00:17
The Vargas brothers are riding to school. It takes half an hour every day - the road is several kilometres long. Unlike the rest of Europe, in Uruguay riding a horse is not considered a luxury but often a sign of poverty.
00:36
Their classmates are faster: they have bicycles.
Fifteen children of all ages attend this small elementary school in the countryside.
00:56
Erica Vargas Vázquez, pupil
”We borrow this horse from a neighbour - he hardly ever uses it. We ride to school even if it rains a little, but when heavy rains come we can’t do this. "
01:15
The white tunic with a blue ribbon that the children wear, is the standard uniform across Uruguay's public schools and is used to disguise signs of class difference between the pupils.
01:39
To allow children equal access to information, Uruguay has a special program: the state gives each schoolchild their own laptop. These are basic, low-cost computers with a variety of educational programs and access to the internet. They have been developed in conjunction with the ‘One Laptop per Child’ international educational initiative.
02:03
The children get food at school; this is paid for by the state and works as an added motivation for attending school. The illiteracy rate in Uruguay is the lowest in South America. Education is compulsory nationwide until the age of 12, with preschool beginning at the age of four.
2:26
The government has declared, "Education for all".
02:32
Luisa Díaz School Director
"The laptop program is an initiative for the 21st Century. We need to educate the children differently so that they understand the world of today. This is a very active world that is changing rapidly - a world of technology, communications and media.
02:53
With the laptop you can also take photographs. 7-year-old Erica has developed a special talent. As homework she has made a family portrait, which includes her many brothers and sisters.
03:04
Erica Vargas Vazquez
" My mother doesn’t want any more children, but she gets more and more… I don’t know why”
03.16
For Erica, without the laptop photography would have been unthinkable. Her family cannot afford a camera. They only have the most essential things they need in order to live.
03:38
After school the kids return home with the laptop in their backpack. It’s a modern intruder in a world where technological progress is otherwise far behind.
04:06 Erica's house has no running water. Her mother is 25 years old and is expecting her seventh child.
04:27
Her father is a casual worker - he knows nothing of computers. But he hopes his children will have a better life. The laptop gives them access to education and the modern world.
04:51
Uruguay is sparsely populated. Three and a half million people live in an area twice the size of Austria. It’s a country characterized by agriculture and cattle breeding.
05:08
The government’s investment in education – in developing "brain power" – is aimed at creating better prospects for future generations.
05:20
Until the 1950s, Uruguay was a country of immigration for Europeans who had fled war, persecution and famine. This small country on the Rio de la Plata was then an advanced welfare state.
05:38
Three years ago school laptops were first introduced into the country. And only in the last phase were they introduced into the capital Montevideo, where half a million people live - almost half the population.
05:50
Julieta Rudich grew up here before her family emigrated to Europe in 1973.
06:08
She sees few changes in the neighbourhood she grew up in. The same children's voices, the same uniforms - only the presence of the little green machines show that time has passed.
06: 30
The class are being taught about José Pedro Varela: the Uruguayan school reformer. The teacher tells the children to appreciate how free compulsory education has been around since the 19th century and how religion is not taught in state schools here. Secularism is highly favoured in Uruguay.
06:51
José Pedro Varela once said, "Just like the sunlight, education must reach everyone". Julieta was also raised on this mantra as a child. Today however, the lesson is different. A greater emphasis is placed on individual viewpoints. With their new tools the children can research as they wish.
07:15
Pilar Ponce de Leon, school teacher
"Every student interprets lessons in his or her own way. This girl, for example, is downloading a picture of a child with a laptop to demonstrate an achievement of education. The new system encourages creativity, the children thrive, they fly. As teachers we are also enriched! "
07:40
Thanks to Facebook Julieta has tracked down her former classmates and teachers. Every third person in Julieta’s class emigrated after the military coup or because of the economic crisis. Gabriela has flown in from Ohio to attend this reunion, Gustavo from Buenos Aires, and Julieta from Vienna.
