This blog allows our partnered classrooms and students to view our encounters with and involvement in situations related to creating sustainable communities and issues of justice: social, environmental, and economic.
The partnership between PEDAL For Change (PFC) and the Edge Academy began last year when Emily Colin, Rayna Weiss, Kether Sharff-Grey and crew shared a curriculum with the middle school students. As the PFC cyclists rode through South America and volunteered at different environmental organizations, the Edge students were on board and catching the draft. The PFC members researched and wrote Blogs, made videos and held Skype conversations and the students became thoroughly engaged and responded with critical questions, comments, and blogs of their own.
The Edge Academy is a part of the Essex Town School District in Essex, VT. The Edge is an optional program that students may attend instead of other extra-curricular activities. The mission is that the Edge Academy creates environments that push the edge of innovating learning through exploration and empowerment. To understand the principles at the Edge Academy, here are a few of the Edge Academy's definitions of interest:
Learner Voice = listening to kids; kids having the opportunity to actively shape their education; advocate for themselves; moving learners to a place where they are comfortable directing what is happening; learner/individual perspective
Project-Based Learning = is a real worldinvestigation, linked to academics. Learners work collaboratively to solve problems that matter to themusing critical thinking/problem-solving skills involving reflection.
Negotiated Curriculum = involving students in the planning of curriculum, honoring and supporting all voices in the development of curriculum
Integrative Curriculum = no separate subject, learners help determine themes
Personalized Learning Strategy = learning that responds to personalized interests and needs, incorporating long/short term goals and aspirations
Because PFC and the Edge Academy believe in the same learning techniques and principles, the two have decided to partner again for another year. Last summer when the girls returned from South America, they were extremely impressed when a student decided to take his own initiative and organized a PEDAL event to raise money for a local non-profit. Rayna and Emily drove to Vermont to participate in the event. PFC and the Edge Academy knew at that point that together they could create wonderful learning opportunities.
This year, PFC and the Edge Academy have chosen to continue the curriculum for another winter. The curriculum will focus on ecology and geography of Ecuador while looking at the facets of sustainability. Students will study these topics on a local, regional, national, and international level. The curriculum will be dictated by our Educational Director, Emily Colin, along with the talented teachers of the Edge Academy. Emily will also assist in finding volunteer opportunities in Vermont for the Edge student that directly relate to volunteer projects in Ecuador. Rayna Weiss will also augment the curriculum by being the point person in Ecuador. She will be researching sustainability projects in Ecuador for the students curriculum.
As loyal draftee's, you will be updated as the curriculum continues to evolve. Currently, the first draft of the curriculum has been sent to the Edge Academy and PFC members and Edge teachers are working out details.
It is crazy to think that a high school student like me, from a small town in Colorado, would take so much away from visiting a small town in Chile. I never thought that my whole trip would change my outlook on life forever. I never realized how a simple act of kindness, form a random stranger, would teach me some of life’s greatest lessons.
Los Coipos is a small town in the countryside of Chile, and was greatly affected by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Concepcion, Chile just one year ago. A group of students and I were lucky enough to be able to come into this remarkable community and finish their once lost community center.
From my perspective, the small countryside-town of Los Coipos, Chile is truly one of a kind. I saw each aspect of the town as new and different form anything I had seen before. The community itself was incredible! To be able to meet them and get to know them has truly changed my life for the better.
I loved how every morning, as we walked through the small street towards the work center, we were always greeted so warmly, with such big smiles. It made me feel so welcome, almost as if I lived there. It was also so amazing to see how the entire town thrived off each other; and helped one another everyday. Through this collaboration, the community is able to maintain strong sustainability. It was so unique and so extraordinary. I feel so lucky that I was able to be part of this wonderful town even for a short while! It was such a great experience.
For as long as I can remember, I have believed that anyone can do anything if he or she only believes in his or herself.I am lucky to have had many personal experiences that prove this to me.Until this journey however, I have never been so fortunate as to see so many similar experiences of others. I am amazed nearly everyday as I am reminded of the validity in this idealistic faith of mine. But it wasn’t until just a few days ago, when I found myself tiling a wall, something I figured out using google.com, that I truly understood the grand lesson I am continually learning.
