A kind of museum with drawings of the current state of the town and others with the landscape they hope to find in a few weeks. Presentations by new tutors, natural science exercises with experiments on plants and minerals and, above all, more hours in the yard than usual to play soccer, go down the slide or jump rope, among other activities. A week after the devastation and tragedy, backpacks, books and school activity returned to some of the areas most affected by the terrible passage of the DANA in Valencia. Girls and boys, those of the Early Childhood and Primary Education Center Castellar-l’Oliveralthey longed to hug their deskmates again and needed to perceive the normality that life goes on.
This has been the first school that has managed to resume classes in the districts of Valencia while in the rest the cleaning work continues in the hope that the bell can ring again starting next week. In Castellar-l’Oliveral, the public educational center has reopened its classrooms with about a hundred studentsamong whom were also some residents from other towns hardest hit by the historic flood on Tuesday, October 29. The head of Studies at the school, Carolina Martí, has highlighted the importance of the little ones “feeling that we can return to a normal life” and that the parents “can attend to other issues such as cleaning their houses or those of their children.” relatives.”
“We received them with great emotion, they were very happy and they thanked us on behalf of their parents because several teachers went to help them,” said the teacher, who explained how they structured the return to the classrooms after the disaster: “They We have let them express themselves and tell each other things. They have recounted what they experienced and They have drawn how they see the town and how they want it to be in a couple of weekstrying to convey that after a negative message there is always a positive one that gives way to hope. Thus, Martí has pointed out that “the first class of the new normal could only involve hugging us, giving us love, including the teachers. to know that we are all fine and that from now on everything is going to get better.”
The Castellar school managed to reopen after the approval of the Central Technical Services and the firefighters, as well as the inspectors of the Department of Education, who verified that all the center’s facilities are in perfect condition. The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, reaffirmed that “childcare is a priority in these complicated times” and thanked “the enormous work of municipal services with the help of neighbors to take this important step in the district.
The bell rang at 9:30 a.m. and the latent fear between parents and children faded as soon as they received the first dose of peace and everyday life. Some fathers and mothers, warned not to reach the center by car due to the difficulty of accessing the town, remained looking out for several minutes after saying goodbye to their children, while others began their march to their jobs or to help clean one of the municipalities. nearby. Ricardo, an old man who lives right next to the school, laughed a week later: “I needed to get out of the house and That they come back is a small joy after all». Shortly after, the first dining room monitors arrived. Víctor, a young man from Benetússer, who comes “to work and have fun for a while” before returning to the hell of mud. “We must act normally, because the children deserve it,” he asserts.
“I really wanted to see my friends”
Those who did not stay to eat at school walked out the door with a smile from ear to ear after seeing that those walls protected them from the mud, pain and sorrow. Outside, fathers, mothers, grandmothers and uncles were waiting for them with eagerness in their eyes to simply ask them how their day went without thinking further afield. «My daughter didn’t want to come, for her all this has been a mini-vacation, but we encouraged her by telling her that her friends were at school, that I was going to meet more children and that everyone could play in the yard,” said Mari Carmen, whose four-year-old daughter has been welcomed in this center while they finish cleaning hers, a few kilometers away. “That they can return makes it a lot easier for us and does us a great favor,” he remarked.
Several children leave the CEIP Castellar Oliveral school after the resumption of classes
His other son, Rafael, twelve years old, has not been intimidated in front of the cameras and has verbalized with total self-confidence how his first day of school went after a week of suspensions due to the rain. «They have let us do many things. In the playground, soccer, and in class, experiments with minerals and plants,” he said while reflecting on the luck his family has had: “We are fine, I have friends who have had it much worse. “I was worried about them and really wanted to see them.”
Mothers like Susana and María José thank the Castellar school for reopening and welcoming “all the children that fit.” Their children, friends and neighbors show the two sides of the tragedy reflected in the little ones. One of them wanted to go back to school “to see his friends” and the second “He doesn’t want to go out because he’s been afraid since the water entered the house.”. Others, like Samuel and Pol, “have had a good time” and wish that every day from now on is simply as normal as this Tuesday.
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