These classmates were eleven years old when they last saw each other, but the trauma of the dictatorship still connects them. Teachers like Elsa Quijano, who taught them to think critically, were punished and removed from the school system. The opposition was brutally struck down and because of this, the quality of education suffered tremendously.
08:22
Elsa Quijano Retired teacher
”At the time we collected money to buy food for children of political prisoners. Food for kids! Then I was suspended from the school and the government forbade me to continue teaching. I still have the judgement in black & white. It states: "The dismissal stands because she has collected food for children whose parents are in prison because of subversion."
08:53
As the group reconstruct their old class photo, they celebrate that those days are past. They agree, today things are getting better in Uruguay.
09:07
The military coup of 1973 broke the once strong democratic structures and the social achievements of Uruguay. The junta banned all opposition under the pretext of fighting the Tupamaro left-wing guerrillas
09:28
Murder and torture of political prisoners was common.
09:36
As a result of this, a lot of people fled the country. When the dictatorship ended in the 1980s, hundreds of thousands more left because of economic misery. The last great wave of immigration was in 2002 when the bankruptcy of Argentina sent Uruguay into a financial abyss.
10:00
Six years ago a major political change came when, for the first time, a socialist was elected president. His name was Tabare Vazquez, and he was an oncologist by profession. A specialist in fatal illness is ideal for a dying country, he once said ironically. Many of the social reforms Vazquez declared are now a reality. The widespread distribution of school laptops was also his decision.
10:29
Miguel Brechner
Board of Education Computer Program
"The then President Vazquez was a cancer doctor by profession and was accustomed to making risky decisions that another head of state would not have made. The fear of failure means that politicians often shy away from innovative school projects. This happens because they understand too little and because it costs money, and generally because education is a difficult subject all over the world."
10:57
Miguel Brechner is a computer scientist and heads the school laptop program. Only five percent of the education budget is spent on notebooks, which are currently 125 euros apiece; but this is something Uruguay can easily afford. The times of crisis are over. Uruguay is now a thriving economy with a large, well-educated middle class.
11:22
Brecher’s goal is to make new technology as much a part of peoples lives as the traditional Uruguayan tea. He envisages a generation of children who use computers and the Internet like their mother tongue.
11:42
In software development, Uruguay is now number one in Latin America. In a specially created industrial park are the headquarters of the “Ceibal Project” – the name given to the ‘One Laptop per Child’ program. The computer runs on the Linux open operating system, which is free and can be developed by its users. It can even be used to program robots. The idea to provide each child with an inexpensive laptop first came from the media lab of the American IT pioneer Nicholas Negroponte at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
12: 20
Miguel Brechner
"Intel and Microsoft did not want this project to succeed. Small commercial laptops have only now emerged in response to Negroponte's $100 computer. Negroponte has dramatically reduced the prices of computers. Despite his success, many people initially thought he would fail.”
12: 50
There were also opponents of the educational computer program. The teachers and the school board were in disagreement, but eventually the president of the board implemented the laptops against their will. Many teachers still do not know how they can use the laptop for teaching - they feel left out and overwhelmed and many end up asking their students for help.
13:12
Cecilia Jaume, teacher (in this case without an insert)
"Which of these games is for learning?"
13:20
Franco Gardini, student (no insert)
"Here, these are learning tools."
13:25
"Here miss, you see how someone can use the program - there’s a whole page"
13:31
Cecilia Jaume school teacher
"The problem is that there is no training course for teachers using laptops in the classroom. It would be a useful tool if someone taught us how to use them in the classroom. It’s a pity. "
13:48
Franco Gardini
"We should stand in front of the board, and the teachers should sit at the back if they want to learn from us. "
13:59
It’s amazing how naturally the kids explain this new world to the adults with just a little bit of knowledge. The new generation of digitally savvy Uruguayans is already here, to the discomfort of some parents.
