The DANA has affected more than a hundred schools and has left thousands of students without classes in Valencia. Many of these schools, located on the ground floor, have lost their libraries and gyms. Dozens of music classrooms have been devastated. The wood of the doors and school furniture has swollen from the water and become unusable. "Many items will need to be replaced, but not now, but when the mud is cleaned," says the teacher and pedagogue Carmen Pellicer, who in less than a week has managed to organize a solidarity network throughout Spain to start collecting desks, chairs, computers, textbooks, sports equipment, and even musical instruments for the schools that have been affected by the floods.
"The educational centers that have lost everything need us," points out Pellicer, who is also a teacher trainer, director of the magazine Cuadernos de Pedagogía, and as president of the Trilema Foundation, manages six private schools spread across Spain, two of them in Valencia. These schools, located in Manises and La Pobla Llarga, have not been affected by the storm.
That is why Pellicer has been able to focus these days on contacting public and private schools in the DANA's ground zero to take inventory of everything they need to replenish. "School furniture is needed, toys for nursery schools, mats, digital screens, notebooks, colored pencils... Musical instruments are also needed because here in the Valencian Community, music has a strong tradition and the music classrooms have been lost," she lists. She has gained the support of the main educational associations in Spain - more than 50 have committed - as well as companies that work with schools, such as Danone and Naturgy.
Technicians from the Department of Education of the Valencian Community have inspected 125 public and private schools in 75 municipalities affected by the DANA. Fifty teams of workers, each consisting of a technician and an inspector, have been deployed. The reports have revealed that most schools have suffered losses in equipment, furniture, and school supplies, among others. The latest circular from the Generalitat indicates that, despite the damages, 49 schools are ready to resume educational activities, 47 have some damage that can be repaired within two weeks and will gradually resume educational activities, and 29 others cannot open yet.
Pellicer is helping with the cleaning tasks at the María Auxiliadora school in Algemesí, 40 kilometers from Valencia, which has also been damaged by the floods. Accustomed to dealing with the unexpected - at 16 she was already teaching children from the Roma community and has spent time in schools in Africa - during the Covid pandemic, she provided food to her students' parents and created an emergency learning kit that, in addition to study notes for distance learning, included masks, wipes, and hand sanitizer for families in need. The pandemic helped her "manage crises" and allowed her to "create a network of connections and immediate support" formed by teachers, principals, inspectors, publishers, family associations, and educational entrepreneurs who have now offered to help in Valencia.
In addition, her experience in challenging environments has taught her two things. The first is that "schools are a good way to help those who are most forgotten." The second is that "sustaining generosity over time is not easy." "Now there is an outburst of volunteers, and the DANA is on the front page of all newspapers. But what will happen when everything is clean and people return to normal? The problem will come after the mud is cleaned. Reasoned and reasonable help is needed for months to replenish a school that has lost everything. This will last a long time, and we cannot lose solidarity," she reflects.
That is why the collection campaign is called "After the Mud" and arises with the idea of "creating a network to share resources in the future." "A group of 10 schools that have unused tables has written to me. We are keeping a record so that within a week, a month, or a quarter, the material can be available to fill empty classrooms," she explains. They will then connect donors with the directors of schools in need of materials. They do not distinguish between public, private, or private schools: they help everyone equally.
"We have offers from ordinary teachers to entrepreneurs offering free digital licenses, families wanting to donate encyclopedias, or factories offering furniture at cost price," she explains. She has set up the operations center at her school in Manises, although materials from other cities will be sent directly to schools once the cleaning work is completed.
"Returning to normality is a priority, and that means returning to school soon," points out educational inspector Susana Sorribes, president of the Insnovae inspectors' association, one of the three existing associations collaborating with Pellicer. Sorribes has been visiting schools in Massanassa and Beniparrell and has observed that "heavy machinery is needed to remove all the items from the streets." She has seen a primary school "ruined" where the water dragged several cars into the courtyard.
"The mud has reached the libraries and destroyed books, files, and records. Computers and digital screens have also been damaged. Pencils, pens, notebooks are missing... It has been as if an atomic bomb had exploded," she expresses.
The Valencian government has considered various scenarios so that children do not miss classes. After ruling out online education because students have lost their devices and the connections do not work properly, they have opted to accommodate children in other schools who can be relocated to family homes. Splitting classes into two shifts, morning and afternoon, is not ruled out so that more students can attend classes in person, not like during Covid.
Most students are being relocated to schools in the city of Valencia, but also to surrounding areas like Quart de Poblet, and other regions like Castilla-La Mancha. Other schools have been able to open without incidents: the first ones were three in Castellar-l'Oliveral last week. In addition, more than 22,000 students from 47 schools in 14 municipalities returned to classrooms yesterday. The children received "emotional support," while the central government approved a training plan yesterday in the Council of Ministers by which, starting next school year, there will be mandatory classes on disaster prevention and protection taught by Civil Protection and emergency services technicians.