Last week I met Metreya Motel, a beautiful 6 years old girl from New York.
She came to visit Chachagua Rainforest with her parents, and, since the first sight, we all fell in love with her.
Thursday morning, I gave them a tour through the jungle, and, just at the very beggining of the trail, we stopped in order to talk about how the rain forest works. Suddenly, I made her a question, just to verify she was paying atention and, her answer was not only correct, but perfect!!
Metreya told me that she had learned how to read when she was 2 years old, and she’s an avid reader ever since. She is so interested in nature: The rain forest, plants and animals. And she is able to explain what is the interaction of creatures in this such a complex habitat. I was amazed.
This situation made me to wonder how many children all over the world are concerned about the conservation of the environment, and I feel so good thinking of education and training of them through different ways: Face to face in the classroom, Internet, Media and field work outdoors. Sometimes, children are subestimated, but, for sure, they have a lot to teach us.
Day after day, people all over the world talk about global warming, catastrophes, destruction and even about this ‘theories’ of the end of the planet this year, 2012… Personally, I don’t think so.
Millions and millions of Metreyas, Juliens, Owens, Wills and so (these are among the names of the kids I have met and work with during this year) are just waiting for their turn to say: Hey, here we are!!!!!! Let us take the future of the planet in our hands!
Just remember that we all, the present day’s adults, are just passing by, but, sooner or later, all these children become Presidents, Scientist, Doctors, Lawyers, Ecologist, and more…
Please, give them the chance to grow and say: Hey, you guys from the past, we made it, we built a better world!