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Ángela González is a woman of arms to take. The first time he had to make a radical decision was to escape from Dolores, Tolima, a beautiful land soaked in blood during the conflict.
If there was no harassment of the Public Force, there was a guerrilla takeover or they proceeded to carry out hitmen or selective killings of peasants, merchants, public officials, the military and police, But the worst was the recruitment of children by the 25th front of the Farc Ep during four guerrilla takeovers and more than 30 harassments.
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Ángela González did everything to get the study guides for each of her children and grandchildren.
From that place, one day at three in the morning, Angela, now 48 years old, escaped. “At that time my daughters were very young. I had to save them and that’s why I went to Bogotá. In 2002 I said no more because they were passing some written sheets in which they forced us to be locked up from 6 in the afternoon and threatened to take the children away ”. He left, leaving a destroyed town and carrying four girls that he had to take out one by one and hidden.
Once in Bogotá, a sister who lived in the Mexico neighborhood of Ciudad Bolívar helped her while she achieved some stability. He worked in barbecue and family homes until he was able to become independent, met a new partner and had three more children. Today he lives in an apartment in Bosa with his entire family, which, despite having a hard time, has not lacked the most important thing: love.
But the pandemic brought with it one more test: virtual education. Something that sounds good, but when you do not have a computer or good internet access it can become a real nightmare, especially if you have ten children, between children and grandchildren, living together, in full school and in different degrees. And one more thing: without work since March 14 due to the health emergency due to covid-19.
“Well, one day, being at my house, I said: ‘Well, I had to manage so that these children do not lose my year and serve as a teacher. The study is the only thing that can change their course, and letting them go outside is not an option for me, ‘”Angela said.
With a single cell phone and no efficient internet, he had to manage, child by child, access to homework. By getting into the teachers’ groups as best he could, he got all the guide packages for his children to do their homework.
Despite the difficulties, Angela says that she was happy to have been able to be close to her family and take care of her from the pandemic.
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YouTube videos were difficult for them to open, entering Google was unattainable, and for explanations, very few by the teachers in charge of the grades their children were in. “And I with a cell phone that sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. My older girls lasted until 1 in the morning doing homework. “
Supported by her older children, she carried out the tasks of the little ones. He thought of one task at a time so his children wouldn’t waste the year.
I would go and photocopy the guides and take them to the students to put them to work. “Teachers find it absurd for a person to tell them that there is no internet access, they only send guides and that one send the answers and now, it doesn’t matter how”.
And when the only cell phone in the house couldn’t cope, this family managed to buy a second-hand computer for 360,000 pesos.
It wasn’t the fastest, but at least it served a little better. “And so, as I could, I managed to get all my Chinese to spend the year but it is not an easy task.”
Now he had to send a letter to the school because he fears that the arrival of a second wave will confine them for a longer time in 2021. “They need more equipment to be able to study, but until now they have obtained help from the Ministry of Education. been very difficult ”.
EL TIEMPO asked the Ministry of Education how many children had lost the year or dropped out due to lack of equipment and technology to study in Bogotá, but there is still no concrete data on this problem. “The recommendation for the schools from the central level of the SED was that they carefully review the individual situation of the student, since each one advanced at their own pace and according to their conditions ”.
In Colombia, the dropout figures in 2020 already exceed 100,000 students.
Fortunately, in this story, Angela made a difference, but everything could be better with help. “Of course, being able to be with my children was a blessing.”
CAROL MALAVER
SUB-EDITOR OF BOGOTÁ
[email protected]
VIDEO
ANDREA MORENO
PHOTOGRAPH OF WEATHER
