Young EcoLeaders of the Brazilian Rainforest

Good morning dear donors and we hope you are doing well?

And today we want to give you a taste of our new course: Environmental Education through the Arts. The first course is under way and we wanted you to be the first to hear about it!

You may remember that we’ve already run six courses for environmental leaders, and based on the feedback we received, we decided to set up a course for educators, presenting environmental education through the lens of the arts. The course structure is based on the four elements: earth, water, fire and air, and today we’re giving you a sneak peek at the first module – earth. And the first activities are based on storytelling and play acting.

From the beginning of human existence, storytelling has been a way of framing the world around us. Storytelling is above all an interactive experience, which uses language, gesture, narrative and imagination. Telling and listening to stories in the virtual space requires a new set of skills, which all of us are learning to acquire, and which, in the hands of a skilled facilitator, can transcend the barriers of space, creating a shared experience that generates its own energy. 

In our first meeting we did a series of exercises involving storytelling, gestures, listening and acting. We listened to the creation story of the Guarani people. We acted out the story of the chameleon walking through the forest and we mimicked the different life forms that he saw. As different stories were shared and acted, we compiled a list of words that came to mind, and this list formed the basis of words to be used in poems that students were asked to write during the course of the week. Other activities to be undertaken at home included making natural paints and dyes from soil and plants, and creating a collage out of natural ingredients.  

Throughout the week, students were active on the whatsapp group, and here are a few comments that we'd like to share with you. Fernanda: Vou divulgar muito este curso top. I’m gonna to tell everyone about this terrific course. 

Savio: I love the allegorical stories. 

Cris: The first class was wonderful. Congrats to everyone involved!  

We are so excited over the super positive feedback from our students, and we'll tell you more in our next letter. 

So many thanks to each of you for supporting us as we expand our horizons with new forms of delivering our education program. In the words of respected Brazilian theologian and educator Rubem Alves, "The miracle of education happens when we see a world we had never seen before."

Look after yourselves, and thank you, thank you!

with rainforest love from Yasmin, Raynan and the Iracambi team 

Happy New Year to all our wonderful donors and friends across the world! 

And may 2022 bring us health, happiness and many new adventures!

And as we sit here in the rainy rainforest, and plan for 2022, we hope you will forgive us if we start with a few reflections and updates on where we have come together, and the amazing things that your support has enabled us to do in 2021.

Here at Iracambi education is an integral part of everything we do.

We empower children and youth with the motivation, knowledge, skills and hands-on experience which enables them to  identify and tackle local and global environmental challenges.

Schoolkids come to Iracambi for their first encounter with the rainforest, and are encouraged to continue exploring and studying. Many of them continue to higher education - something that was largely unavailable to their parents - and are thus better positioned to break out of generational poverty.

Iracambi welcomes interns and researchers, and works with local families to restore forest cover on their farms to protect soils and water and combat climate change.

Our online courses for environmental leaders equip young people and adults from across Brazil to identify local challenges, adopt more sustainable lifestyles and make a real difference in their communities. With suppport from wonderful people like you, we've graduated over 100 environmental leaders.

 We´ve recently created an online course course for environmental educators, to be launched in early January, and we'll keep you posted on our progress.

Last, but not least, we held a highly succcessful virtual meeting with four middle schools based in Colorado. AND, after nearly two years, we were finally able to welcome 28 high school students for an unforgettable day's workshop in our rainforest campus. 

None of this would have been possible without your support, and we can´t wait to see where 2022 will take us! 

with love and so much appreciation from 

Yasmin and the Iracambi educators. 

Dear wonderful donors!

Before we go any further we want to share with you a message that popped into our mailbox five minutes ago. It’s from one of our new donors, and it really brought a smile to our faces. Here´s what he says.

“Rainforests are hugely important to our global climate, and their protection comes from the people that live amongst them. Increasing ownership, knowledge and awareness of their importance amongst future generations is going to be key to driving the regional & global policy change that will protect them at scale.”

Yess! Right on. We couldn´t agree more. And his comment also applies to deforested areas..... 

So here is a quick note from the field about our most recent online course for environmental leaders, and we're profiling  one group which is a little different from the others. 

The group is based in an assentamento – which is a resettlement scheme for landless people. It's located in the northeast of the country in a region that has been almost completely deforested and is rapidly turning into desert. The team worked with local residents to identify a series of problems and came up with some interesting solutions as to ways of bringing hope to an impoverished community.

