| Introduction | 11/22 | 11/23 | 11/24 | 11/25 | 11/26 | 11/27 | 11/28 | 11/29 | Alfred C. Snider | Debate Central |
The day began with an on time
wake up call. Well, at least that problem had been solved. It was breakfast
as usual at the hotel, and the fresh farmerÕs cheese was exceptional this day.
After breakfast I began to pack, as I was to depart tonight and I wanted to
check out of the hotel this morning to save Diego Portales an extra day of expense.
I would leave my bags downstairs and reclaim them before going to the airport
that evening. I was finished packing and moved things downstairs just as a message
came from Paola that they would be at the hotel very soon to begin our dayÕs
activities.
Paola, Claudio, Miguel, Benito,
and Claudia arrived in a van with a driver. Today we were bound for a town some
distance from Santiago called Melapilla [translates as Òfour devilsÓ in the
indigenous language] to witness a pair of semifinal debates in that regionÕs
debate competition for school children ages 10-12. I was very excited to see
such an event.
|STREETS OF MELAPILLA | HEAD TEACHER WELCOMES EVERYONE TO THE SEMIFINAL DEBATES
|
We arrived in Melapilla after
a quick drive down an excellent modern highway. Melapilla is a town of about
80,000 people and is mostly lower class. The town had that look I had seen so
many times in Sonora, Mexico of a poor population caught amidst the angst of
modernity. Blockbuster video was located right next to a shop selling Catholic
statues. People seemed busy and friendly.
We arrived at the host school,
Escuela Republica de Brasil. The head teacher greeted us and she would serve
to direct the dayÕs event. Luis Marchan, a lawyer who had graduated from Sociedad
de Debate in the 1990's and was now the regional director of the program, also
met us. We were escorted into a large schoolroom characteristic of rural schools
I have seen in many parts of the world. There was an excited crowd of students
and a few school officials. Since there were four teams of six students each
in attendance, they made up a lot of the crowd.
| THE CONSTRUCTIVE SPEAKERS OF BOTH TEAMS WAIT TO BEGIN |
The head teacher introduced
the first debate on the topic of whether pregnant students should be allowed
to stay in their regular schools. The teams were introduced individually not
only with their names but with words of praise about them (hard working, creative,
verbal, intelligent, etc.) also spoken. As they each came forward to take their
places they would shake hands with the male judges and if they were male and
peck the cheek of the judges if they were female, in the classic Chilean friendship
cheek brush accompanied by a slight pucker and smack, lips never touching the
skin of the other. Both teams were from this school and had won their previous
competitions.
There would be a series of
six speeches, three by each side, with each speech lasting two minutes. After
these constructive speeches there would be a brief conference for the teams
to plan strategy, and then three two minute speeches by each side. Thus, each
debate took about 50 minutes. The proposition team argued that pregnant students
were not criminals and should not be discriminated against. The opposition team
argued that the students would be embarrassed and teased by others, that the
desks and chairs were not suitable, and that there might be accidents threatening
the safety of the children. The conference came and the students spoke to each
other enthusiastically. Then we heard the remaining speeches where they attacked
and defended the various issues in the debate. After each speaker there was
a round of applause, and a big applause at the end.
| PARTICIPANTS IN THE SEMIFINAL DEBATES AT ESCUELA REPUBLICA DE BRASIL |
There was a brief break and
the mayor, a handsome man named Fernando Perez, of the town arrived and took
a seat next to me. He told me of his support for the debates, how he had attended
most of them, and how he had made arrangements for the final to be held at the
city hall. He talked about the students from the two schools and commented on
how one school was from a very poor part of town, and the school itself was
located with a field where drugs were often sold and a bordello on either side.
Many of the students could not afford uniforms and especially shoes, and that
the city helped the poorest students get uniforms and shoes to wear to school.
The second debate was about
lowering the age of maturity for criminal offenses to 14 years of age. Previously
there had been a psychological determination in students 14 to 17 as to whether
they could be held responsible, but the topic said that this test should be
abolished and adult responsibility assigned at age 14.
This debate featured a wide
ethnic variety of Chilean children, with the indigenous Mapuche people represented
by the opposition team. They each were introduced and came forward to brush
cheeks with the judges and some with the mayor and myself.
One of the opposition rebuttalists
even read a quotation. One girl had a tremendous start to her speech but then
stumbled in the middle and lost her confidence. I was worried she would panic
as all eyes were on her, but she seemed to reach down deep into herself and
find new reserves of confidence, because she bounced back and completed her
speech strongly. These are the kind of events that I live for --- an individual
just overcame anxieties and feelings of doubt to finish her performance strongly.
