Informative session held in the gardens of La Casona La Providencia in Sanare.
Thanks to the support from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Caracas, ParksWatch representative in Venezuela BIOPARQUES and a non-governmental children’s organization called “Soy Niño” joined efforts to carry out the workshop: “Children Leaders: Friends of Sanaré and of Yacambú National Park.
The weeklong workshop was held in the gardens of “La Casona de la Providencia” (Grand Provincial House gardens) and in Yacambú National Park in Lara. Workshop participants included 20 boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 13, from ten schools of the communities of Sanare, Bojó, Rancho Grande, Sabana Grande and Monte Carmelo. The main objectives were to train the children to become leaders and raise their level of awareness on the issue of natural resource conservation.
The national park and garden formed the backdrops of the workshop, and there were many outdoor activities and a lot of contact with nature. After each activity, participants presented what they had learned during that activity. For example, in drawings, collages, and poems, they compared the state of conservation found within the national park with other areas outside of the park under heavy human influence. During the workshop, the children were divided into four groups named after endangered species found within the state of Lara: spectacled bears, pacas, curassows, and finches.
Drawings and a collage made with decomposing leaves, seeds, rocks, and other fallen debris collected during an exploration into Yacambú National Park. The drawings and collage pictured here were done by the Las Lapas (pacas) Team.
To help raise awareness about the natural resources protected in Yacambú National Park and the relation between these resources and their lives, there were also informative talks, environmental videos, and readings of children\’s stories by Renato Agaliate. Songs and puppets were used to order to train the children as effective communicators and to help emphasis the importance of radio communication. There were also technical sessions regarding radio broadcasting, which trained the children on radio language, general information on radio operation and how to write essays and stories for the radio. There were breathing exercises and practice using the proper pronunciation, diction, and articulation in front of a microphone.
At the end of the weeklong workshop, the children recorded a compact disc with eight short stories-written by the children over the course of the workshop-relating to nature conservation and Yacambú National Park. These stories will be broadcast on 98.5 FM “La Sanareña” in Sanare and will be available to any other stations that wish to broadcast them as well.
Community leaders and teachers from the participating schools also attended the workshop. Two well-known figures from Lara joined the group during the closing events of the workshop: The teacher and writer Renato Agagliate and Humberto Castillo, better known as the Sanare Caiman.
BIOPARQUES conservation program, “Terepaima and Yacambú Allies Network,” helped make this workshop possible by securing the event\’s locations through network members. BIOPARQUES is grateful for the valuable collaboration by network members in becoming increasingly involved in protecting Venezuela\’s natural resources.
ParksWatch-Venezuela: December 2003