of the problems other schools are experiencing. The students prefer this and look forward to these classes. If, for some reason, I am late for the class, the students will come looking for me. We always finish the class by standing in a circle to pray.”
* The
US invaded Panama in 1989 to oust Manuel Noriega, who had effectively
seized power in 1983 by becoming head of the National Guard. Mr Noriega
declared a state of emergency in 1988 after a failed coup attempt, followed
by a ‘state of war’ in 1989 in the face of US threats to invade.
Following the invasion, which left 2,000 civilians dead and many more
thousands homeless, he was replaced by Guillermo Endara and in 1992
was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment for drugs offences.
(WR 383/11 -1/2.04) 