Teaching...

My fellow volunteers and I have been busy teaching and educating the Comalapan children about their environment and how to protect it. While the indigenous population here is certainly more connected to their land than I may ever be to the tierra of the Northwest, they lack an understanding of how modern, Western technologies detrimentally affect their milpa, water supply and health. Clear-cutting and a subsequent lack of biodiversity, litter and vehicle pollution are the basic problems facing Comalapa and its surrrounding aldeas.
Therefore, El Proyecto Chimiya brings children and teachers to our park for an environmental education program which explains the interconnections between humans, plants, animals, insects, waterways and the air we breath. Simple excercises demonstrating the ¨web of life¨ show how human health and prosperity are dependent upon the natural resources that we often take for granted. We identify local species of plants, animals and insects and directly associate them with the local food and water supply. We also encourage the children to think of nature not only as a vulnerable and valuable commodity, but also as a place where they can maintain their indigenous traditions and values; something that has an intrinsic value as a healthy, communal space.
As a reward for our session with the Tecnico Maya school, a few of the children demonstrated a traditional Maya rain dance ceremony. The Tecnico Maya school here in Comalapa is one of the only schools not directly funded by the Catholic Church. This is the case because the Church considers the school a teacher of the pagaen traditions of the Maya. While the school teaches reading, writing and arithmetic just like all others, it also teaches Kakchiquel, the local indigenous dialect and many of the dieing Maya traditions. If you scroll down to the bottom of the blog site you can watch a video of their demonstration, in which the children dance, sing and play music with their chinchines.