14:24
Nevertheless, everyone welcomes the school laptops as a step towards equality. Access to information should not be a privilege of the better-off in society.
But in Uruguay, the ubiquity of the computer has advantages and disadvantages.
14: 40
Mariana de Leon, fitness trainer
"With so many computers at home, the children lose their communication skills. They communicate only through screens, and when they stand face to face, they do not greet each other - they have communication problems."
15:00
Valentina Chocho de Leon, scholar
I feel more at ease talking through the computer rather than saying something face to face ... I don’t know why. "
15:17
Despite their reservations, more and more parents actively support the laptop program. They have formed a club, organised workshops, and developed educational software and creative experiments. This bike driven generator was developed jointly by parents and students and was made from recycled material as an environmentally friendly charger for the laptop; a toy to promote environmental awareness.
15:49
Javier García
"The parents' associations and similar organizations are the cornerstone of the initiatives’ success. In other countries they have tried the same laptop program, but failed to implement it properly. It works here because each of us contributes something. (16:12) I would advise other countries to benefit from our know-how, to consult us and report on our experiences. "
16:26
A spirit of improvisation is required. Uruguay has implemented the ‘One Laptop Per Child’ program in the shortest time possible - as though it were a matter of urgency. Without prior knowledge it’s clear some that some things have gone wrong: the laptops are not quite as robust as first thought and many break down. Teams of technicians travel across the country to repair the computers. But this has helped to create new jobs.
16:55 Instead of paying for the repair, those who have no money can take a course about how to use the device.
17:04
Volunteer (without insert)
"This is not a piggy bank, so please do not put coins in it! This slot is for the memory card which stores information so the hard drive does not get too cluttered.”
17:19
Through the children, the parents - who are often very poor - also come to train. The laptop also allows them access to more information.
17:30
Many adults are now getting what was denied them in childhood. Rosario Bayón has recently attended a state-sponsored literacy course.
17:45
The mother of three is unemployed and has spent her entire life in this slum on the outskirts of Montevideo. Despite compulsory school attendance, two percent of the population are still illiterate - especially amongst the poorest.
18:05
Rosario Bayón
"My mother did not send me to school - I have not learned to read and write.”
18:10
Julieta: (off screen):
Why? The school was free at the time.
18:14
Rosario Bayón
"My mother just didn’t want me to go, and neither did I. But later I suffered because I could not help my kids with their homework. Now, after a literacy course I can read a bit, and I'm attached to the laptop. With this computer there are many things I can learn, especially when my daughter helps me ". (18:36)
18:39
In their spare time the children are looking for places near to school or where they live where they can have free internet access for their laptops - learning anywhere and at any time. The digital divide between rich and poor, between developed and developing, is slowly closing.
18:56
But scepticism remains. It takes more than the mere distribution of laptops to get a grip on poverty, unemployment and drug addiction, say many in the slums. The school director Rosario Martínez tries to explain the advantages of the computer to a sceptical father… (19:17)
19:18
Rosario Martínez, principal
"The child has to go to school in order to connect to the Internet. If this is not done regularly, the laptop is blocked. So the computer is protected against theft, and at the same time, school attendance is monitored. "
19:37
Martín Hernández, father
"When I was 23 I had 12 or 13 years in prison behind me. I grew up in juvenile institutions and prisons. I've seen people being murdered, and I’ve killed people myself. Eventually, I got shot near here. I don’t want to know anything about the computers.
The whole day the kids sit between the computer and the TV and they understand nothing.
A child who can barely read or write will become at worst a small-scale murderer. But it’s the one who is intelligent and knows something about computers and technology that throws bombs.
A stupid person does not throw bombs, because he is scared and has no idea about them.
He is cautious, modest, quiet.
In Uruguay, have you ever heard of a child coming into school with a gun and killing 10 other children and teachers? This happens in the U.S. or in Japan!”
20:41
Hopelessness, domestic violence, crime. Years without proper social policies still shape life in the slums, particularly for families with many children. Here, the schools try to compensate for these problems but many children have trouble concentrating.
