Schools to the South

[Music] e [Music] the children of Latin America come from varied racial stocks speak an assortment of languages and live in 20 different countries we in North America who will share a hemisphere with them in peace and cooperation want to know how they are growing up in the United States we have educational problems peculiar to us what are the problems peculiar to Latin America compulsory education is in the law books of most Latin American countries but in many regions notably in the vast agricultural tracks Universal schooling is an ideal not easily realized in practice we all know that there are still regions in the United States which have that same problem more of our Southern neighbors are engaged in agriculture than in any other occupation therefore a large proportion of the children are growing up to be Farmers the great problem for each country's authorities is how to take education to these youngsters partly for geographical reasons the problem is more Troublesome in Latin America than it has been in North America there are economic reasons too in the past their basic agricultural economy hasn't produced sufficient funds to provide many school houses teachers books and [Music] equipment [Music] then there is the transportation difficulty Latin America is a world of vast distances of lofty mountain ranges of deserts of fertile valleys and Uplands of Tangled jungles of great tracks of wide rich pampus and of 20 different countries a Consolidated School System is not easily developed under such difficulties Latin American children learn as have their ancestors for Generations at the side of their fathers in the field or helping their mothers in the chores of Family Life Learning by doing one season they come to the Harvest for fun the next season it's their job to help get the crops in on time in this setting no childish questions about going out to face the world ever arise the world is right here about them and in some countries like Mexico they go with their parents to the fiesta and there they learn much of their religion their cultural background and their native dances things learn better by living them than from books it is in Mexico 2 in the robust paintings of Diego Rivera on the walls of the Ministry of Education that we find a symbol of the progressive Trends in Latin American Education Mexico has taken the lead in systematic National Education through a plan which functions in spite of the poverty of the small rural [Music] community the demand for schools is come from the people let an official go among the rural folk for any ceremony or Fiesta and among the direct appeals from the people will always be pleased for more schools and the appeal has been heard the annual expenditure for Education among our neighbors to the South has increased [Music] enormously as we've seen the first consideration must be for the Country School often the eager members of a small community will build a Schoolhouse with their own hands on the promise of the state to send the teacher and while it is still true that some Latin American children have never seen the inside of a school it will not be true for long knowledge and desire for Education are contagious in these rural schools the subjects taught still reflect the fact that most of these children will spend their lives on the [Music] land we realize what the country schools will mean to Latin American life when we see teachers taking special courses in public health for the teacher can't do much about training the minds of her charges until she first builds strong healthy bodies today the teachers are bringing their lessons in cleanliness and Disease Control into the schools they teach their children how to recognize and deal with common ailments they teach disease prevention and the rudiments of nutrition and personal hygiene thus the way is pay for substantial Medical Aid along with ordinary schooling in the rural regions of Latin America for the free clinics which circulate through the interior and others which have been established in the larger [Music] Villages beginning in the earliest colonial days the Catholic church has vigorously and continuously maintained a great teaching tradition throughout all Latin America the educational pattern has has been definitely Roman Catholic if its schools did not reach every village and if in some respects particularly in recent times the education of the masses was somewhat neglected still its contribution has been unflagging today in such schools not only religion literature and languages are taught but science and the [Music] Arts the medical schools and training schools for nurses are among the most important institutions of Higher Learning in South [Music] America in the Laboratories and operating rooms modern methods are equipping an army of Latin American doctors for work among their own people in this Progressive development North American Physicians and Foundations have played an important part although most University work down here is in the fields of medicine law and Theology and though the students specialize in their chosen subjects rather more closely than we do they still find time for their own cultural interest it is traditional for educated persons to develop their talents as poets and artists and Men of letters what changes will take place in their education as our neighbor shift from the plow to the assembly line for their industrial activities are daily becoming more important great factories have been built and more are coming in which the vast natural resources of South America can be fashioned into useful Goods Artisans and technicians who operate the Machinery of mass production will need different training from that given to men who work in the fields and on cattle ranges already many young Latin Americans have developed the skills of modern machine work already the mysteries of wood and metal working of Gage and lathe are being explored in new trade schools and at the same time thousands of others are being trained in clerical work and the science of management in new business schools future accountants and distribution experts the plant managers and office Chiefs are hard at work the newest equipment is at their disposal the newest teaching devices are [Music] employed there is another Force which is more potent than ever before millions in the Caribbean in Mexico in Central and South America are taking great interest in the United States they have always known much more about us than we have about them now that they know we are in Earnest about the Good Neighbor policy they are eager to know still more about us that the Good Neighbor policy functions actively in the minds of young people is First Rate Assurance for us that it really works a clue to the new attitude is the great increase of interest in the learning of English many adults who study studied French and German when they were at school are joining clubs where they can learn to read and write English as Latin Americans see the temporary eclipse of European civilization to which they have traditionally looked for cultural ties they seek to find new ties with us let us not fail them let us also seek the elements in their culture which can enrich our own many of them are destined to use their English in americ am universities as exchange students while the Latin American countries extend their basic educational facilities they are also organizing schools for special training music and the Arts are now studied under Masters who have lived and worked in their native environment and who can relate the modern idiom to the artistic traditions of Latin [Music] America [Music] all the world has long paid tribute to the glories of the Aztec Mayan and Inca cultures today young people are borrowing strength and vigor from these amazing creative forces to find the new style that will Express their own time and their own civilization take these children in a Brazilian School their ancestors came from Portuguese castles cities and Farms or from the banks of the Amazon or from the shores of Africa Latin American children like ours in the United States have fallen air to a new vigorous youthful culture derived from many races they are Americans these children are moving toward a future that is also ours for as they grow toward manhood and Womanhood all of us in this hemisphere men women and children are moving toward new wisdom new Strength new Unity am