Wednesday. Our first appointment was at the Instituto Santa Rosa where we were planning to ambush a few unsuspecting parents . Whilst this approach represented a partial form of random sampling, we are limited to the group of parents that choose to collect their children from school as opposed to selection of all parents. This isnt perfect but as Gerardo indicated, we would almost certainly be wasting our time expecting children to take the questionnaires home returning at some future date with a completed version. To visit each household would also be impractical, afterall were having enough trouble finding the schools nevermind individual homes. This improbable task would also require that each of the DoS provide an up to date list of names and addresses. All things considered its not gonna happen, not on this trip anyway.
Whilst I performed the introductions, Joni sat with the parents and helped them complete the questionnaires. In the confined space provided, it wasnt long before we were surrounded by inquisitive children wondering what their parents were doing. As always, Joni is remarkably unflustered by the apparent chaos whilst I did my best to distract the children as they attempted to discover my nationality. Lots of gold stars for enthusiam, not so many for geography. This was the first opporunity Ive had to enquire about parental choice and the reasons underpinning a preference for private institutions. The supplementary questionnaire requires the parents to prioritise a list of related factors however, this model would appear to be overly complicated with many parents having difficulty understanding the task. Whilst we were able to talk them through the format, Im going to have to rationalise it in order to avoid any further confusion and/or time wasting.
We leave Santa Rosa with seven parental, one DoS and six teacher responses which is more than I had allowed for in my original plan. Gerardo conveniently arrived just as we were saying our goodbyes and we headed off in the direction of Poblado neighbourhood and the Providencia school for another meeting with the parents. Gerardo was walking his scooter for this leg of the trip and this seems to have attracted the attention of a couple of passing police officers. They pull us over and immediately start questioning Gerardo about the nature of this unlikely group (one local, one Swede and one Englishman carrying a raft of paperwork into Poblado 2). The officers themselves dont bother me, what Im more concerned about is my visa status. Whilst we have a perfectly reasonable set of explanations for our presence and even an authorising letter (from Jairo), I dont know if my tourist visa actually covers me to carry out research in Colombia. Added to that, I only have my Spanish residency card as proof of identity as opposed to the requisite passport. Whilst one officer performs the oligatory frisking, the other calls into base to make his checks. Whatever it was that passed between him and his radio, our man is satisfied that we are operating within the rules and allows us to continue on our way. I didnt think at any point that we were in any real trouble but no one wants to spend time in a Colombian police station answering trick questions in a foreign language. There was a deep and collective sigh of relief as we headed toward the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia private school.
Once the administrator of the institution had acknowledged our presence, she immediately conscripted all unsuspecting parents loitering outside of the premises. By the time we had finished, we had amassed 20 responses which is an excellent return for a relatively small school. Once again, the supplementary questionnaire proved to be unwieldy but with a little patience I think we got a reasonably intelligible response. One further question that will require resolution before drawing any conclusions is bias. Whilst I am delighted with 20 completions, the final results will lean towards individual institutions if response bias is not considered.
With Gerardo leading the way, we head toward the neighbourhoods of Los Lagos and Poblado2 to visit the small private institutions that remain on the list. Once again, the schools we visited were nothing if not welcoming, interested and supportive and whilst the investigation is going this well, Ill never tire of saying so. The outstanding institution from a personal perspective was the Richard Bach school, set in the heart of the neighbourhood and run by another remarkable lady, Diana. The school was named after the author of the inspirational short story, Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and started as nothing more than a wooden shack. Today its modern, colourful, welcoming building (see photo) and an inspiration in and of itself. Diana and her deputy designed the school and have managed its growth throughout the last 15 years which will soon include a third floor. As someone who spent nearly as much career time going to meetings and writing documents that no-one read, Im humbled by such an achievement. After the introductions and explanations, she takes us around the school and interrupts a couple of classes. The youngest children welcome us but are little confused by foreign faces. The older children have no such reservations and we are mobbed as we enter the playground, I even recognise some of the children from my weekend visit to the Leonors Foundation Autonoma. Before leaving I promise to return and do at least one English class for them, though I had better start organising my diary as I’ve now made this promise to a number of other institutions. Its gone 4 oclock and we still havent had lunch, so we cross the river and into a bustling market place in comuna 14. Over some oven-baked chicken, we discuss a plan for the following week which includes a rugby training session for the youngsters of the Juan Bosco foundation where Gerardo works. He thinks it would be a fantastic way for his charges to divest themselves of much pent up frustration, whilst I am just delighted to have the opportunity to return more than a few favours.