Kuykuitin

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Kuykuitin: Mitigating Conflicts Through Education in Chile

Washington, United StatesTirua, Chile
Year Founded:
2014
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Project Stage:
Start-Up
Budget: 
$1,000 - $10,000
Website:
http://www.kuykuitin.org
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

The Mapuche conflict is not terrorism, but Chileans believe it to be. To redress this misconception we are sending in-service history teachers of the wealthiest 5% of the country to a cross-cultural experience in a school within the conflict zone. At their return, they will teach a different story.

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

What if mass media lie about terrorism in Chile?
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

The Mapuche conflict of Southern Chile confronts Mapuche indigenous communities that fight to recuperate their lost territories against the Chilean state. This conflict has taken the life of Mapuche activists, Chilean settlers and policemen. Additionally, national mass media has been misinforming the national population about the causes of the violence labeling the Mapuche movement as “terrorism."

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Design an educational bridge providing in-service history teachers who teach the wealthiest 5% of the country, with an experience of real contact in an intercultural school of the Mapuche community of Tirua. Six teachers selected from a poll of 10 elite high schools will spend ten days working with the school community learning how history is taught and lived in the context of where the conflict unfolds. During the ten days, the teachers will stay with a host-family of the school. After learning about the Mapuche conflict, “on the ground” the six teachers will come back to their educational communities in Santiago to transmit their experiences and design a project to aid the Mapuche educational community that hosted them.

Awards

Big Ideas UC Berkeley, Conflict & Development
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

1)Pre-implementation (August-September 2015) 1.1)Selection of six teachers from the 5% top elite high schools in Santiago, Chile 1.2)Sign agreements with Mapuche educative community in Tirua, Chile. 2)Implementation (April 2016) 2.1)Workshop: "Chilean v. Mapuche People. History of a Conflict" 2.2)In-service teacher experience (Shadowed the history teacher at the Mapuche rural school; School activities under the direction of the principal; Community and family activities after school hours; Ceremonial gathering with Mapuche leadership to end the experience in a traditional fashion). 3)Evaluation (May 2016): 3.1)Workshop "Final Evaluation." 3.2)Diffusion: Mass media broadcasting; Social networks; Documentary post-production and promotion

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

1) Mapuche communities. Gift of compensation from the teachers in the spirit of traditional retribution. 2)Teachers own school 2.1)Assess the impact implementing a survey among their students about their knowledge of the conflict one month before and after the experience 2.2)Plan future projects to give back to the hosted rural community in Tirua 2.3)Design new pedagogical approaches to teach the history of the conflict 3)Intercultural education department of the Ministry of Education 3.1)Produce from this pioneering in-service teacher training experience a proposal to replicate the project in other zones of conflict. 4)The Chilean Society 4.1)A documentarian will record the multiple phases of the project in order to show and promote the benefits of this innovative project to a broader audience 4.2)Mass media distribution: newspaper and magazine articles, promotion of the documentary

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

1)Academic outreach: members of the team will publish papers in academic journals specialized in education and multicultural integration 2)Mass Media Broadcasting 3)Social networks: A Facebook page and a Twitter account will be created. Articles and excerpts from the academic and mass media articles will be released on a continuous basis. After the experience, small testimonial videos of guest teachers and the communities who host them will be shared. In addition, a Youtube Channel will be created and a documentary and audiovisual clips will be uploaded 4) Documentary display in film festivals
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

Upon the implementation of our project in April 2016, we aim to generate local, national and international impact. If Kuykuitin achieves to mitigate the "Mapuche Conflict" in Southern Chile by combining History, Education and Mass Media, we will be able to export the model to other conflict zones. Hence, Unilever support will ensure that the documentary of Kuykuitin will reach broader audiences and financial sources to replicate the model.

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

Kuykuitin is a social project that aims to mitigate conflict through education. Therefore, its marketplace is defined by the levels of violence and social unrest of impoverished communities around the world. Wherever we find the convergence of the elements that kuykuiting is addressing for the Mapuche case in Southern Chile (Education, Conflict Resolution, Mass media, Economic Underdevelopment) it is possible to implement its model of action for social change and peace promotion.
Team

Founding Story

I have been working with Mapuche communities for more than 10 years and I have seen how their unique culture and traditions are been threaten by present day economic, political and judicial pressures. Due to this long time relationship with Mapuche people, Cristobal Madero (Kuykuitin co-Founder) an educational expert at UC Berkeley invited me to apply to "Berkeley Big Idea Award." Because intercultural education was not solving the problem in Mapuche communities we decided to re-orient intercultural education to non-indigenous communities targeting those groups that create and misinform about the the conflict labeling it as terrorism. When we won the contest, we founded Kuykuitin.

Team

Daniel Cano (co-Founder) PhD candidate in History at Georgetown University. Expert on Latin American History, specifically on indigenous communities and their relationship with the state through education. See his academic-professional profile at: (https://georgetown.academia.edu/DanielCano); Cristobal Madero (co-Founder) Sociologist and a theologian, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Policies and Organizations in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley; Pablo Christiny (Kuykuitin documentarian) Journalist, TV Producer, Executive Director of Nativo Digital Foundation (www.http://fundacionnativodigital.com/) Pablo and his team, four more people, will shoot the documentary.
Background
Please confirm how you heard about the Unilever Awards:

Ashoka website

Please confirm your role in the initiative (eg Founder/co-Founder) and your organisational title:

co-Founder of Kuykuitin

Which of the 8 UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals) pre-selected for this competition does your solution relate most closely to? [select all that apply]

No Poverty, Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Leadership and the Unilever Awards
Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered.

For more than 10 years I have been working with Mapuche communities in Southern Chile, mainly in Tirua. Therefore I know the territory, the people, their problems and how these problems have been evolving-escalating over the years. From this biographical experience Kuykuitin emerged. During this time I have worked closely with Mapuche organizations helping them to achieve their particular goals. Among them I can name: 1) Relmuwitral: helping them to apply for international funds to expand their market of traditional Mapuche handicrafts; 2) Jesuit Mission in Tirua: designing and implementing scholarship programs for Mapuche children who cannot afford school tutions

Beyond your existing team, who else are you working with to achieve your objectives, eg partners, advisors, mentors?

1) Supporters: Berkeley University of California; Big Ideas Berkeley team; Berkeley Graduate School of Education; Georgetown University; Center for Latin American Studies Georgetown University; Conflict Resolution Program Georgetown University. 2) Advisers: Patricia Richards (Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies, at the University of Georgia); Sergio Caniuqueo (Mapuche historian). 3) Partners: "Nativo Digital" Foundation (www.http://fundacionnativodigital.com/); Idea Pic Productions; Municipality of Tirua, Chile; "Relmu Witral" Cooperative of Mapuche Weaver Women (http://www.relmuwitral.cl/index.php); Jesuit Mission in Tirua, Chile (http://tiruasj.blogspot.com/)