Field Trip!
20 Earth Eductaion Project participants went on a fascinating field trip to the department of Leon to visit the UNAN univesity botanical gardens.
Friday November 27th 2009 started off extremely early in the La Chureca barrio. Rising with the vultures, students between the ages of 6 and 32 waited eagerly for a private bus at 6am to go to Leon. Only one participant had ever been to Leon, Teresa, 21, as that is where her father's family lived before moving to La Chureca 14 years ago.
As we traveled down the 'new' highway, the Los Maribios volcano range offered a breath taking view and an extra geography lesson for participants as they learnt the names and types of volcanoes that make up the chain running through Central America.
Chrisitian, 18 years old, had never left La Chureca or the surrounding neighbourhoods, was mesmerised and asked 'Is this still Nicaragua?'
We arrived at the UNAN Botanical Gardens and met Ivania, a nicaraguan environmental profesor, who guided us through the gardens where students could see and interact with all the different types of forest that can be found in Nicaragua.
All photos featured where taken by Shannon, 23 years old, Earth Education Project and Pachamama student
In the afternoon students learnt to knit bags, wallets, mats, even hats from plastic bags, a new skill that left everyone so enthusiastic that the Pachamama participants decided off their own innitiatives to get together an extra hour a week to continue recycling plastic bags through knitting.
The day was a huge success!
Everyone arrived singing and laughing back to the Barrio on the outskirts of Managua. As we walked in, in the pitch black, as there is no electricity in the barrio, trying to avoid the sewage formed puddles, Roberto, 10 years old, commented: ' If we made our Barrio a botanical garden with butterflies everywhere it would smell different too.'
Shannon, 23 years old, answered 'That is beacause in Leon we didnt breathe toxic air, here we burn plastic everyday.'
The importance of the field trip from an educational point of view is invaulable-highlighting what students have learnt about the environment and how to look after it and sharing with them the wonders of the nature of Nicaragua.
From a social point of view it was a brilliant, unique day. Taking the participants that manged to get a day off work or from their families, to a new place, out in the open, peaceful, an escape, with no trucks, dangers, fires, dirt nor poverty, is a gift that will stay with them for life.
Francis Maria, 28 years old, iliterate, ' The Pachamama workshop is something amazing. I am learning new things, that we can do together for a future. And today I saw such beautiful plants that I dont know what to say...'
