Uba Qynza
Cundinamarca, Colombia, March 2022
Driven by the desire to learn more about sustainable ways of living, I got in touch with a network of regenerative communities and went visiting Aldeafeliz ecovillage. Integrated in this project is Uba Qynza, a very inspiring educational community. Learn more about their mission through this interview to the mentors Lorena and Raul and the photo reportage.
What is Uba Qynza?
Lorena: “We are an autonomous educational community. Uba Qynza is our name in the Mhuysqa language, the ancient language of the territory we inhabit. In English it means Hummingbird Seed. It was born with the purpose of transforming educational paradigms. It is not an educational institution, but rather a living process that is being created permanently with the strength and energy of the educators and parents. It is made up of a fabric of families in permanent co-creation of a living space, cared for and prepared for the respectful development, coexistence and learning process of girls and boys in a multi-age group between 7 and 11 years old.”
“Our philosophy consists of the commitment to the care of life. We recognise that care starts with individual care to the relationships with others and the natural environment. And we approach it from the conviction for the collective and community creation of accompaniment and learning processes. This implies the transformation of conventional, individualistic, competitive and hierarchical paradigms towards practices of solidarity, self-governance, collaboration and horizontal management. In this way, we facilitate autonomous and authentic learning that fosters critical thinking and emotional knowledge and that is practiced in a continuous development of the will.
We accompany the development and learning process of children and adults in a nurturing environment so that curiosity, play and art, learning and love for life are expressed and developed freely.”
What role does art, play and nature play in this school and in your own life?
“Art and the relationship between nature and pedagogy are very important to me. How do children learn? They learn through playing. Art, nature, play are elements that are being articulated, that are being combined. And that is also a part of my life as a teacher, as an educator, as an artist. Reaching out to a community of children for me is a joy and it is also an exercise that feeds and enriches my profession and my artistic path. Also, I am part of the community, I live in the territory and I am in a direct relationship with the children, the families of the children and nature. And this makes a lot of sense for my life.”
What’s the role of nature at Uba Qynza?
Raul: “Nature offers us a living space, which favours the development of the senses. Movement arouses curiosity, interest in observing, discovering, exploring, taking risks, living adventures… And it allows connection with ourselves. In this constant contact with nature we expand our empathy towards others, towards other forms of life and we recognize ourselves as part of the Creation. Play, art, research, self-knowledge and relationships are sustained by the ever-changing and powerful presence of the territory.”
How has Uba Qynza contributed for your own personal path?
Lorena: “Living in Uba Qynza is a wonderful opportunity to experience what has been very important to me during my process of accompanying children's learning, and it is the capacity that we all have - adults, children, companions, fathers, mothers - to create community.
Accompanying the learning process is also an amazing chance to grow, integrate the paths of paradigm shifts that have interested me throughout my life, to develop autonomy, self-management, self-governance, to experiment and practice what it means to create in community, create in collective, what it means to trust our own ways and motivations... For me it was following a path of independence - of independence from the system we live in, of creating a powerful possibility for autonomy.”
To know more about the project visit: www.aldeafeliz.org/uba-qynza/