Por suerte, aquel 15 de agosto hacía 40 minutos que las clases habían terminado. Esa circunstancia evitó que la cifra de escolares fallecidos fuera mayor. En total, fueron 8 estudiantes de las escuelas de Fe y Alegría los que perdieron la vida al derrumbarse sus casas como consecuencia del seísmo. Las ciudades más arrasadas fueron las de Chincha, Pisco e Ica.

En general, las infraestructuras escolares de Fe y Alegría no se vieron seriamente dañadas. La preocupación por la calidad en la construcción de tales inmuebles garantizó su resistencia, a excepción del colegio nº30 de Chincha, que sí se vio más deteriorado y que hizo las veces de albergue provisional en los inicios del desastre. A día de hoy, Fe y Alegría ha habilitado 22 aulas provisionales de madera para que el alumnado de primaria y secundaria pueda retomar las clases.

Fe y Alegría, movimiento de Educación Popular de América Latina, cuenta actualmente con más de un 1.200.000 niños y niñas escolarizados en esos colegios de la región. El análisis se ha llevado a cabo a través de cuestionarios distribuidos entre los equipos pedagógicos y directivos de las escuelas, así como entre miembros de la comunidad (en su creencia de que la escuela debe desbordar los muros que la rodean y hacerse extensiva a las familias y al resto de los ámbitos sociales donde se desenvuelven habitualmente los alumnos).

La ONU calcula que más de 200.000 personas podrían haber abandonado sus hogares en los últimos seis meses, especialmente los habitantes de la ciudad de Sake, actualmente desierta tras haber sido el principal escenario de las luchas entre los rebeldes liderados por Laurent Nkunda y el Ejército regular congoleño. Nkunda se define a sí mismo como portavoz y defensor de la minoría tutsi y sostiene que las autoridades del país respaldan a los rebeldes hutus, algunos de los cuales han sido vinculados al genocidio de Ruanda en 1994.

Por otra parte, más allá de las ambiciones de poder previsibles, parece que existen otras implicaciones que motivan el conflicto. Según miembros de la Misión de las Naciones Unidas en el Congo (MONUC), la principal demanda que Nkunda realiza al Gobierno es el retorno de los refugiados tutsis que actualmente están en Ruanda. Asimismo, la pugna por el control del Lago Albert, un lago rico en petróleo que se encuentra situado en la frontera entre Congo y Uganda, aviva también los disturbios y la inestabilidad en la zona, pese a que el presidente del Congo, Joseph Kabila, y su homólogo ugandés, Yoweri Museveni, llegaran a un acuerdo para la distribución equitativa de dicho recurso natural. 

Agustín Alonso, Director de Entreculturas, acaba de regresar de un viaje de reconocimiento del terreno en el que ha estado acompañado por Joe Hampson, Director Regional del Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados (JRS) en África Oriental y Ken Thering, Director del JRS en Sudán. Ambos, expertos en la situación sociopolítica del país, mostraron a Agustín la realidad de Juba, capital de Sur Sudán, y de Nimule (región, esta última, junto a Lobone, donde, según las Naciones Unidas, se espera acoja a la mayor parte de las personas retornadas de Uganda). Así nos relata su experiencia:

La abogada del Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados (JRS), la Dra. Katrine Camilleri, ha sido galardonada por la Agencia de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR). La Dra. Camilleri, que defiende los derechos de los refugiados en la isla de Malta, en el sur de Europa, recibió el Premio Nansen 2007 de Naciones Unidas por su valor y compromiso en la defensa de los derechos de los refugiados.

El Premio Nansen en favor de los Refugiados es un galardón que otorga el ACNUR a particulares y organizaciones que se han distinguido por su labor en favor de los refugiados.

For the children of the developed countries, the sound track of the month of September is the back pack zippers, the opening and closing of the tin pencil holders, the noise of the pencil sharpeners, the squeak of the chalk on the blackboard, the recreation bell and many other sounds related to going "back to school". However, for almost 80 million children who currently do not attend school, September still sounds like hunger, street or even stone cutting or sewing machines.

In general, the lack of economic resources and - more so in the case of girls- ideological issues prevent minors under 15 going to school. This is why, in Entreculturas we say that poverty is a lack of education; a lack of education for those, who because they are poor, do not have the opportunity of going to school and on the other hand, the lack of education for those who consent to the misery of a considerable part of the planet.

