Art and environmental education go hand in hand. To imagine, to dream, to play while teaching is the pedagogical strategy of the immediate future. This is the training young people require in order to awaken and co-create a new world. It involves learning while healing, restoring and building, while letting go of fears in order to make life-changing decisions for the common good. Can we imagine this type of training? Can we imagine a new world like that?
It does exist. In San Miguel de Allende a program called the Ola de Julio is designed for the students from the CECyTEC high school system. They spend four weeks each year doing their social service for a civil association committed to environmental education and ecological restoration. Those 480 hours that must be dedicated to service become a meaningful way to foresee the future as a personal project of permanent service and a way of life.
Teenagers from 15 to 17 transformed their vision and relationship with their environment when they attended the Ola de Julio workshops organized by El Maíz Más Pequeño A.C. and coordinated by Karen Zúñiga, Juan Manuel Espinoza, Omar Barcenas, university students from UNITESBA and UNIDEG respectively. They met at the Charco del Ingenio and completed their training with guided visits to other organizations such as Vía Orgánica and Caminos del Agua, among others. They learned to appreciate the value of our water, soil, and air which are directly altered by our way of life and consuming habits.
This year Karen, Juan Manuel and Omar escorted 24 boys and girls through the Ola de Julio program. By means of various workshops they learned about their bond with nature and the wisdom of previous generations regarding the management of natural resources. According to Karen, that bond is breaking down and must be rescued. “There is so much information that we must acquire. It’s our umbilical cord with Mother Earth and it’s coming apart.”
“Although environmental education is taught in schools, it is extremely superficial,” says Karen. “Some subjects are taught but there is no way these young people can relate what they learn to what they live. That’s why it was a real pleasure to share the experience with the boys and girls who participated in the Ola de Julio. At first they were shy, but then they adapted to the situation by making decisions, taking risks and identifying problems. What is extremely important is that we were able to give them that space where they felt comfortable, free and where they could express an opinion openly about anything. They were totally empowered with the information we gave them and understood how to link their life project with the environment. ”
There was a session where they presented sketches of particular situations such as floods or garbage problems. “They acted them out and proposed solutions. They also made a map that later became a giant mural painting,” says Juan Manuel.
Omar observes how, beyond their commitment to cover their hours of social service, the boys and girls arrived one hour before the 9 AM workshops. “That was very motivating. There was a participant who had to be absent for personal reasons but asked to continue on his return, although his social service hours were not going to be taken into account. He liked what he was learning and experiencing so much that he wanted to continue voluntarily. That gave us a lot of satisfaction.”
Juan Manuel comments on their future careers. “A girl said she didn´t know what to study, and in the end sh said she would become a biologist. Another said he wanted to be an architect, but his constructions should be environmentally friendly. When I heard that, I realized that something important was happening here. They felt an attachment to their land and the need to get to know SMA and the nearby communities better.”
These young people determined the course of the Ola de Julio. That was one of the main incentives. They were not afraid to raise their voices: “This is happening in my colonia …”, or “I would like to solve the problems that arise there.” For the time being, these students of the CECyTEC school system are planning to make an orchard in their school and build a cistern to collect rainwater. “I think they are going to be the watershed for these types of initiatives,” says Juan Manuel.
Their final evaluation was a challenge. The Ola de Julio joined another program that takes place in Parque Juarez called Iniciación al tiempo libre. They had to share part of the knowledge acquired with another 170 children between 5 and 12 years old. So the Ola (wave) grew from 24 to almost 200 youngsters working together. They organized themselves into teams, formed groups of children and each, according to their abilities, shared their knowledge. A team, through the giant mural painting, explained those parts of the map that the children hadn’t known before. A girl with “philosophical inclinations” wrote a story that another interpreted through dance. Others made a tour of the Parque Juarez explaining what they learned in the workshops. Another team organized the children so they could draw what they felt when they approached nature. They also shared informative games.
The philosophy behind this program is to awaken the need for lifelong social service that becomes a vocation. And the effect is multiplied when these teenagers inspire their closest family members and friends in order to change their vision regarding the precariousness of our natural resources and our way of life. According to Karen, the most important thing is that a pilot plan is now in place that can be replicated in other school systems. Juan Manuel and Omar appreciate immensely that this program not only changes the relationship between communities and their environment, but also empowers young people for the generational relay. During their final evaluation they sent a strong message through their actions: I am here because I want to be, I can and I care.
See complete Spanish transcript: http://aguavidasma.org/la-voz-de-los-jovenes/