Rebeca Beatriz Vaca is a primary teacher at the Mariano Sucedo Sevilla School in the rural district of Warnes, Santa Cruz.  She was afraid at first to put into practice the innovations she had been shown by the Andean Center for Excellence in Teacher Training (CETT Andino).  Now she recognizes the enormous benefits that she and her students have obtained from applying those innovations: "I was very nervous, and I was scared of not achieving the goals, but I finally accepted the challenge and got to work."

She performed a diagnosis of her students' ability to read and write, and the results were not good.  Many of the children had not attended preschool and had problems, even just in talking.This was the case for Wilber, who comes from a very poor Quechua family and whose parents barely know how to read and write.

Wilber couldn't speak well and showed little interest in learning. He could not pronounce words clearly, which worried his teacher very much.  Ms. Vaca says, "I thought that he was mute, because he remained silent and isolated.  When I asked him questions, he did not respond."

One day, Ms. Vaca discovered Wilber trying to read some letters.  She paid special attention to him, applying skills she had learned through CETT Andino.  By the middle of the year, Wilber was showing great progress— he could read short texts.  He still didn't talk much, but the fact that he could now read was a sign that he had the potential to flourish.  So, before the school vacation, Ms. Vaca met with Wilber’s father, showing him how to engage Wilber in concrete activities that would help him learn, such as playing with alphabet soup, reading sentences, and putting sentence fragments in order.  Wilber's father did what the teacher asked him.

What a surprise Ms. Vaca got when Wilber returned after just two weeks of vacation!  Without any difficulty, Wilber correctly read the poem "A la Mancha."  Wilber continue to get better and better.  His transformation surprised even his teacher, who says, "Now Wilber talks, sings, discusses things, and says, "I'll come to the front to read, teacher…" and when he feels insecure, he reads softly to himself."

Through Ms. Vaca’s dedicated application of its innovative teaching approaches, CETT Andino made a difference in Wilber and his family's life.   Wilber's father is now involved in his son's learning and is very grateful for and proud of his son's achievements.