Nature solutions for Community development

Celebrating respect for our natural resources!

The end of year is always full of events, celebrations and festivals, as we use this time to offer something special to the children and adults of this disadvantaged area of the planet.

For the third year in a row we hosted our own Environmental Education Festival. This year our aim was to raise awareness of the need to protect the coral reef at Caño Island. On the 29th and 30th of November we will also collaborate with the local turtle conservation association to host the annual sea turtle festival in Drake Bay, and we will host a Christmas party for two schools of two very poor communities, during which we will distribute gifts.

The festivals that we organize always have an education and conservation theme, around which games and activities for the local children are organized. These mark special days in the calendar that kids look forward to each year, and they are both the protagonists and the beneficiaries of the activities. They greatly appreciate the festivals because in their day to day life they are not necessarily accustomed to activities centered around them, and can often find themselves relegated to the background of family life. Even something small, such as a face painting, can make a child feel like they are a star for the day.

It's nice to also see the children sharing, cooperating and enhancing their friendships through games and competitions. In turn we teach them to learn about and appreciate their environment so that they grow up with a sense of pride about their own land, and a life-long respect for their natural resources is forged.

It is also our goal to educate the children in a healthy environment in which values such as empathy, justice and cooperation are respected, in order to build a better future for the community!

Changing people’s attitude.

Sometimes the hardest thing to explain is when and how somebody changes their attitude towards any topic, especially when they are children. We have no doubt that raising awareness amongst the little ones is the best tool to protect nature and create the environmental leaders that will make Osa and their community a more sustainable place. Empowered children will be taking the lead in protecting and conserving their surroundings and will teach by example.

As an environmental educator, my quest is to find what actually changes their mind set.  When I see it and when I discover that the planted seed is actually emerging from those little minds, it is a great success.

Last week I found one of those hatching seeds. After a conversation with an old man from the community about conservation and the work that we are doing with kids, he said “ No wonder my grandchild didn’t want to go hunting with his dad last time” (hunting in Costa Rica is completely illegal and penalized by jail).   That was such a heartwarming experience for me!

On another occasion, during a horse back riding trip, I had a child come to me and whisper in my ear his concern about a pregnant mare who was suffering from walking under the sun the whole day.  He was reluctant to say it out loud, because culturally animals are considered closer to objects than living things in Osa. Something had shifted in the way he saw and related to animals. Hurray!

Finally, I feel great joy seeing how the environmental groups are now working together. When we first started working, the children would be disrespectful to each other and would constantly fight. Now they share their art supplies, congratulate each other on a great job done and enjoy their time together.

These are only a few examples about how the children are being benefitted by our environmental education program, few examples that fill me up with satisfaction and that I happy to share with you: our benefactors who make all this possible by your kind and generous donations.