I hope this was an important moment for her.
| CONFERENCE BEFORE REBUTTAL SPEECHES | PANEL OF JUDGES |
The rebuttal speeches in this
debate were surprisingly strong, given that they were not as prepared as the
first speeches. They seemed very animated about this age and crime issue, and
I learned that Claudio had written all the topics and that the rights of children
was the theme of all the topics.
Cokes and Fanta oranges were
handed out as the judges made their decisions. They did their talliesd and then
it was time for the announcement. The first debate had been won by the team
from Escuela La Republica de Brasil #1, and they were overjoyed. Claudio congratulated
them. Luis Marchan made the next announcement, and the team from Escuela Jaime
Larrain Bunster was the winner, the opposition team with Mapuche student members.
They were also overjoyed.
| TEAM PHOTOS FROM THE TWO SEMIFINAL DEBATES |
Everyone adjourned outside
to continue the celebrations and discussions, and a reporter from a local newspaper
interviewed me. I also had a chance to chat additionally with the mayor, who
repeated his strong support for debating activities. I got the teams to pose
for pictures because they were too cute not to be in photos. I also got a photo
with Benito and the Mayor. We had to leave because we had an appointment in
Santiago, so it was back into the van and back to the highway.
On the road I asked Paola
to make some calls to discover where I could get an iBook power cord that day,
not an easy task in PC dominated Chile. She made some calls and got some leads
we could follow up on later.
We carried on quite a discussion
about the debates we had just seen. It was the most exciting thing I had seen
in Chile, and I gushed about it. It was a good time to share stories about their
experiences and the various schools. This is a tremendous work, and it is carried
on without hardly any funding. That is one of the beautiful things about debate
in its basics, no huge investment, just people, a space, and an issue.
Benito and I were bound for
a meeting with major Diego Portales administrators. One is the Vice rector academico,
Jose Julio Leon, and the other the Dean of Students (sorry if the translation
is inadequate) Roberto Vega. Both have been long time debate supporters. I met
Roberto on my last visit to Chile and last spring in Puerto Rico. I had also
met Jose at these times, but he had also come to WDI in Vermont for two weeks
and was a tremendous and talented individual. I had no idea at that time he
would rise so high in the university.
| MAYOR OF MELAPILLA FERNANMDO PEREZ MIXES WITH CHILDREN | ROBERTO VEGA AND
BENITO ESCOBAR |
We had a stylish lunch in
the Central House with these two gentlemen, Benito and myself. We discussed
what I had seen on my trip and plans for the future. At our meeting we decided
on several new initiatives, including:
After the meeting we confirmed
not only our professional cooperation but also our mutual friendships. Benito
and I went back to the debate offices and I knew that the official part of my
visit was over.
Miguel had found out where
I could go for my iBook power cord. I said goodbye to Paco, Benito and all the
others in the office. I repeated my new farewell mantra, ÒThe future is too
large and the world is too small for us not to meet again.Ó
With that I left the building
and went back to the hotel. I rummaged in my luggage and pulled out my iBook
so that I could make sure I got the correct power cord.
I took a taxi to a business
district on the other side of Santiago and did find precisely the cord I needed
and purchased it. My next plan was to buy some gifts for friends, and all of
them would involve the incredibly beautiful stone lapis lazuli that is found
only in Chile and Afghanistan. I had several good leads on where to buy, and
my taxi driver helped me. The store he found was perfect, with an excellent
selection and very reasonable prices. I even purchased a silver ring with a
lapis lazuli stone for myself. The other gifts will resurface for Christmas.
I went back to my hotel neighborhood
for a meal before leaving for the airport. I selected my usual, CafŽ Don Julian,
for a drink and dinner. I ordered the most Chilean thing on the menu, lomito
ala pobre (the beef of the poor), which is a small, grilled cutlet along with
onions, fried eggs, and fried potatoes Chilean style. It was inexpensive, tasty,
and filling. I finished just in
time to talk to the hotel and find my airport car had arrived. I left some small
tips with the staff at the hotel and I was on my way to the airport.
I had thought my flight was
at 11:00 PM, but it turned out to be at 10:00 PM. Luckily I was there in plenty
of time and I made the flight anyway. My bags were thoroughly searched when
I checked in.
I boarded the plane and found
out I was in a row of seats by myself. I ignored the meal that was served and
soon decided to try and sleep across three seats. There were some bumps and
protuberances, but as I winged my way out of South America I fell into a happy
but fitful sleep.