Liliana Cardona Marín
With an exaltation of the commitment of women despite the number of responsibilities of each one, to dedicate entire Saturdays or Sundays to projects in their territories, diplomas were awarded to the Tángara Multicolor women’s network and to the children of Vigías de la Restauración .
Érika Echeverri, director of the Social Innovation laboratory and BinLab UTP, from which the launch of Red de Bosques Escuela is framed, said: “The main objective of this initiative is to strengthen environmental education in the Risaralda Model Forest, which as a territory is the department, but which in turn is a strategic initiative to form a joint vision among all the agents of the territory towards its sustainability”.
Eduardo Galeano’s phrase: ‘Many small people, in small places, doing small things, can change the world’, became something like the identification of this first group of protectors of the local forests that come from the districts of Peralonso and La Florida, and the municipalities of Santuario, Mistrató and Pereira.
This initiative started in the Faculty of Business Sciences of the Technological University of Pereira, which through the biomes gives workshops to the community. They were 40 hours divided into three weekends from 7:00 in the morning until they sometimes spent the night in these activities. The women articulated, they grew both in the technique for restoration, and in being.
What is the Bosques Escuela network?
‘Weaving wills’ is the slogan, because forming a network is not an easy task and the municipalities with which it began resulted through their own initiatives. The work consists of connecting these ideas, such as that of La Florida, which is a community association called Yarumo Blanco and has the children’s group ‘Yarumitos’, who were introduced to the Cafeteritos and the women of Asojardín de Mistrató.
Peralonso’s group, Santuario, does bird watching in a kind of experiential learning. Ecosystems are a source of knowledge, through which children, youth and adults become aware, knowledge of the territory and the development of capacities are promoted to contribute to the solution of socio-ecological challenges.
The dean of the Faculty of Business Administration presented the diplomas to the Vigías children.the women of the forest
Within this particular project, a female leadership program called Tángara Multicolor was designed, which seeks to develop technical and relational skills in the women of the Risaralda Model Forest, so that they can lead ecological restoration processes in the territories. This initiative is linked to the Vigías program, because there is a conviction that the children and young people of these areas must also connect all these processes so that they continue in the future.
“The conclusion of all this activity and the time that we have been investing in this training is that if we unite our ties as women, we will create a very interesting mechanism for the conservation of natural resources through the Model Forest network” said Estefany Ramos, a graduate from La Florida.
The voice of the little ones
Ángel is a child from the upper Pueblo Rico, in Mistrató Risaralda, at school with the support of the teachers ‘Cafeteritos’ and the garden were born: “Our village is very touristy and has a lot of biodiversity. We liked Los Vigías a lot and we try to engage the little ones so that they improve with what they learn every day”, he explained.
The advice of this being who is passionate about nature for the other children is to detach themselves from technology, because in nature they observe and learn, while if they compare what they learn on the cell phone or in nature, in the latter they leave to have more fun, because he made it clear that when playing with friends in a park, there are many more things to do.
How is the response of the communities?
“We have had a very nice experience, because when we started the project we were originally going to be only in the territory of Pereira, so to speak. But then we said no, all the projects are always concentrated here. And where are the other municipalities in the department? That was where we began to look for spaces in the municipalities that are part of it today. When we arrived we were very well received and the experience was extremely beautiful and rewarding, because they are grateful that the University went every weekend to work with them, to teach them, but they also taught us a lot”, commented Echeverri.
Given
The communities emphasize that they are forgotten, that programs never arrive to work.
What do you have to say about the group to which you belong?
Estefany Ramos – Multicolor Tanager
“When women decide to be part of these projects, we become leaders of our territories, we manage to be visible, we manage to bring our information to many more people.”
Ángel Mauricio Galicia – Conservation Watchman
“I want to invite all the children to join in caring for the environment, because it’s fun.”