Mexican (poor) boy striving for education

Arturo with students of a literacy project for elderly indigenous, Nov. 2015

SonjasSofa: Today I welcome my amazing guest here on the sofa who already achieved a lot in his life: Arturo E. Martínez from Mexico. He tells us about education in his country and about what really counts in life.

Speaking about education is such a broad issue. Being born in a context of poverty and inequality can be an obstacle, but never determine the person that you can become. Where shall I start my story? I never had classes where I could learn how to use a computer. In my school we had 15 computers, but we were not allowed to use them. Our teacher always said that we didn't know how to use them properly and that we probably would break them down. I couldn't understand why he didn't even tried to TEACH us how to use a computer, so that we would NOT brake them down. In the end, I found another way to learn how to use a computer, thanks to my first non-formal job: Gardening.

Political change in Poland?

Today Aleksandra Kołeczek is a guest at the sofa and talks about Poland's current political situation. She is a co-spokesperson of the Green Youth in Poland. Aleksandra works and lives in the capital Warsaw. 

Cover of Steffen Möller's book, own editing

SonjasSofa: Dzień dobry. Why did so many people vote for PiS? 
 

Aleksandra Kołeczek: The conservatives from PiS (Law and Justice) won because of the resentment and lack of mobilisation of the society. Many years of domination of the center, neo-liberal party PO (Civic Platform), had made a lot of people disappointed. Their lives were very much different from the vision the ruling government promoted – economic growth did not cause a greater social justice. Nonetheless, it seemed that politicians that were supposed to represent the nation did not seem concerned enough with this. The credibility of the political class was constantly disqualified because