Creating a Sustainable Culture:
Environmental Education and Job Skills Training
Education is a cornerstone of the Sierra Gorda Ecology Group's efforts to build a sustainable and prosperous culture in the Sierra Gorda. In order to begin taking the thousands of small steps needed to
upgrade the health of the region and its inhabitants, and to foster a regeneration of the natural
resources, it is necessary to boost the value that local residents place on their ecosystems and natural resources, as well as their awareness of problems affecting the local environment.
Twenty professionally-trained ecology teachers have been teaching courses in 193 schools in 137 communities, reaching 17,000 children during the past 12 school years. They teach various subjects in formal classroom sessions, including recycling, biological diversity, the protection and knowledge of
plants and animals and the impact that humans make on them.
They also develop and plan activities, including some 350 school and community clean-up campaigns, planting and care for children's ornamental gardens at 60 schools and tree plantations on the grounds of five schools, design of 15 murals, and the strategic placement of some 500 posters and signs with environmental awareness messages, all of which are reinforced by singing songs and showing videos.
This program of educational activities enriches the regular school curriculum education, from the pre-school level through high school and a regional teacher's college, with themes and materials that support the applied sciences and reinforce civic participation and value systems. All this helps to foster appreciation, care for, and, eventually, the permanent health of, the natural environment. With the participation of school authorities, it is apparent that local standards have changed and that Sierra Gorda communities now practice better natural resource management. Increasing children's awareness leads to greater responsibility and respect for the environment, and greater reporting of harmful or illegal activities.
Special attention is paid to the ongoing production of appropriate teaching materials for these programs. An educational package features a series of 15 themes, and currently consists of a newspaper, "Our Earth," and a cassette with games and songs that serve as teaching aids. As many as 15,000 copies have been distributed, and there have been periodic showings of an educational video in classrooms.
This outreach effort also involves the heads of households, parents, teachers, and government authorities in each community. Beyond the leaflets, murals, poster and signs, and the information and values that children convey to their parents, there are formal information sessions for adults that help raise environmental awareness. More than 20,234 environmental awareness meetings were convened from 1989 to 1998. They promote activities that have drawn widespread participation from thousands of persons, including 19 Earth Festivals, 60 puppet shows, 175 screenings of movies, 144 airings of radio programs, and 250 hours of informational broadcast over community loudspeakers. The programs broadcast over community loudspeakers are live presentations by two announcers who transmit for eight hours per week. The programs focus on self-sufficiency and productivity training for women. A new program is produced each month.
Earth Festivals are held at the end of the school year, in May and June. They serve as a way to summarize and coordinate the lessons learned during the school year, and to revive and maintain the traditional culture. Schools participate with poetry, traditional dances etc. Elder women, who are called the "third generation" prepare traditional foods from native plants, include a molé made from the yucca plant flower.
"We will have much more . . . goodwill for Mother Earth in the Sierra."
[Transcript]
Job Skills Training
Improving living standards through development of new employment opportunities in sustainable industries is a key to the health of both human inhabitants of the Sierra Gorda and their environment. The Sierra Gorda Ecology Group provides skill training and establishes and equips production-oriented workshops.
A large portion of the adult populace in the Sierra Gorda consists of primarily unskilled women who depend on U.S. dollars received from male relatives. Some 35,000 migrant workers from the Sierra Gorda cross the border each year, many abandoning their families altogether. As an alternative, the Sierra Gorda Ecology Group encourages micro-business ventures to promote self-sufficiency for each family.
Workshops help provide the skills, tools and equipment needed for economic activities such as book binding and eco-tourism, as well as production of lumber, wool, ceramics, dried fruits, marmalades, whole wheat bread, organic fruits and vegetables, candles, and wood carvings and other carpentry products. Thus far, there have been some 250 handcraft lessons, 839 productive training sessions, and three forestry consulting sessions to improve management standards in sawmills.
The Sierra Gorda Ecology Group plans to launch an ecotourism business that will earmark its profits for conservation.
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