Young EcoLeaders of the Brazilian Rainforest

Dear friends and supporters, 

Lockdown!

That’s how we've spent this quarter!

Like people everywhere, we in Brazil are asked to stay home because of the corona virus pandemic. So, as you may suppose our programs have been dramatically curtailed, and so have our income streams! 

With the schools closed, our Reserach Center closed, and everyone on lockdown, we’ve been forced, like so many people, to reevaluate our programs and projects. Our main challenge is how to provide a youth leadership program that will be as inclusive as possible, and will transmit our passion for protecting our forests  -  at a moment when nobody is able to come visit them?

So we’ve been thinking of creative ways of revising our content and delivery. In terms of content we’re focusing more on climate change since it’s easy to see a direct link between habitat destruction and pandemics transmissible from wild animals to humans.  As for our method of delivery – it clearly has to be online, at any rate for the foreseeable future. But in this rural area, although many families do have a cell phone, they have limited air time, and consequently little access to the internet. Our best channel of communication with them is via social media, and their preferred channel of communications is Instagram.   

We've been stepping our postings on social media, and have had some interesting interactions with local youth. We’ve uploaded short videos on climate change, tips for protecting yourself against covid 19, and simple recipes for making household cleaning products and treating coughs and colds (remember that we are in the cool season at present, and that Brazil has been badly affected by the corona virus.)

So a big thank you for continuing to support us and please keep it up - we really need you!

One more thing - we’d love to hear from you if you have any suggestions as to how we can better serve our young people and their families during this difficult time of lockdown.

We hope that you and your family are well, and together we are looking forward to the day when we can put this behind us, and people everywhere will be free to go back and walk in the woods. 

rainforest hugs, and stay safe, 

Marina and the Lockdown (Eco) Leaders 

Links:

• Iracambi site

Dear donors, supporters and friends across the world,

In spite of horrendous rains and flooding we managed to hit the (very muddy) ground running, in preparation for the 2020 school year - which, as you may know, starts After Carnaval. (And Carnaval, in case you missed it, is this week!) 

In fact the school year starts at the beginning of February, but it doesn't really get going until After Carnaval. But the first days of the school year are super important, because this is the time when we have to ensure that our program gets inserted into the school calendar, and the best way to do this is to get the teachers really excited about it.The kids love us to bits, but sometimes we have to work hard to convince the teachers - and that's what we've been focusing on. 

So when we get invited to Staff Training Days, it's our job to ensure that the teachers have a wonderful time and that Staff Training Day becomes Staff Falling in Love with the Forest Day. And our EcoLeaders team has been working with the State Association of Environmental Educators and running around the local schools to make sure that the teachers catch something of the vision. 

Muddy roads, sporadic power cuts, internet outages, we can face them all on our quest to make sure that the teachers understand that sending the students into the forest is far more than an enjoyable outing - although it's that too! So we do what it takes to get the teachers on board, and this year is looking really good. Lots of teachers tell us they're looking forward to hosting us in the classrooms and sending the children into the forest - when the roads improve!  

All of which will be starting as from the next week or so, and school will continue right through the end of the year.

With your help, dear donors, we'll be able to do great things with the 2,000 students that we aim to include in this year's program. Two thousand young champions to help save the world. How exciting is that? 

Thank you for being on this journey with us, and please tell your friends and family, and ask them to tell their networks, and support us if they can! The more young champions we raise, the better the chance for the future of the forests - which affects us all, wherever we live.

And you're always welcome to come visit, if you're ever in our neck of the woods!

with love from Marina and EcoLeaders team

PS Please check out the video link we're enclosing and meet EcoLeader Kalwan!  

Links:

• Iracambi website
• Kalwan young EcoLeader