Environmental Education
Trip Start
Sep 26, 2005
1
22
23
Trip End
Jul 01, 2008
Carapegua,
Paraguay
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
My name is Eric Roberts and I'm currently serving as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Paraguay. Let me get something out in the open early, I'm going to ask you for money (but not much). Actually, its not me who is asking, but rather it is all the fifth and six grade students in my rural Paraguayan community. There are 70 plus fifth and six grade students from four different schools in the community of Franco Isla and they all are excited to participate in the 'Gran Festival de Aves' or, what we would call in English, The Grand Bird Festival.
The Grand Bird Festival will be presented primarily by Association Guyra Paraguay (the Paraguayan wing of the non-governmental organization BirdLife International), ecotourism guides from the Association Lago Ypoa Rekove (Lake Ypoa Life), and finally by myself and other Peace Corps Volunteers. Over the next two weeks I will be working individually with each 5th and 6th grade teacher to develop and teach environmental lessons pertaining to habitat conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity. The culminating event will be the Grand Bird Festival, during which the children will participate in a number of activities including educational games, a guided tour to search for and appreciate the biological diversity of the area with the use of binoculars, and a final presentation by the Association Guyra Paraguay that will focus on the importance of wetland conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
We are asking that each of you to please donate the small sum of five U.S. dollars to allow each student to participate in the Grand Bird Festival at the end of October. However, if you are only able to donate two dollars or even only one dollar, we'd appreciate that too. As they say here in Paraguay, 'algo es algo,' or something is something. Of course, if you wish to donate more than the requested five dollars, that would be great!
Short Version of How Money will be used:
A large percentage will be used to pay for student transportation to the island colony of Ca'apucumi. A percentage will be used to pay for a two empanadas (snacks similar to hot pockets) and a glass of fruit juice for each student. A percentage will be used to pay the local ecotourism guides, who will assist the students while they look for birds on local nature trails, and the Association Lago Ypoa Rekove that will provide the facilities for the festival. A percentage will also be used to make photocopies of various educational worksheets from a Migratory Bird activity book (in Spanish) that I've obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A percentage will be used to pay for the lunches of the two representatives from Guyra Paraguay. In the event that the Grand Bird Festival is cancelled due to bad weather and the festival cannot be rescheduled, the money will be used to buy ceiling fans and door locks for the local high school. If your ready to donate, please see the "How do I donate?" section below but please do read the long version if you have time.
Long Version of How Money will be used:
During the two weeks leading up to the Grand Bird Festival, which will be held on the 19th of October, some of the donated money will be spent on photocopies of educational worksheets to be completed by the students. The worksheets are from an activity book titled Migratory Bird Superheroes (in Spanish) that has been provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The activities in the book will educate the students about wetland functions, wetland conservation, and birds that migrate from the United States down to various countries in South America (including Paraguay). The fifth and six grade teachers recently attended a teacher-training workshop titled "Teaching Ecology in the Patio of the School." This workshop, which I helped to organize with the Association Guyra Paraguay, capacitated the teachers to teach the scientific method in their fifth and six grade classes through the use of outdoor environmental education activities. As part of the Grand Bird Festival, the teachers and are I helping the students set up scientific experiments to monitor the number of different bird species found within the patios of the schools. During the Grand Bird Festival, the students will present their findings to Guyra Paraguay.
Your donation will allow the students to arrive in the small colony of Ca'apucumi. The colony of Ca'apucumi, which is actually an island located in the wetlands surrounding Lake Ypoa National Park, is the most distant neighborhood from the center of the community of Franco Isla. Thirty-seven families inhabit the island of Ca'apucumi where electricity has been available for only 10 years and running water has yet to arrive. If we can obtain the funding, a bus will be rented to provide transportation for the children from their respective grade schools to the colony of Ca'apucumi (8 to 12 mile trip depending on location of the grade school). Since there are no school busses here, many kids will make a two to four mile walk before they arrive at their respective schools.
I have arranged for the representatives from Guyra Paraguay to arrive in Ca'apucumi with the Peace Corps Paraguay Country Director (my boss) and other the Peace Corps Paraguay staff so that I would not have to find funding for their transportation. The trip from the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion to the colony of Ca'apucumi is just under three hours in a private car. Representatives from the Association Guyra Paraguay and ecotourism guides from the Association Lago Ypoa Rekove will greet the children in the Visitor Center when the children arrive in Ca'apucumi. The representatives from Guyra Paraguay will then present an environmental education class stressing the importance of wetland habitat conservation and the sustainable use of local flora and fauna. Guyra Paraguay's presentation will also demonstrate to the children the proper way to use binoculars.
Your donation will also provide a snack for every child as well as lunch for the two representatives from Guyra Paraguay. During the Grand Bird Festival the students will receive a snack consisting of two empanadas (hot pocket-like snacks filled with meat, onions, cilantro or parsley, eggs and/or rice.) and a glass of 100% natural, 100% locally produced fruit juice. The snack and juice will be prepared by a group of local women who cater to tourists that visit the islands. This same group of local women will prepare the lunch for the representatives from Guyra Paraguay.
Another portion of the donated money will be used to pay for the services provided by the Association Ypoa Rekove. Association Ypoa Rekove is a recently formed community based ecotourism group that will be providing ecotourism guides, as well as facilities (Visitor center/presentation room, bathrooms, binoculars, first aid if necessary, etc.) for the Grand Bird Festival. The nationally certified ecotourism guides, who are local youth between the ages of 15 and 26 that have received training in environmental education, will assist the children as they search for wildlife and look at other land features with binoculars on the local trails. The guides will also be providing an "interpretive" tour in which they will discuss the important features of the local ecology.
The Grand Bird Festival will be an all day event with two schools participating in the morning and two schools participating in the afternoon. By separating the four schools into morning and afternoon groups, the students will have more chances to learn during the educational games and guided tour. Working with only two schools at a time will also provide a more personal setting in which the children will be able to ask more questions of the representatives from Guyra Paraguay and Ypoa Rekove.
In the case that the Grand Bird Festival is cancelled for any reason and absolutely cannot be rescheduled, the funds gathered through your generous donations will be used to buy locks for doors and ceiling fans for class rooms at the local high school.
How Do I Donate?
Please write a check addressed to Eric Roberts. Then send the check to:
Mr. Eric Roberts
2306 Eastside Park Court
Washington, Indiana 47501
My mother will then deposit the check into my account and I will retrieve the money from an ATM machine in Asuncion, Paraguay. You may donate in cash if you see my parents, John and Karon Roberts, on a regular basis. Also, please include your name and email address if you send a check. I'd like to be able to send pictures and an update on the outcome of the Grand Bird Festival to all of those who donate.
The fifth and sixth grade students of Franco Isla, Paraguay and myself thank you kindly for your generosity. If you have questions, please email me at robertsericj@yahoo.com Please pass this on to anyone you think might donate!!
Sincerely,
Eric Roberts
United States Peace Corps Volunteer Agro-forestry Extensionist
Franco Isla, Paraguay, South America
September 2005-December 2007