Luckily, on August 15, lessons had finished 40 minutes before. This prevented the number of dead students to be higher. 8 Fe y Alegría students died when their houses crumbled down. The worst hit cities were Chincha, Pisco and Ica.

In general the Fe y Alegría infrastructures were not severely damaged. The concern over the quality in the construction of the buildings guaranteed their resistance, except for school nº 30 in Chincha which was more deteriorated and was used as a provisional shelter at the beginning of the disaster. As of today, Fe y Alegría has set up 22 provisional wooden classrooms so that primary and secondary students may renew lessons.

"His mother, Catherine, looked over his shoulder. She looked at the double rectangle under the lamp, the regular trace of the lines; she also breathed the smell and she sometimes turned the pages with her fingers, creased from washing, as if trying to know better what a book was, to get nearer those mysterious signs, incomprehensible for her, but where her son found frequently and during many hours, a life unknown to her and from which he came back looking at her as if she were a stranger".

Fe y Alegría, a Popular Education Movement in Latin America, has currently more than 1.200.000 children in school. The analysis has been carried out by questionnaires distributed among pedagogic and directive school teams and among community members (since they believe that education should go beyond school walls and extend to families and the rest of social areas common to the students).

It is estimated that more than 24.000 students, 13.600 teachers and 12.300 families in addition to 3.000 community leaders have participated. The study, the first to be so extensive, has focused on four issues: the context by which the socio economic location should be defined and taken into account when interpreting results; the school personal and material resources; the management, teaching and learning processes, the citizenship building, the encouragement of relationship between school and community and finally the results of the education system both in academic terms as well as in attitudes and values.

The efforts of both governments to eradicate conflict are not enough. Ecuador's Minister for Internal and External Security, Fernando Bustamante, has asked Colombia and the international community for help, since his country is starting to be unable to attend so many refugees. The Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Service in Ecuador are aware of this alarming situation and report the following:

"The population of the Llorente area have been suffering the past months the military policy of the Uribe government on the forced plan of eradication of crops for illegal use. As a consequence, thousands of the region's inhabitants have decided to raise their voice - therefore suffering persecutions and intimidations- in order to let the country and the world see what is going on in a forgotten region struck by violent displacement processes, motivated by military and paramilitary forces with the complicity of the Colombian State.

Agustín Alonso, Entreculturas Director, is just back from a field trip to South Sudan, accompanied by Joe Hampson, regional Jesuit Refugee Service Director for Eastern Africa and Ken Thering, JRS Director in Sudan. Experts in the country's socio political situation, they showed Agustín the reality of Juba, South Sudan's capital, and Nimule, a region together with Labone, where according to the UN most of the refugees from Uganda are expected to return. This is his experience:

"I have spent a week in South Sudan to visit on the field the project we will carry out following a recent agreement with the AECI. The objective is to re establish education conditions in South Sudan, in the border area with Uganda, so that the Sudanese refugees who are currently at the Adumani and Mojo camps in Uganda and who plan to return to the country, may have their basic literacy needs covered.

The UN estimates that more than 200.000 people could have abandoned their homes during the past six months, especially the residents of Sake, currently deserted after the fighting between the rebels led by Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese Army. Nkunda sees himself as the spokesman and defender of the minority Tutsi and maintains that the government authorities support the Hutu rebels, many of which are linked to the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

However, beyond the predictable power ambitions, there seem to be other causes for conflict. According to members of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), Knunda's main demand to the government is the return of the Tutsi refugees currently in Rwanda. Likewise, the fighting for control of Lake Albert, a lake rich in oil and situated in the border between Congo and Uganda, also stirs conflict even though Congo's President Kabila and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, reached an agreement for the equal distribution of this natural resource.

"I hope that this award serves to draw attention to the suffering detention causes to thousands of innocent people in Malta and elsewhere and that it generates a real search for alternatives which respect people's dignity and rights", said Katrine.

Since 1997, Dr Camilleri has provided legal advice to hundreds of detainees, helping them with their asylum claim or to challenge their detention, especially the most vulnerable, such as chronically ill people and persons with disability or mental health problems. In response to the sharp escalation in the arrival and subsequent detention of asylum seekers in 2002, JRS expanded its services for detainees, establishing volunteer visitors and social work projects and facilitating access to healthcare.