"Los niños de todo el país tienen la misma ilusión, la misma esperanza", destacó Juanjo Vargas, uno de los cinco integrantes de Cruce por la Educación. Se trata de una movida solidaria que nació de los corazones de cinco amigos, que articulan el intercambio de cartas de niños de varias provincias, a quienes visitan en sus escuelas.
Previously they get in touch with the school institutions they will visit, so that the boys armen their cards under the slogan: "What would you like to be when you are big?".
Solidarity cyclists travel by pedaling thousands of kilometers to exchange the letters that the little ones wrote, between provinces.
"For five years we did this and received 131 thousand letters and we took them to emblematic places.This year I think we have improved because what we are doing is drinking boys from a place and taking them to boys from another province;Those boys at the same time give us their cards and take them to another place.We are messengers of the dreams of another child, "Vargas explained.
The five cyclists live in the city of Córdoba, and in this edition they collected letters among the primary and secondary schoolchildren of that province and distributed them in Mendoza.While those who join among Mendoza children will be transferred to San Juan.
"We commonly see two motivators in children when thinking what they want to be when they are great: emotions for things they want to repair, and the destination circle, what their parents did," said Vargas.
"In relation to emotions, a child who has his sick mother, wants to be a doctor so that that does not happen to anyone else.A boy who had a problem of insecurity at home wants to be a policeman, "he explained."As for the destination, the child sees at home something he likes, learns it and will try to replicate it.The child's dream revolves in relation to what he sees at home, "he continued.
This edition of Crossing for Education began on September 8 at the border limit between Mendoza and Chile, and solidarity cyclists visited high mountain schools.The tour will culminate on the 19th of this month.
"We have visited mountain schools.We start at Puente del Inca and end in Uspallata.The encounter with boys living in those areas was beautiful.This schools attend very few children who have the same illusions as the boys of the big cities.There they have different ways, but dreams are the same, "said Juanjo Vargas.
In Mendoza, the Messenger cyclists visited the María Luisa Duhagon schools of Puente de Inca, Liberator Army of Punta de Vacas, Powder Salinas Mail.
The solidarity intention is not limited only to the five men who pedal because there are many others who accompany the logistics and organize the meetings in schools, as well as the operational issues of the trip.In most cases they seek to get some sponsors that help them pay for food, clothing and bicycles expenses.
"The role of the teacher is leading in dreams"
Juanjo Vargas explained why the teacher's figure stands out in the projection of dreams or professions in the little ones, especially in places with fewer opportunities.
"The teacher is very important in sleep.His role is leading.We discover very remote rural schools, in which children want to be scientists.And that has to do with the influence of the teacher who opens doors, roads, illusions, and the child understands that he can arrive with his effort, "he said.
"All children have great illusions.The little ones call us more attention.We commonly visited the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade primary schools, since at that ages, the child begins to have projection.When they are smaller, the illusion is present but they still do not have a projection at all and for example they want to be a princess, king or superhero, "he explained.
And he added: "When they become bigger, the offices and professions begin to understand, and to observe at home what they could also be".
The answers
Crossing for education takes the collection that corresponds to the children, when asking them to write the letters only with their name (not including the surname), the address of the school and the name of the teacher.If a child's child or family wants to return the letter to another province, he can do so by sending the correspondence to the school, so that the exchange is intermediated by a greater.
"We do it with a lot of love.We believe that what we do can add a drop of water more to an infinite ocean and that reaches us, "said Vargas.
The history behind the history
"We are five friends who live in Córdoba, but I am San Juan and another of us was born in Bariloche.Our friendship was born since childhood, we are friends from rugby, we played together and over many years we shared a lot of learning, "Juanjo Vargas began counting..
"Now we want to return everything we have learned and the fate of having lived in homes that have promoted us education," he continued.
"The day that all this was born is unforgettable.I had wanted to go by bicycle from Córdoba to San Juan and I failed.At 180 kilometers I hit the return and that night I had dinner with my friends even though they knew that day I should have traveled to San Juan.I waited that the loaded were tremendous, but nobody told me anything.They told me that I had a lot of courage to make that trip, that the next one we were going together, "he said.
"In the midst of that joy and enthusiasm to schedule to go together, we came to the news they had stolen in a friend's house.From joy we go to anguish.And reflecting on insecurity and what should be done, the final conclusion was that if there is education in a house, it is very possible that these children do not fall into crime, "he continued.
"So we felt we had to do something, and not talk so much.Thus the first trip of the crossing for education began to take shape.We resign professional activities and personal commitments to share a mission that, at this point, we understand as a duty of common citizens, "Vargas concluded.
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Cruce por la Educaciónsolidaridad