“I asked those students benefitting from the Portuguese language class to write a short written piece in the form of a note about what the Portuguese classes were like for each of them and send it to me.” This is how the teacher Maria de Magdala, an educationalist and volunteer humanitarian server of the Fraternity – International Humanitarian Mission (FIHM), found a quite inclusive and careful way of teaching something that goes beyond a knowledge of the Portuguese language.
The Portuguese language course, which took place at the Indigenous Cultural and Education Centre (CCFI), in Boa Vista, Roraima, during October and November of 2024, had an approach that joined the teaching of the Portuguese language with various cultural and creative activities. This initiative of the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM) was an outcome of the activities developed by the Sector on Education Intervention in Emergencies and Humanitarian Responses.
According to the Inter-institutional Network for Education in Emergency Situations (INEE), “education in emergency situations ensures a physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection that can support and save lives. It is essential in crisis situations such as: conflicts, situations involving violence, forced relocations, disasters, and emergencies that involve public health, among others.”
Attention to demands of the indigenous immigrant community in the Humanitarian Roraima Mission
The language course, with a schedule workload of 76 hours, taught young accepted immigrants, based on a demand of the indigenous immigrant community, identified through consultations done by the humanitarian servers of the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM).
The initiative reaffirms the commitment of the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), through the Humanitarian Roraima Mission, to promoting an integral development, offering solutions for real problems, and within this context, helping to foster individual tools for the autonomy and integration of the indigenous immigrants in their new social and cultural context.
As Aajhmaná, a volunteer humanitarian server, explains, “for the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), courses such as learning the Portuguese language are part of the pillar, the foundation that allows indigenous immigrants to integrate into society, opening doors for a better communication and expression of the self, and of the indigenous culture itself which they bring, and also so they can have access to the labour market, the schools for those who are younger, and to society itself, in their relationship with Brazilians. Without this foundation, it would be difficult for them to be integrated in a more spontaneous way, with relationships being more isolated, colder…”
The results coming from the attentive monitoring of the teacher and all of the team of collaborators of the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM) were quickly perceived. Maria de Magdala affirmed that “in a few days, some of the indigenous immigrants became fluent in Portuguese and became interpreters for the rest when others didn’t understand something. As collaborators, we are not so concerned about the language, but rather with the acceptance, and in providing conditions for the indigenous immigrants to develop. Of course, it’s a barrier, but things become easier when the immigrant feels themselves to be welcome.”
Aajhmaná emphasized that “they were able to be a little more empowered and gain confidence in themselves, so that empowerment was a quite present key in the tone of that language course, that empowerment, that self-confidence for relating to other people, to get out of the shelter environment and see the society into which they have been inserted.”
Gladys, one of the participants in the language course, highlighted the importance of having participated in that initiative, expressing: “the course we did has helped me a lot. Now I understand what I didn’t understand before, and I’m very proud of that. Truly grateful; each day I’m practicing and it has helped me a lot, thank you!”
According to Maria de Magdala, the methodology proposed for the course, not formal, was through an inclusive approach, offering incentives that led the students into reflecting on and understanding what was being written and spoken. According to her, “the dialogue was incorporated through activities, and so developing social and emotional abilities and competence, and for this, the Education for a Culture of Peace was used. We saw that it was very important to work on this line, because it strengthened self-knowledge, self-esteem, empathy, diversity, multiculturalism, and the reinforcement of concrete action practices based on reality, showing the way of leadership through service for self-transformation and the reality in which they live.”
That sense of empowerment and the perception of evolution and development could also be felt in the words of the ex-student Enrry, who expressed: “now I feel more confident about communicating; and know I still have to learn, but I feel that the course helped me to develop further.”
Appreciating Handicrafts in Education in Emergency Situations
Besides the classes, the course encouraged manual practices such as handicrafts, which develop creativity, concentration and sensitivity, providing benefits in the mental and motor health of the participants. That inter-generational approach allows youths and adults to share experiences and strengthens their community ties.
Some research done by Betsan Corkhill, a therapist on wellbeing and specialist in handicrafts, with 3545 handicrafts, revealed that handicrafts and mental games have qualities that are beneficial for the development of the brain and in emotional health. These activities lead to mental relaxation and improve the mood and social communication, helping to build confidence. The five senses are sharpened on seeking to meet a challenge to the brain and motor abilities are strengthened, especially the hands.
According to the teacher, Maria de Magdala, “with the educational tool, handicrafts also show themselves to be a very positive option in relation to the abilities that youths can develop, for in these activities, they develop various aptitudes such as attention to detail, coordination, manual dexterity, aesthetic sense, and solving challenges. They also learn to work as a team and continue projects. They also develop attributes such as the capacity to overcome, creativity, leadership, planning, patience, and persistence.”
That persistence was perceived by Juan Diego, a volunteer humanitarian server of the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), who joyfully stressed how that willpower of the immigrants contributed to the success of the educational activity: “It was a victory, because those boys and girls were firm until the end, they learned, and one of them is even passing on what they learned to others!”
In a context of immigration and humanitarian aid, Education gains more power, sense and reach when imbued with a feeling of belonging and valuing the cultural identity, and this can only be gained with empathy, welcoming, and the giving of self on the part of those who do the welcoming. In this way, the Fraternity – Humanitarian Missions (FIHM), through its Intervention Sector on Education in Humanitarian Responses and Emergency Situations, continuous to reinforce the role of education as a tool for integration in a country that is the entryway for immigrants coming from Venezuela.
