Help Childred Make Connection

EARTHKEEPING NEWS
A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY

Volume Seven, Number Two
January/February 1998

Call to Action:

Help Our Children Make the Connection

Among the several educational eco-tours available, one specifically for students is the Children's Environmental Trust (CET) which provides rainforest workshops for children, 6th grade and above. The program involves one year of academic preparation, one or two weeks of hands-on immersion learning adventure in the rainforests of the Amazon or Costa Rica, and a commitment to environmental advocacy upon their return. One participant's essay follows.

The immersion workshops, led by native guides and research scientists, include a visit to a rainforest school which each group "adopts." They provide school supplies for one year.

Recently I took a trip to the Rain Forest of Peru. In preparation for the trip our group learned about the trees, flowers, animals and some of the tribes. Although this taught me about the Rain Forest's life, one part missing was the poverty of the people.

It was the day our group would go to the school in Vista Alegre and meet our pen pals. I brought a T-shirt and doll to give to Georgina, my pen pal. I thought my gifts would be sufficient. Julie, the CET instructor, introduced Georgina to me. I went over to her with a smile on my face, the doll and T-shirt in hand, and gave her my gifts.

Then Georgina gave me her gifts, two necklaces, a bracelet, and a carved melon shell. Then we played some games together, and she was so sweet. We talked some, mostly in smiles and gestures. Then it was time to say good-bye.

I went to use the bathroom, and Georgina followed me. I asked Jenny who speaks Spanish, to ask Georgina who had carved the beautiful melon shell for me. I heard Georgina say "shoes and two shirts." Jenny told me she had traded two T-shirts and a pair of shoes for the shell.

Imagine giving pretty much your whole wardrobe for an American girl you don't even know. Thinking about that, I began to cry. I felt happy that she would do that, but sad because she had to. Her father had died a while ago, so he couldn't make the carved melon for her.

Then and there I learned that a doll and a T-shirt are not the gifts I should have been armed with. It is God and his love that I need to give.

Call to Action:

Help Our Children Make the Connection

Georgina's Gift