First the problems. 1. Dust storms. (Directly related to deforestation.) 2. Lack of income and a recurring cycle of poverty. (Directly related to the main economic activity, which is cutting the rapidly decreasing supply of timber.) 3. Trash which is polluting the meagre water resources. 4.The prevailing feeling that nothing can be done.

So here are their proposed solutions. First they will come up with a recycling plan – in partnership with the local town council. In exchange for correctly separating their garbage, local residents will be offered fresh produce. This fresh produce will come from the small agroforestry plot which is already in place, and a committee of local women has been appointed to concentrate on growing vegetables, with the objective of expanding production in order to generate additional income. They will also work together to sell their crafts – pottery and brooms made from palm fiber. Next they will involve the children of the settlement in a program of environmental education focusing on the positive aspects of revitalizing the land and revitalizing their community.

This group is heading for an ambitious goal, but that´s what environmental leadership is about, right?

Thank you for helping to make it possible. We´ll let you know how they get on!

with love and appreciation from Yasmin and the Iracambi Educators.

Dear donors, supporters, environmentalists and educators across the world, 

We hope you are all holding up in these complicated times, where it seems that covid refuses to let us get on with our lives?

We, too, have had some of personal plans affected, but, nonetheless....

Today we have lots of good news to relate! 

First of all and thanks to those of you who were able to donate on the day, we raised over $13000 on Giving Tuesday. 

Which is more than wonderful, and will allow us to run more courses, educate more kids and plant more trees. 

We couldn't be happier! 

So we wanted to catch you up on the latest news on the education front. First, we have started our sixth online course for environmental leaders, and, as we may have mentioned before, they get better and better!  

Once again, the course included students from across Brazil, and brought us a wide range of issues to discuss. As always our first meeting is a wonderful time to get to know one another and start the conversations, and, despite the usual minor glitches with internet, cameras, and microphones, there's always a great feeling of solidarity as we get to meet more and more people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and start tackling some of the issues that affect them and their communities.

One of the recurring issues that concerns our students is the question of garbage, and how inadequate disposal affects us all, as well as our environment. Stay tuned to see what innovative ideas surface over the next few weeks.

Another discussion centred on a State Park in northeast Brazil which is suffering from illegal deforestation, and also from an invasion of treasure hunters digging up fossils for sale. We can't wait to hear potential suggestions for dealing with this rather unusual situation.

And once again we have the question of mining - a complex problem with lots of pros and cons. We'll tell you more in our next report! 

So as we get to the end of another year, and another school year, we want to thank you all for your magnificent support. It's been another strange time, but it's brought us lots of opportunities and we've learned a lot.

Thank you for making it possible!

with love and appreciation from Yasmin and the Iracambi Educators 

PS If you didn't get the chance to donate on Giving Tuesday, there's still time! 

Dear donors, 

First of all, we hope you are doing well, and want to send you a big thank you for supporting our program! 

And now for something completely different. This week we want to bring you the inside story of an environmental leader.

My name is Lara, and I'm from the state of Minas, but the other side of the state. Around 800 km from Iracambi. My dad has a farm so I'm familiar with rural life, although as I grew up I started to have my own ideas and we didn't always agree. But I guess that's only natural! 

I decided to study biology, and after my undergraduate work I just kept studying. Couldn't get enough of it. And now I'm working on my doctorate. In fact right now I'm on a sandwich course in Germany. 

I study termites. How they compete and how they collaborate with one another.

A couple of months ago one of my friends introduced me to the Environmental Leaders course at Iracambi and I decided to sign up.

And I can honestly say that it changed my life. I completely fell in love with the approach. Working with other environmentalists, all of whom were determined to make a difference. My group tackled the question of mining and mining reclamation - which is a hot topic in a state whose name means General Mines.

We discussed the impact of mining on soils and water and how we could involve the communities most impacted to take action. We talked about phytoremediation - using plants and associated microbiota to absorb pollution from soils, water and even the air. And we drew up a plan of action.  

We talked about how to involve the community - using science to raise conscience . (It works better in Portuguese, but you see what I mean!)

After the course I spent a week at  Iracambi and was enchanted to meet such a great group of people who really walk the walk. I feel like I found my tribe.

I'll be back. You can be sure of that!