Jorge Alberto studied to become a doctor. But the war came and he wasn’t able to finish his course of study. He worked for nine years at the Ministry of Health and obtained a nursing degree. He then worked at a military hospital for a while. With help from some friends, he managed to study while working at the hospital, and he obtained a degree in preventive medicine. He helped prepare other students to obtain the same degree. He is now retired and teaching literacy in a learning circle.
“A young woman was in another learning circle around here similar to ours, but she didn’t learn anything. There were a lot of people around here who were in that learning circle, but they didn’t learn how to read. Now she has learned to read. And the others will tell you that they were in the other learning circle and didn’t learn to read, but now they know how to read, even if only a little. And that just fills us with pride to see that they can say ‘we can read.’ That makes us so happy because we can say that this little seed will start growing little by little.”—Jorge Alfaro