The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Former refugee still strumming to make a difference

Music, teaching and rebellion. These are three of the main threads that have wound their way through Jorge Vargas’s life since he was a boy growing up in Chile. Now teaching high school in Edmonton, the 60 year old is still heavily involved in music and rebellion. Vargas traces each of these threads back to when he was 14 and Augusto Pinochet swept into power in a bloody military coup that brought terror to his homeland.

“That was so terrible … to see people from your family or in your neighbourhood being killed or tortured,” Vargas says. “At that point, I taught myself how to play the guitar, because I had too many things inside. So I started writing songs dealing with the injustice I was seeing.”

Vargas grew up in Santiago as one of seven children. His father was a custodian at a small school, and Vargas spent a lot of time there helping and pretending he was teaching. He later earned his BEd from the University of Santiago and went on to teach music and English.

“I was like … this is what I want to do for the rest of my life: teaching,” he says.

“I knew I would be teaching for the rest of my life when I started making a difference in some of my students … mainly showing them that through education you could have a future where you could be making your own decisions, rather than following a dictator.”

Throughout his 20s, while working as a teacher in Santiago, Vargas was also a singer-songwriter involved in the underground resistance movement, a covert activity that carried a significant risk of being jailed.

“When you read about the political history of Latin America during the ’70s and ’80s, you realize there was a need to express yourself through the arts,” Vargas says, looking back. “When you are in the middle of a bloody dictatorship, like the one of Pinochet, it’s hard not to be involved.”

Taking flight

Vargas’s outspoken nature caught up to him following a particular class discussion during which he shared his views about his country’s political climate and its future.

“At that point, I couldn’t take it anymore and I said to them, ‘… we don’t have a future here unless we change things around. We cannot stay with this government forever. We have to do something.’ And I thought that there would be a revolution or something.”

The comment did not go unnoticed.

“As teachers, we were not supposed to give our opinion about the government in power,” Vargas explains. “Then the school principal called me and he said, ‘you know what, we’ll have to talk to you because you’re saying things that are not appropriate.’”

Was that a warning? A hint of dire consequences to come? He wasn’t sure.

“I thought, ‘nope, I’m not going to risk it. I’ll flee the country for now and then we’ll see how that goes.’”

Vargas spent his savings on a plane ticket and left with $200 in his pocket, making his way to Canada, where he applied for refugee status. That was more than 30 years ago.

Winding up in Edmonton, Vargas made a living through custodial work and playing music in clubs until he could get his education degree recognized. He eventually returned to Chile to marry his fiancée, then brought her to Edmonton, where they settled and started their family.

Always a Rebel

For the last 15 years Vargas has taught Spanish at Edmonton’s Jasper Place High School (home of the Rebels) while remaining active as a performing musician. Ten years ago he hit upon a novel way for his Spanish students to practice their language skills while also contributing to the community: by starting a band that performs in Spanish at local charity events.

Dubbed Los Rebeldes Musicales (The Musical Rebels), the eight-piece band is open to any student who is interested and performs regularly at various Latin fundraisers around town.

“I think it’s so important to showcase what our students are capable of doing,” Vargas says, “and we are also contributing to make this society a little bit better.”

For Vargas, the band is the culmination of two great loves.

“I love performing. I love teaching. So this is the perfect case scenario for me.”

Painful memories … grateful outlook

“I still have visions. Where I lived, there was a little river and I still remember bodies … dead bodies of people who had been tortured and executed. So I’ve always been really conscious about that, and now I live in a society where it’s different. I’m really grateful of my contribution here but also the kind of society that we have here.”

—Jorge Vargas, Chilean refugee/Edmonton teacher

Going underground with

Jorge Vargas

What was it like to be part of Chile’s underground movement?

Being part of the underground was a stage I will never forget. It made me a stronger person fighting for what I thought was right: freedom!

How dangerous was it?

I participated in “coffee houses” at my university (University of Santiago) and other venues where, from nowhere, the police or special armed forces would break in and would take anybody participating in those events, so we were at risk of going to jail.

How did you avoid getting caught?

We managed to not get caught by running away and leaving our instruments behind.

What did you sing about?

All the songs I’ve written are dealing with personal experiences. So, when I lived in Chile, most of them had a message about freedom or social justice. But I also wrote about love and family issues.

La Expresión …La Palabra

The Expression ... The Word

Jorge Vargas

Oí mi voz I heard my voice
murmurando por la garganta, muttering down my throat,
ya no puede por más tiempo callarse en calma. it can no longer keep calm.
Se desnudan palabras que juntas cobijan They undress words that together shelter
mi querer decir. what I want to say.

La palabra lo que busca es la verdad. The word is looking for the truth.
Si la callas en un acto de autoridad, If you silence them in an act of authority,
ten presente mi hermano keep in mind my brother
que cierras las puertas that you close the doors
de la libertad. of freedom.

Cada vez Every time
que cantamos a toda voz, that we sing with full voice
se nos mira we are watched
con tres ojos de precaución. with three cautious eyes.
Tarariemos un verso Let’s hum a verse
que rime de acuerdo that rhymes together
a la comprensión. to understanding.

A menudo Often
se nos tilda de ¿no sé que? we are labelled
por el echo by the fact
de decir sólo lo que es. of only saying what it is.
Si me callan lo que siento, If they silence my feelings
dime ¿cuál es la ventana tell me, where is the window
de la expresión? of expression?

La palabra lo que busca es la verdad. The word is looking for the truth.
Si la callas en un acto de autoridad, If you silence them in an act of authority,
ten presente mi hermano keep in mind my brother
que cierras las puertas that you close the doors
de la libertad. of freedom.

Cada vez Every time
que cantamos a toda voz, that we sing with full voice
se nos mira we are watched
con tres ojos de precaución. with three cautious eyes.
Tarariemos un verso Let’s hum a verse
que rime de acuerdo that rhymes together
a la comprensión, to understanding,
a la comprensión, to understanding,
entendámosnos! let’s understand one another!

Catch a live performance at bit.ly/Jorge_Vargas.

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