Earth Education in Trinidad and Tobago

07/30/2013

Earth Education in Trinidad and Tobago

Be fast when it makes sense to be fast and be slow when slowness is called for. Seek to live at what musicians call the tempo giusto - the right speed.
Carl Honoré, In Praise of Slow

Connecting 2 million children with nature is the goal of the World Forum's Nature Action Collaborative for Children. Nature Action teams around the world are working to achieve this goal. The Nature Action team from Trinidad and Tobago filed this recent report:

"Our most important mandate at the University of the West Indies Family Development and Children’s Research Centre is to advocate for the rights of the child. Caribbean culture and common perceptions about learning often infringe on a child’s right to play and enjoy time outside. As Team 23, one of our goals is to provide regular connections with the natural world for Primary School children while making school a friendly place. It was a difficult process to satisfy a seemingly simple task. Adult opposition came in the form of teachers, principals, and parents. However, our Earth Agent Day Adventures —a vacation day camp designed to train students to appreciate, love, and advocate for the Earth — showed us the priceless benefits of exposing children to nature. We facilitated the play of 27 children, ages 6 to 9, most with extreme social and behavioral challenges, and everyone came out a winner. After allowing our children the chance to run, jump, climb, build, and cook outdoors, we witnessed the magic of nature therapy.

"This effort was coupled with our nationwide radio broadcast spreading a similar 'get outside, hug a tree' message. One-third of our schools have reached the phase of creating a bio-friendly space and painting a mural. This phase allows us to use the community to facilitate learning by partnering with oil companies, parents, and neighborhood groups. Watching the interaction, hearing the language, and feeling the spirit of the group confirms for us that nature can heal. Our group is more independent, confident, polite, cooperative, and responsible now than we were at the start. Parents and teachers attest to this transformation. To date, we have directly impacted 53,325 children. Indirectly we have reached 516,910 individuals."

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