Fourteen days here has taught me the true virtue of life. I have learned so much these past two weeks, living somewhere so different from Durango has opened my eyes and perspective to the rest of the world. Marta arrived on Tuesday and we immediately got to work, sharing presentations and ideas to prepare for the lessons we would give to the school children this week. The school is small, less than 50 kids spread out between preschool and 6th grade. It is so amazing to me that some kids here in Bri Bri don't have the option to go to school, but instead must stay home and help to provide for the family and it's amazing how much appreciation and kindness the kids in Escuela de Volvio have. They know they are lucky and they live up to every opportunity that is given to them.
Teaching the lessons was such an exhilarating experience, being able to interact with the kids and learn about their lives. We taught them the first day about food webs, which they took so much interest in! It was so great to have kids so engaged in the lesson. Since these kids are younger, we played a game to solidify the content, and by the end it amazed me how much these kids already learned in such a short period of time. The second day we returned and taught about the importance of balance in the ecosystem, a stem off of the food webs. We had a discussion about what state the planet is in right now and what the students, as the new generation, could do to build better habits that would benefit the planet, specifically the oceans. Marta also wanted to complete a documentary about the school. We got to speak with some of the teachers - most of whom grew up in Bri Bri. There was one teacher who told us about her life growing up in an indigenous community. Having no access to the industrialized world, they learned to live in harmony with the Earth, to appreciate and respect it. Everything they took was returned. She was such an inspiration and had so much kindness to spread to everyone, she inspired me to take what I am passionate about and spread it throughout the world, to give, not to take. On Saturday, I went to the market with Gonzalo again - so great to see familiar faces from the previous week. I love the culture here, everyone is so kind and friendly. I have met so many people who have opened up their hearts and shared their wise knowledge with me, it is such an amazing experience being here, a road less traveled filled with knowledge, happiness, simplicity, and the never ending experience.
We will stay this weekend in Puerto Viejo and then on Monday make the long travel from the Caribbean coast to the Pacific coast to work at the sea turtle reserve. I am SO incredibly excited for this because I will be in direct contact with researchers and with the turtles, working to make the environment and their lives easier. New blog post coming soon to explain my experience - see you next week!
Teaching the lessons was such an exhilarating experience, being able to interact with the kids and learn about their lives. We taught them the first day about food webs, which they took so much interest in! It was so great to have kids so engaged in the lesson. Since these kids are younger, we played a game to solidify the content, and by the end it amazed me how much these kids already learned in such a short period of time. The second day we returned and taught about the importance of balance in the ecosystem, a stem off of the food webs. We had a discussion about what state the planet is in right now and what the students, as the new generation, could do to build better habits that would benefit the planet, specifically the oceans. Marta also wanted to complete a documentary about the school. We got to speak with some of the teachers - most of whom grew up in Bri Bri. There was one teacher who told us about her life growing up in an indigenous community. Having no access to the industrialized world, they learned to live in harmony with the Earth, to appreciate and respect it. Everything they took was returned. She was such an inspiration and had so much kindness to spread to everyone, she inspired me to take what I am passionate about and spread it throughout the world, to give, not to take. On Saturday, I went to the market with Gonzalo again - so great to see familiar faces from the previous week. I love the culture here, everyone is so kind and friendly. I have met so many people who have opened up their hearts and shared their wise knowledge with me, it is such an amazing experience being here, a road less traveled filled with knowledge, happiness, simplicity, and the never ending experience.
We will stay this weekend in Puerto Viejo and then on Monday make the long travel from the Caribbean coast to the Pacific coast to work at the sea turtle reserve. I am SO incredibly excited for this because I will be in direct contact with researchers and with the turtles, working to make the environment and their lives easier. New blog post coming soon to explain my experience - see you next week!