The International People´s College, IPC.

When I met Juan, I knew he worked at an international school for adults in Denmark, which he defined as a very interesting “human laboratory”. Later, while at IPC I had the opportunity to participate in COme 2gether, an international course on global warming in which Sasha, a member of the same course, defined the school as "a bubble, an island within an island". Over time, both labels began to take a lot of sense and strength. But in an effort to make my own definition, I would say that IPC is a profound and intense life experience in the formation of the individual and collective self; all within a global context.
For its multicultural foundation, anyone who has the opportunity to attend IPC, has a personal and sensory encounter with another "remote" one whose uses and customs are reflected in different colors, flavors, aromas, textures and sounds. Another language, another reality, another way of eating, of talking, of being, of wondering around the world. The one besides me at lunch, the one living in the next room, the one who cooks, who manages the school, who cleans, who teaches and manages; all of them/us are another variation of the human family , all different and unique. Likewise, each in his/her own way, has a duty / honor of being an intrinsic cultural ambassador of their countries, to begin a dialogue and bring to the table the good and bad of our cultural backgrounds, which is precisely what makes us different, in other words, what divides us. At the same time, it is possible to go public and offer it to the group's growth: we have the opportunity to take what others have to offer, which in turn reinforces the sense of community.
Similarly, there is another kind of much more intimate and close encounter -and sometimes richer and more real- when without considering the origin from which we come from, we found that those who have different skin color, height, physical structure and some habits; whether one who is male or female and regardless of age, academic, social and economic degrees, we notice characteristics so similar to our own ones that is right there when one discovers that that in fact unites us. Thus we understand that those persons in front of us can awake in us deep bonds of empathy, when suffering, dreaming, loving, laughing or crying of hunger, fatigue, despair or hope. When everyone stops to have labels / cultural borders and begin to create universal bridges, where we all feel and live a common world, where we are all life.
Thus, diversity and universality are the communication threats in a constant dialogue in a full-time shared space, coupled with a number of academic and ludic activities that constantly encourage and challenge. At the same time, tools for comprehension and understanding of human relations and values at various levels are learnt and reassured.
I can hardly imagine a person regardless of where is from or whether be a teacher, student, staff, or even a teacher´s wife, who is not touched deeply about the human side of the IPC experience and for the opportunity to put faces and personal stories on the lines that define an area on the map. Indeed, IPC is "an island within an island" a place that is difficult to discard and which will always spring up memories and honest smiles.