SchoolsEstela RomeroJanuary 20, 2020

"Emiliano Zapata" Indigenous Elementary

SchoolsEstela RomeroJanuary 20, 2020

SCHOOL VISIT.-

Dear friends, we continue our drive throughout the “Sierra Chincua” Sanctuary mountains alongside the back part forest to the Sanctuary itself. Today we arrived to the “Emiliano Zapata” elementary at the “Sabaneta-Quintana” community/village. Elderly people living here, assure that “there was a Monarch colony here around 50-60 years ago, since, when we were children, we remember being very afraid of going into this forest area of ours here, since the feeling of going inside it and being amidst those large numbers of butterflies and the carpeting on the ground of so many of them dead while our feet deeped-in was very impressive and frightening; it was like coming into a bee-hive!; later on, they moved on and we knew they were settling in Sierra Chincua”, —they commented—. Well, on arriving to the school, children jumped and shouted and ran in happiness knowing that their Symbolic Butterflies from their school friends in the North were at last arriving to them!. At seeing me coming, they will always run to me and help me carry our three flags, the heavy box with your Symbolic Monarchs, and the book donation. While going to our classroom, I noticed immediately that the 5th and 6th graders, were carrying with them, all the time, every minute, wherever they moved, a graciously decorated rather tiny box or basket —with something presumably very delicate inside—, with them. I would indeed ask later to them about it. We came into their classroom approaching our environmental topic right away!. “Monarchs are already at our forests there in Sierra Chincua, Estelita, we have walked a really long distance —about three hours— to come and see them, but not following the road, but following very secret trails amidst the forest that only our parents and grand-parents and we know!.”, —they said excitedly—; “And, while you were walking inside the forest towards them, which animals did you run into?, which birds could you hear singing?, which pollinators could you see nectaring?”, —Estela asked them—. “We saw rabbits, and squirrels, and Zenzontles and Mulatos and Jilgueros singing, bees, hummingbirds… and… and…” —They hesisitated—. “Could you see Armadillos, frogs, lizzards, owls, skunks, ajolotes in creeks?” —Estela added—. “Mmmm, well… well…”. —they mumbled—. “Our lesson for the whole year today will be, to think about the animals we can rarely see nowadays at the forest; we will also think about plants and mushrooms we bring home with several medical purposes”, —Estela added—. We went straight into our debate just in the way we have described in every single classroom where your Ambassador Monarchs have landed. “The "Web of Life” game showed the way species support each other and protect each other too. They wrote their letters to their Northern friends wondering every minute: “Do you think they will love and learn and take our letter to awaken an important topic to reflect on themselves?. They loved, loved to receive their Symbolic Monarchs and got impressed to see in their map how far that paper butterfly traveled to reach them!. We could have spent hours together telling anecdotes on their living are where animals were part of. At finishing our lesson, I came to the 5th and 6th graders and asked them whether they would show me what they were carrying, they said to me: “inside there is a real egg!. This is an activity to let us experience the sense of responsibility and the sense of belonging. The egg inside our little basquet, —painted on its face and dressed up with winter “clothes”, shall be our imaginary baby; The tiny basket with the real egg in it shall be carried for a whole month by every one; it is up to everyone to assume this as one of the most serious responsibilities among many others for into the future, This activity is part of the content of the educational program for 5th and 6th elementary graders nowadays for elementary schools. A really didactic way to show chldren values and acquiring of responsibilites to bravely be faced in life.