Volunteering with REIBA is an experience that goes far beyond traditional classroom-centered education. Within the framework of Intercultural Bilingual Education (EIB), learning breaks down the walls of the school to become part of the very fabric of community life, encompassing its many dimensions: pastoral care, community organization, family life, and work on collective projects. Thus, teaching and learning are not limited to set schedules or spaces, but become a holistic, shared experience.
As an education that is present 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, EIB constitutes an invaluable asset for the preservation of ancestral knowledge, values, and cultural expressions unique to each community. Every moment of daily life—a conversation, a celebration, a day’s work—becomes an opportunity to pass on knowledge and strengthen cultural identity. In this sense, those who know, value, and teach their own culture also learn to respect the world’s cultural diversity. Therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility to safeguard our identity while continuing to recognize and value others.
In this process, everyone plays a leading role. The entire community actively participates in the education of new generations, especially those who have a deep understanding of their culture and value their identity. They, recognized as “walking dictionaries,” they are the living bearers of collective memory, guardians of the language, traditions, and wisdom that give meaning to community life.
However, EIB is not limited solely to its own traditions. Its intercultural nature also encourages openness to the outside world, fostering an enriching dialogue between cultures. In this way, it promotes an education that not only preserves identity but also prepares people to interact with other contexts, strengthening respect, understanding, and coexistence.
At REIBA, the Amazon is understood not merely as a geographic region but as a vital space for the world’s coexistence. There, one learns to respect nature, to live in harmony with it by taking only what is necessary, and to share with those around us. This vision is deeply connected to the call to build a more just and compassionate world, as expressed in Pope Leo’s monthly intention for May: “for food for all.” Thus, the Amazonian community experience stands as an example of balance, sustainability, and fraternity.
In this sense, REIBA becomes a transformative experience both for those who accompany and for those who receive this educational process. It is a commitment to a living, engaged, and deeply human education, where learning is, above all, about sharing life and building together a future based on respect, identity, and care for our common home.
REIBA: Education that goes beyond the classroom and strengthens community life.
