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