Christel DeHaan
“We must prepare children and youth to face the 21st century”
 
In a Caracas school, the values taught to children are the priority. Thanks to the initiative of this North American, change, even at a very small scale, has found a place
 
Cynthia Rodríguez
 
One of the walls at the Educational Unit Colegio Alianza reads: “Respect, responsibility, integrity, independence”. Those are the values on which the education of its 276 students is founded, from seventh to twelve grades. Their days are spent in observance of those values, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday, in different activities that range from academic education to sports and music, by the hand of a 68 person, multi disciplinary team that includes teachers, doctors, psychologists, social workers and administrative personnel.

Sounds like a model place and it is. But the headquarters of Colegio Alianza are not located in a wealthy area of the East side of Caracas. This institution operates in the La Vega Parrish since the year 2001.

This initiative results from the need of a sector where there are schools, but not enough to serve the school-age population and this has become possible thanks to the (almost total) impulse and financing of only one person: Mrs. Christel DeHann.

In 1996, this North American decided to sell Resort Condominiums International (RCI), a tourism company where she had successfully worked, to dedicate herself to the Christel House International Foundation, thanks to which she has created and maintained five learning centers for poor children and has operations in México, India, South Africa, the US and Venezuela. DeHann chose the countries where RCI had offices as headquarters. “It is my own way of giving back to those countries a part of my business’ success”, she says nowadays.

From her perspective, education is and will continue to be the best available tool to change the world, and only those citizens who learn how to think and to decide for themselves will be able to advance their countries and overcome the challenges of the 21st century.

What would you believe has been the principal lesson of this experience so far?
The principal lesson is that, if there is a correct education model, focused in the holistic development of the lives of the youngsters, and you have high expectations of their academic performance and personal contact, you are truly able to transform lives. Knowing that this is possible, that it can be done, is the biggest lesson. And our children are living proof.
 
Do you believe that education is the way to integrate a divided society such as ours?
Universally, education has been the road to a better life and to improve the conditions of people, and the opportunities to which there is access. Education should accomplish, in every human being, the ability to access, analyze and become an independent thinker. We can only have access to this through education, because if we have other influences and we are not free, our minds will not be able to question themselves, of analyzing. This is what makes the pursuit of truth possible as well as being able to differentiate fact from fiction. I believe education allows this.  
 
What do you believe are the values that contribute in that task and how are they combined with those followed by Christel House as an institution?

The values on which our institution is based are respect, responsibility, independence and integrity, and they are present in our day to day activities. Every day, we are able to witness the development of these values in our students. They are taught to respect themselves, to respect everybody else, properties and the environment; to be responsible for themselves and to pursue responsibility for who they are and what they do and in a larger global context. They are taught to have independence of thought, economic independence and then there is integrity, which is not only about being honest and sincere, but includes being able to differentiate between right and wrong and knowing that there are things that may look good and are not contrary to the law, but may not be ethical. Our pursuit is that the thought system of our children is based on these values and that they embrace them. That is how we think that we may make them wonderful citizens.
 
Do you have experiences similar to the Venezuelan experience in other countries where you operate?
Yes. We have children that come from families having many problems. We have enormous similarities between for example, Venezuela and South Africa, countries where we witness what I call “extreme violence”. These countries are very similar in terms of violence and children there are very similar to children here. They have similar problems, such as a high incidence of gangs, the use of weapons and drugs, ruptures of the family structure, very insecure environments. One of our biggest challenges in the psychological support work is the relief from grief, because they loose a parent, an uncle, a friend. Grief is one of their biggest problems.
 
Is the experience comparable to any of your schools in the world?
I believe comparable experiences come from the transformation that we are able to achieve in our children and in their extraordinary achievements. The organization works for the same goals, so there may be cultural differences, but we are all working towards the same goal. Our strategy is to work with the child, the parents and the community. That is how we contribute to the nation.

Where do you believe that education must concentrate its efforts in the task of educating the citizens of the future?

In Venezuela there seems to be an idea that good academic performance and academic excellence are not priorities, as they were before. We believe that the standards, the expectations and the preparation of the Venezuelan youth to meet challenges and the requirements of the 21st century -has been lowered. Venezuela, in my opinion, must realize that its teachers, its academy as a whole, must continue to draw strength. If the country has eliminated or will eliminate university admission tests, then we should ask ourselves: on what basis are we grading students? I believe there must be very different opportunities to educate a person, but universities must be universities. And we must insist on the knowledge that takes place in the university. I hope the academic community becomes a large force at the time of continuing the furtherance of the students’ expectations in this country. It is a very delicate subject, I am aware of that. One has to be very careful with whatever is said about the government. But the government must understand the requirements of the 21st century and give access to students so they are able to meet them.

What are the global education tendencies to teach values to children and youth in times of turbulence such as these, where systems such as capitalism are under review and in some countries in Latin America models identified with socialism are being adopted?

I believe that any comment will depend on how such values are being promoted in those countries, but there are universal values that are applicable to any system or economic model. They are eternal. These are the values we pursue.  We should always embrace these values and in times when our economic values are also tumbling, I believe they become more important than ever. We must continue our pursuit of excellence and of human kindness.
 
How do you think it’s possible that a model like yours is sustainable in our societies?

We are an institution very open to sharing. If there are other schools willing to learn about who we are and the success we have been achieving, we are more than willing to share our tools and strategies so that others may be able to apply them. I believe the only way to do this is through teaching and sharing the best practices. That is how the multiplication effort is begun. Even when there is little to be applied, just imagine the effect it may have on the country, for example, to hope that 10-20% more students complete their studies.