As the students attending the Dolores Cacuango Primary School in the remote village of La Vaqueria learn to read and write Spanish, they are also acquiring vital skills which will improve their chances of completing their educations and provide them with greater opportunities to build their futures.
In addition to learning how to write in their native Quichua Language, students in this single primary school—among fifteen neighboring communities—learn to read and write in Spanish, which is in sharp contrast to what a visitor to this remote village would have witnessed several years ago, when the only language heard was Quichua.
As the students continue to improve in their Spanish proficiency and fluency, they also increase the likelihood they will finish their years at the school. They are opening up avenues for additional learning and employment in the future. Additional information regarding the Dolores Cacuango Primary School can be found in an article posted at USAID Telling Our Story , a web site that focuses on the stories of hope USAID brings to the lives of individuals in countries all around the world.
Students who only spoke Quechua faced a number of difficulties when faced with instructors that did not speak their language, which led many of them to drop out and fail to obtain even an elementary education.
The socio-linguistic problems related to civilizing and integrating a native population through learning Spanish are not without its critics, who fear the Quichua culture and language is being lost. Nevertheless, the process of combining education in the languages of Quichua and Spanish continues to create a culture where bilingual speakers are increasingly common in present day Ecuador.
Created after the Foreign Assistance Act was signed into law in 1961, USAID is an independent federal agency under the guidance of the Secretary of State, which supports long-term advances in U.S. foreign policy. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., USAID supports economic growth, agriculture, trade, global health, democracy, conflict prevention, and humanitarian assistance in five regions of the world; Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Eurasia, and the Middle East. And working partnerships with over 3,500 American companies and 300 voluntary organizations based in the U.S.
For complete details relating to USAID and this program, which has been training teachers in creative ways to make learning in Spanish easier for non-native speakers, visit the USAID From The American People site.
For additional information regarding the Quechua Language, Live Quechua Lessons, Internet Quechua Lessons and additional Quechua language resources visit Barry Brian Werger’s Quechua Language Homepage or the Quechua Culture site at The EMuseum at Minnesota State University Mankato.