Lucy Herney is an Afro-Colombian teacher from Timbiquí on Cauca’s Pacific coast. With more than 40 years of experience in education, Prof. Lucy—as her students affectionately call her—has a deep understanding of how schooling is traditionally used in rural Colombia, as well as insight into how education can serve as a tool for peace and positive social change.
Lucy shares a first-hand perspective that education—and educators—in rural Colombia are not valued or supported as central stakeholders in the 2016 Colombian Peace Accords. She argues that since the signing of the Accords, there have been no meaningful improvements in rural areas, where poverty and hardship remain evident, and conditions in her community have stayed the same or worsened due to a lack of support for rural education and development commitments.
For Lucy, realizing the constructive potential of formal education to promote community progress and peace requires greater engagement and respect throughout the school system. As was true when she was a student and remains so today, educators and institutions must listen to students’ needs and empower them to understand both their rights and responsibilities within society. By respecting students and those who teach them, schooling can better support Colombia’s fragile peace process.