21:07 Fernando Curbelo, teacher
"It's amazing to see how a child gains confidence through the computer. Many children are abandoned and unwanted, not only by their parents, but by society as a whole. The computer opens the door to another reality. They can leave their narrow world and be active, and connect with others. "
21:45
In this environment, only a few make it to high school or go on to do apprenticeships. University students want to give disadvantaged children education free of charge. Uruguay's President supports this new initiative.
22:07
José Mujica, the ex-guerrilla fighter, has been in office since 2010. He was a founding member of the armed left wing movement - the Tupamaros. He spent 15 years in prison under the dictatorship, including time in solitary confinement.
22:25
Today Mujica is a staunch democrat and stands as the president of Uruguay. These images became a symbol of political change in Uruguay. The military pays tribute to the old guerrilla. He has never given up his ideals of social justice, but today he seeks consensus rather than confrontation. He continues the educational reforms of his left wing predecessor and he aims to promote the spirit of solidarity in society.
23:10
José Mujica, President of Uruguay
The human brain ... (23.15) the most beautiful and complicated creation in biology, (23:22) contains two conflicting attributes that are necessary for life. (23:33) On the one hand there is selfishness. Because life is a struggle it is necessary to save your own skin and protect loved ones. (24:44). This is imprinted into you whether you like it or not. (23:55), Nature has implanted it into everyone.
(24:00) And on the other side is solidarity. (24:07) This is a requirement of our entire species so that mankind remains on the surface of the earth and multiplies. Our life is like a constant game of chess between egotism and solidarity.(24:26) and both are a pure expression of nature. (24:31) At a young age solidarity is particularly strong…
(24:41) Because life is like a hymn. (24:45) But there comes a time in your life - it is my generation, the elderly, where everything is grey, where nothing is possible, when nothing matters and you should not believe in anything. (25:01) It slowly freezes your sense of solidarity without you knowing it (25:09) and you become a prisoner of an ideological selfishness; you become swept up in a consumer society."
25:19
The President lives as he preaches. He has not let himself be seduced by consumer society or the privileges of his high office.
25:26
Today he is not home. The neighbour’s daughter greets us.
25:34
Her mother opens the door to the residence of the former guerrilla and our current head of state.
25:47
Julieta / JULIETA Rudich
A lot has been said about this small house in the international press. Is there anywhere else in the world where another president lives with as much modesty as Mujica and his wife, Senator Lucía Topolanski?
26:00
Estela Pereira, farm labourer
As you can see, they only live with what they need – the bare necessities. (26:13) This is part of the character of Lucia and Pepe.
26:18
An old VW Beetle is the only personal property of "Pepe" as his followers call him. The salary of the president is about 10,000 euros a month, but Mujica reserves only a fraction of it. 70% of it is invested in a foundation that builds houses for the poor.
26:40
Jose Mujica agrees to an interview in his office in downtown Montevideo. So what does the president thinks of the school laptop program?
26:52
José Mujica, president of Uruguay
"There is no machine that changed the world ... but it helps. Each development brings a certain euphoria at the beginning - a kind of fanaticism, but I believe that this instrument can be a big help (27:12). It helps to democratise, to give people access to things that they would not otherwise have. For us this is quite clear. But to believe that we will somehow alter human nature, because our people have learned to use a small device ... (27:34) ... lets not exaggerate! "
27:45
Erica Vargas Vázquez, student
"Many say that I am very elegant and will be a model”
27:52
And what do you want to be when you grow up, do you have an idea?
27:55
Erica Vargas Vazquez, student
(Hesitantly) a photographer ...
28 03
Without a computer and access to the internet, this young girl’s view of the world would have been dramatically different.
Following the example of Uruguay, more and more countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa are equipping schools with cheap laptops to try to prepare future generations for the digital age.
Their landscape may be changing, but there are still some more simple pleasures in life for these children to enjoy.