‘Poles of enlightenment’ for the environment
Guyana Chronicle
August 17, 2003
IF YOU happened to pass by the Cyril Potter College of Education at Turkeyen between July 22 and 26 last, you would have noticed strange activities: a young man intently contemplating a patch of green grass; a girl of similar age, note pad in hand, squatting and looking with a fixed gaze into a muddy drain; a small cluster of schoolchildren scrutinising a tree with the keenness of an ecologist; another group pulling hydrophytes (plants adapted to living in water) from a nearby canal.
If curiosity overwhelmed you and you ventured into the compound of the College to enquire about what you saw, you would have been informed that the activities were part of the 9th Environmental Camp that Conservation International-Guyana (CIG) was hosting for Secondary School students. The students came from seven schools: Queen’s College, President’s College, St Roses High, Line Path Secondary, Anna Regina Multilateral, and Marian Academy. Under instruction of a resource person, the students had started to inquire into what they took for granted in their surroundings, their “backyards”.
Under the theme, ‘Environmental Camp 2003: What’s in our Backyard’, 30 students, 5 teachers and three staff of CIG, came together for five days to explore the theme with the aim of lifting the level of awareness of the students and teachers, who will in turn spread their knowledge. According to Mr. Lennox Cornette, CIG’s Communication Manager, who coordinated the camp, “We all need to be aware of what is in our backyard; the backyard being the immediate surroundings, the community, and finally, the distant backyard - the interior of Guyana”.
Executive Director of CIG, Major General (retd) Joseph Singh, who delivered the charge to the student at the opening of the Camp, said that the concept behind the theme of the camp translates into a “practical hands-on approach to identifying what is around us and how the management of the environment is integrally linked with our own human values, our well being and sustainable living”.
He charged the students to be part of a cadre of young people who will be change agents for the proper management of the ecosystem.
The students, who at the opening were withdrawn and reserved, soon became enthused as they were taught about biodiversity and its importance, among the other topics presented by carefully chosen resource persons who made the lessons interested and interactive. Ms Sandy Griffith, CIG’s Senior Manager of Policy and Planning, introduced the concept of biodiversity and spoke about the work of CI. Ms Denise Fraser, Environmental Consultant, dealt with the topic, ‘What’s in our backyard’; Ms Jennifer Osborne, Science Teacher at Queen’s, presented on relating to the environment and constructing food chains; Mr. Eustace Alexander, CIG’s Manager of Projects, was creative in his presentation on Plant Ecology; and Ms Monica Sharma, Coordinator of the Green Fund and Environmental Clubs in Guyana, aptly demonstrated her lesson on backyard ecology.
Part of the programme included a field trip to the Yarrowkabra Nature Trail and the Maurudi Ecotourist Resort. At the trail, the students were taken on a guided tour where they were able to observe various species of trees. The Blood wood Tree, which gave out a maroon-coloured sap when cut, fascinated the children, as the tree from whose bark rose the odour of incense.
In the evenings, the students were told environmental stories, viewed videos that reinforced the presentations or rehearsed items conceptualized by them for the closing ceremony. On the penultimate day of the camp, they were given a quiz about what they learnt during the camp. Benton Williams of Queen’s scored the most points, followed by Deodat Persaud of President’s College, and Shaneer Reid of Anna Regina Multilateral.
Doedat, in writing a report about his impressions about the camp, said that at first “this environmental stuff was boring but after two days it became so interesting that we wanted it to go on for another week”.
“I learnt a lot and will take it back to my school and tell my friends” said Winella Issacs of Queen’s.
But the Camp at CPCE was not the only one organised by Conservation International. Between August 11 and 15, another such camp was convened at Apoteri, Region Nine, for students living in Apoteri, Rewa and Crashwater, stakeholder communities of CI’s Conservation Concession. The theme of that camp was, “Promoting Conservation of Biodiversity for Future Generations”.
This camp was held in a more natural environment and the 30 students, teachers and resource persons benefited from the setting. Unlike the Camp on the Coastland, they were able to undertake field trips to the forests and conduct nature journaling at Kumu Falls. Coordinator of that camp, Ms Patricia Fredericks, observed that even though the children live practically in the forests, they were made aware of many things that existed there that they took for granted.
Between September 02 and 06, CIG will hold yet another camp in St Ignatius for students attending schools in the 18 indigenous communities that interact with the Kanuku Mountains. These communities are stakeholders in the process that CI has been leading to develop consensus for a protected area in the Kanukus. Some 53 students are expected for that camp that will bear the same theme as the one held in Apoteri.
From holding one summer camp annually for the past nine years, CI-Guyana has spread its wings and is now coordinating three camps annually. One thing is sure, what the children have learnt at those camps will remain with them for a long time. The outcome must be responsible youth leadership and “poles of enlightenment” for the environment.
