*English subtitles avalaible.
My name is Dora Alicia Otero, and I came to FUNDAEC while I was working as a teacher at a rural school near Villa Colombia, in the municipality of Jamundí. It was 1991, and I was very young. A fellow teacher, Mariana Osorio, was looking for someone willing to support the opening of a group in the Tutorial Learning System (SAT) in a place called La Liberia. That was how I first heard about FUNDAEC, the SAT, and rural education, and why I decided to visit the University Center for Rural Well-Being in Perico Negro. From that very first encounter, I felt a deep connection to the educational proposal and to the work being carried out there.
I decided to enroll on my own in the Bachelor’s Degree in Rural Education, motivated by the possibility of serving as an SAT tutor. I joined the second cohort and was fortunate to share this path with valuable peers and to learn from remarkable individuals such as Dr. Edmundo Gutiérrez. As I studied, I fell more and more in love with working in rural areas and with an educational approach that integrated knowledge, service, and human development.
That same year, through a formal contract and with the support of the municipality of Jamundí, I began implementing the SAT in Villa Colombia. It was a demanding yet deeply meaningful process. I worked on weekends and during the week with students from nearby rural communities, fostering small groups that gradually grew stronger and more consolidated.
The SAT group grew steadily and expanded into other areas such as San Antonio and La Estrella. We were able to educate high school graduates in Rural Well-Being and to accompany young people who are now teachers, health professionals, farmers living off their land, and individuals deeply committed to their communities.
Seeing the results of this collective effort has been one of the greatest satisfactions of my life. The SAT not only transformed individual life paths, but also strengthened community organization and laid lasting foundations for local development.
Over time, the educational process became firmly established and eventually evolved into what is now the General Santander Educational Institution, formerly known as the General Santander Technical School for Rural Development. I led this institution until 2008, accompanying its growth and consolidation. What was achieved there was historic: a community that, organized and aware of its own potential, was able to demand and sustain a formal educational institution where such a possibility once seemed unimaginable.
My time at FUNDAEC was marked by profound experiences of both practical and human learning. I learned that the greatest wealth lies in the land, and that the most important resource for true development is the human being.
Today, as the principal of an educational institution in Jamundí, I continue to carry FUNDAEC’s teachings with me. I remain committed to environmental conservation, recycling, school gardens, and the holistic education of students. I hold deep gratitude for FUNDAEC and wish it many more years of life and transformation.
