Adolescence

ADOLESCENT VOICESKeeping the flame alive:Indigenous adolescents’ right to education and health servicesby Paolo Najera, 17,Indigenous Térraba,Costa Rica“ We just ask forrespect for ourbasic human rights– the respect thatevery human beingdeserves in thisworld.”When I look at the prospects my Térraba people face,my heart sinks for our dying land and drying river.While I do not know much of the world, I know whatis right and wrong, and I know this harsh reality is nottheir fault. The flame of resistance passed on from mygreat-grandfather to my grandfather, to my father andto me, symbolizes our desire to keep our communityalive. My hope is that our indigenous culture andlanguage will endure.The problem is, my brothers are afraid to live asTérraba Indians. Outside pressures, like teasing,discrimination and disregard for our basic rights havenearly brought our centuries-old struggle for survivalto its breaking point. In addition, the country’s eightindigenous communities,* including mine, have notbeen given adequate schools or proper health centres,nor has the integrity of our land been respected.We want our lifestyle to be protected and our territorynot to be invaded by industrial companies that destroythe harmony we have preserved – harmony paid forwith the bloodshed our people have suffered. This,however, does not mean we want to be excludedfrom the world. We just ask for respect for our basichuman rights – the respect that every human beingdeserves in this world. We ask to be seen andlistened to.Thanks to my beloved Térraba school, I am proud tobe one of the first and few of my indigenous group toattain higher education and attend university in mycountry. The education system in Costa Rica is insufficient,and it is worse still for indigenous communities.Inequality is pervasive in the classroom, and thesystem seeks to preserve neither our identity nor ourexistence as Indians. I see the Government’s lack ofinvestment in indigenous culture reflected in teachersgiving lessons using outdated materials or teachingunder a tree. I think the Government does not seethe assets education can bring to our country, nor thebenefit of investing in education for indigenous youth.In order to provide quality education, our teachersmust be provided with proper classrooms and newtextbooks. If only the children in my village couldaccess the world through a computer as do childrenelsewhere. I feel sad that they have been denied theirright to education and to achieve their full potential.Skin tone matters in Costa Rica. If equity existedhere, girls in my village would have the same opportunitiesas the girls from other regions of the country– like better access to technology and secondaryschool. They would be equipped to promote andprotect our culture.I hope for a time when people will be truly interestedin listening to and providing for indigenous people, atime when I would not be one of the few indigenousyouth to write an essay such as this one, hoping thatit be read and understood. With real equity we wouldhave permanent health centres in indigenous territories,and our secondary education would include lessonsin our own culture and language as part of thecore curriculum. In spite of being pushed to forgetour language and to be ashamed of our way oflife, we hold on to our dreams and our will to beindigenous Térraba.Paolo Najera was recently forced to leave schoolbecause of the effects of the economic crisis on his communityand family. Paolo’s aim is to work in developmentin order to improve life for indigenous communities, suchas his own, in Costa Rica.*Costa Rica has eight officially recognizedindigenous peoples – the Bribris, Cabécares,Brunkas, Ngobe or Guaymi, Huetares,Chorotegas, Malekus and Teribes or Térrabas– about half of whom live in 24 indigenousterritories. They make up an indigenouspopulation of 63,876 (1.7 per cent of thecountry’s total population). The Térraba,descendants of Teribes from the Atlanticcoast of Panama forced by missionariesto migrate to Costa Rica in the late 17thcentury, are the second-smallest of thesegroups, with a population of 621 accordingto the national census of 2000. Their territoryis located in the Boruca-Terre reserve, in thecanton of Buenos Aires, in the southern partof Costa Rica.the emerging generation11