Digital Journal #1 Karen Meza

Quote that spoke to me:

"...although the term race is not useful as a biological construct, policymakers cannot avoid the fact that social race remains a significant predictor of which groups have greater access to societal goods and resources and which groups face barriers - both historical and in the contemporary context - to full inclusion." (Smeddely & Smeddley, 2005)

MY REFLECTION:

Peru is described as a diverse multilingual and pluri/mult

icultural society and his History and cultural heritage to the world is undeniable to most eyes. However, these last two weeks as I was reading the course texts, some of my memories of my early childhood came back. 

As a child I grew up surrounded by people of diverse ethnicity and race. In my eyes, the color of the skin, eyes, or hair meant nothing beyond the difference in color. Nonetheless, as I grew up, I realized I was living in a bubble. I learnt we were all poor, and that we had been marginalized. 

At a structural level, I see Peru has not developed equitably. The capital, Lima, centralizes the economic power and basic services humans need. (However, some places like the one I live in, some homes do not have water or electricity, and the houses are made of straw and plastic.) The situation around the country is sad and even worse in indigenous faraway places in the highlands and the rainforest where not coincidentally the “conquistadores” never settled physically. The absenteeism of the government in entire towns has increased the Social debt, therefore the Education debt with the people whose natural resources were and still are exploited to create wealth for very few. The deep impact colonization has had is hardly analyzed and this course has motivated me to do so.

As a pedagogical specialist at the Ministry of Education, the responsibility I have is huge, but I feel I cannot do this alone. It is true that the curriculum we have revalues our cultural heritage and diversity, but it only seems to be declarative. I am committed to change this.




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