Shortly before Christmas, I had the opportunity to speak with Carmiña De la Cruz, leader of Fe y Alegría’s Inclusive Education Initiative. Carmiña has been a driving force behind Fe y Alegría’s care for students with disabilities in Bolivia and throughout the International Federation for over twenty years. Her passion is rooted in a deeply held belief that all students have a right to quality education and the ability to become protagonists in their own lives. She also speaks passionately about the way inclusive education contributes to the participation and flourishing of all students and our communities more broadly.
Alongside Fernando Anderlic’s recent article, “Inclusive Education as a Transformative Process in Our Classrooms,” stories of impact like that of Jorge in Argentina, and ahead of our webinar about inclusive education on the International Day of Education, my conversation with Carmiña exemplifies the passion and dedication of so many members of Fe y Alegría as well as the International Federation’s commitment to transforming educational systems around the world to ensure every child, regardless of ability, can access quality education.
The Inclusive Education Initiative of Fe y Alegría International
The “Inclusive Education” initiative is one of twelve transversal initiatives which pursue key mission areas within the work of the International Federation. These initiatives “are instances of animation, action and management.” They unite the “horizontal” with the “vertical” dimension of institutional governance. They allow us to strengthen the joint mission from each country or region and to make the voice of each place heard more quickly and rapidly.”
Since the early 2000’s, Fe y Alegría has identified the need to work with individuals with disabilities because they are so often excluded and marginalized in our societies. Historically, these populations have faced significant challenges exercising their basic rights and the right education is particularly important for empowering and uplifting these individuals. Therefore, this Initiative has as its main objective “eliminating barriers, creating opportunities.”
Origins of the Initiative
Carmiña’s journey into inclusive education provides unique insights into the growth of this initiative. Her own experience with and understanding of education programs for students with disabilities has evolved in parallel with the work of Fe y Alegría in this area. As she learned more about this area of education and helped Fe y Alegría Bolivia to improve and adapt their model, she also shared her experience with the International Federation, moving the conversation forward throughout Fe y Alegría.
Carmiña first became involved with special education programs in the early 2000s. “I have been working for more than 20 years in this field,” she shared. “Initially, I was drawn to the challenges faced by children with disabilities, particularly their exclusion from regular schools.”
In Bolivia, Carmiña shared that, “families of friends of people with disabilities originally founded some special education centers.” These centers later became part of Fe y Alegría Bolivia. “They ask to be part of Fe y Alegría,” she explained, “knowing the vision of education that we have at Fe y Alegría. We seek an education for the most vulnerable, we respond to the most impoverished sectors of our country, and we carry this flag of faith and justice as much more than an institutional motto. That’s why they wanted to join us.”
Around this time, Carmiña became more actively involved in Fe y Alegría Bolivia’s special and inclusive education programs. “I asked myself, ‘why do people with disabilities have to be in other centers and not in a regular school, as with other children? Why are there these differences? And why do special education centers operate in such a segregated manner?’,” she shared.
What started as a professional curiosity for Carmiña has grown into a significant initiative within Fe y Alegría Bolivia and the International Federation due, in no small part, to her passion and commitment to people with disabilities.
Expanding the Vision
By the early 2000s, Fe y Alegría began advocating for school integration, opening regular education spaces to students with disabilities. This effort was supported by architectural adaptations, teacher training, and community engagement to ensure that schools were prepared to welcome all students. Camiña explained, “We started to change the logic of special education centers, looking for students that could transition into regular education centers. Special education centers began referring children to regular schools, and regular schools, in turn, prepared to welcome them. This required preparing educators, adapting infrastructure, and fostering community readiness.”
It is also interesting to note that in Bolivia, Carmiña and her team have worked to specialize the skills and resources of different schools so that they can best respond to the specific needs of certain students, rather than promoting a “one size fits all” approach to inclusive education. “We have been specializing the regular education centers to receive certain types of disabilities…,” she explained, “so if a school is going to receive hearing impaired children, then we focus on that and connect them with special education centers that have hearing impaired children.”
In 2011, Bolivia and Ecuador spearheaded the first collaborative meeting on inclusive education within the Fe y Alegría network. This gathering catalyzed the establishment of a federative initiative, creating a platform for sharing best practices across countries which was originally referred to as the Inclusive and Special Education Initiative.” In this first encounter, ten representatives from Fe y Alegría Ecuador traveled to Bolivia to learn about how their centers were integrating students with disabilities.
Following this first encounter and the shared vision for more inclusive education. The International Federation of Fe y Alegría incorporated this line of work as a formal initiative. “The Federation decided to highlight the initiative of inclusive and special education that arose from this connection that we had between Ecuador and Bolivia. We started to build this network of counterparts who wanted to do something similar … since we, Fe y Alegría Bolivia, had already started with this experience and with this long journey, we become leaders of the inclusive education initiative at the federative, international level.”
Today, the Inclusive Education Initiative includes representatives from seven Fe y Alegría national teams: Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Uruguay, and, most recently, Paraguay. Many other countries are also working on inclusive education projects while they contribute to other essential initiatives of the Federation as well.
Lifelong Learning for Students with Disabilities
Another key aspect of Fe y Alegría’s Inclusive Education Initiative is a focus on lifelong learning, ensuring individuals with disabilities have access to educational opportunities from early childhood to adulthood.
“Early intervention is crucial,” Carmiña explained. “Detecting disabilities at a young age allows us to start the stimulation process early, providing families and children with the tools they need to thrive.” When Fe y Alegría Bolivia first began integrating students with disabilities into their regular schools, these students were mostly young. However, as these students have grown, Fe y Alegría Bolivia has learned to grow and adapt their programs as well.
“The children that we first welcomed into our schools were growing up, some were already 17 years old. They were no longer in the primary school stage. So we thought, ‘we have to give them an educational response as well.’ And at that time, we were not yet talking about making an incursion into technical education, but we started to promote occupational training workshops. We started to create workshops in carpentry, baking, gardening and different technical branches for students with disabilities.” Carmiña continued “We wanted to ensure these young people had skills that matched market demands, … It’s about creating opportunities for a dignified life and showing that people with disabilities can contribute meaningfully to the workforce.”
A Vision for the Future
The Inclusive Education Initiative seeks to create a culture of equity and opportunity. By emphasizing early intervention, teacher training, and the integration of technical and regular education, Fe y Alegría hopes to expand its impact.
“Eliminating barriers, creating opportunities, that is our guiding motto,” Carmiña says. This motto reflects the initiative’s mission to ensure every individual can contribute to society with dignity and purpose. “We are here to generate conditions where people with disabilities can develop their abilities,” Carmiña emphasized. “They have dreams and potential like everyone else, and it’s our role to help them realize it.”
As Fe y Alegría continues this transformative journey, it exemplifies the power of inclusive education to challenge norms, uplift communities, and inspire global change. “We are changing lives,” Carmiña concluded. “Not just for students with disabilities, but for their families, their peers, and society as a whole.”
