Costa Rica News – For me I believe some people are heroes and they just do not know it. Providing an education to children that have the desire to learn is what teachers do on a daily basis. I know for me so many of the teachers throughout my life have had a long lasting influence on who I have become today and they will always remain personal heroes of mine to sparking my interest in learning and achieving knowledge.
While I believe that all educators that are dedicated to their pupils are heroes there is a group of border police that are going beyond their call of duty in Costa Rica to teach life lessons to these students.
The La Esperanza Public School has 15 students and an interesting set of instructors. Since there has been a delay in finding a teacher who is willing to accept the transfer to this poor and remote area, the border police have stepped up to help.
Isaiah Matamoros, Ruben Moline, and other local command officers have assumed new roles, at the blackboard instead of the border between Costa Rica and Panama. They are not teaching math, science, history, or Spanish, rather life lessons.
These noble officers volunteered to teach the students, so that they won’t miss class time or lose the desire to learn. They are teaching the students how to protect themselves from hazards where they live. These lessons include how to avoid snake bites, sexual assault, the spread of dengue, and how to be safe when swimming or kayaking in the river.
The cops realize that education goes beyond learning to add and subtract. They don’t, however, intend to replace professional education. Fabian Segura, of the Board of Education of La Esperanza, expressed that the people of the community are extremely grateful for the gesture of the border police.
Although no teacher has been willing to make the trek to the rural area for the first two weeks of school, student Jenifer Quiros, a fifth grader, awakens at 4:30 am each day to get to the school by 7. She walks two miles and explains, “I do it because I want to learn. I have the right to learn, but I am being denied that right.” A parent, Felipa Ortiz, takes her four children to the school by canoe. She said, “I feel the state abandons teaching in these places.”
Let’s celebrate these these border police taking time out of their lives and understanding the importance of giving these children the chance to learn.