During our time volunteering at La Hesperia, we learned of many issues with the education system in Ecuador.Alexandra and Juan Pablo, our hosts and owners of the reserve, explained that when their youngest child was having trouble progressing in the local school system, they decided to start their own school that would accommodate his and other children’s potential to apply themselves.They encouraged their community to pursue the education project, but due to a history of conflict, the people were reluctant to support the endeavor. Long story short, after much battling and ongoing court hearings, Alexandra and Juan Pablo founded their own Montessori school.The couple recruited 12 family’s children from the nearby towns, and constructed the building on the reserve property.Now the children have access not only to dedicated teachers but also to the reserve biodiversity, preservation methods, and hands-on learning.
When we were volunteering at Pisco Sin Fronteras, I was impressed by two 18-year-olds.With no previous experience, I watched them fundraise and lead the construction of a playground. El Molino, a community in which people live in homes with dirt floors and bamboo-supported tarps overhead, inspired the two and the project.Most of what these families had was destroyed in the 2007 earthquake, and the people fled to higher ground, erecting the chozitas (huts) as an easy and immediate means for shelter. The families in the community travel to Pisco for all their needs and most children don’t attend school because it is too far to walk and too expensive to pay for a taxi everyday. There is a small daycare for toddlers and babies but no other place for kids to play or learn.These two volunteers saw an opportunity to give the children of El Molino something more, so they learned the techniques they would need to make the project possible, and they worked hard to raise the money to make the school and playground a reality.
Upon arriving at Finca Utama, we soon discovered that while the membrillos and walnuts needed to be harvested and the animals needed to be fed every morning, there was a significant amount of un-allotted time in each day. At first I watched as other WWOOFers took the free time to rest, knit, read, or travel to the pueblo.However, I have always liked being a busy person, so when Maud offered a lighting project, I took it on gladly, excited to pass the time with a new activity.Though I didn’t have any electrical experience, I decided I could take another lamp apart, figure out how it worked, and wire this one in the same way.It worked!I discovered that with a little creativity, I could seek out and mend other odds and ends around the house: a tarp over the adobe oven and fire, a soap dish, a towel rack, and a shelf for the bathroom.Seeing my interest in construction, Maud asked me to build a spice rack for her kitchen…why not?I found some scrap wood, cut it to size, stained it, and mounted the rack to her kitchen wall.This was easy enough with a little sustainable usage of materials.Then she showed me where the tiles were coming off the shower wall and asked me to re-tile the bathroom.Well now I was into unknown territory, but I remembered a little thing called google and decided I would pretend I knew what I was doing.To my surprise, and with a little help from a fellow WWOOFer, Mr. John Fornof, we tiled the bathroom.
The most inspiring aspect of this trip has been watching the progress of a friend of mine.As we began the first major leg of our cycle trip through Ecuador, we all had our skepticisms of how we would pedal the Andes.But our companion Kether held the largest fears.Before this journey, Kether had never traveled to South America, never been out of the United States without a family member, had never tour biked, and had not even been on very many long bicycle rides.Though I knew all this before Kether joined the PEDAL team, I never doubted her.She is a strong, diverse, and energetic person who is always up for trying new things, meeting new people, and she keeps an open mind to the possibilities life offers her.She has lived in places across the country from Colorado to Maine to Oregon and Rhode Island.She worked full time through college to pay her tuition, but still managed to make many wonderful friends and do very well in school. She lived in a Co-op where she was a housemate to an array of people from all over the world, while she worked as an AmeriCorps representative and volunteer coordinator for a diversity of teenagers from Rhode Island.She studied Marine Biology in college, but has a keen sense for flavor and may end up exercising her skills as a sensational chef and teaching young people how to appreciate the world of food that surrounds them.She is always up for new things and I believe Kether looked at this journey as an opportunity to learn more about the diversity in the world and test her ability to face the unknown.So when we started climbing our first large mountain pass at 10,000ft, and Kether started to fall behind, I knew she would make it to the top, even if it took her all day.
After almost seven months of traveling together, I have seen Kether climb countless mountain passes and each time she reaches the top quicker than the time before.On the second day of biking we descended 40 km into Ecuadorian cloud forest and I would argue Kether nearly wore her brake pads through.Four months later, as we sped downhill for 25 km into Yura, Peru, Kether was right on my tail.In addition, both Kether and I spoke little-to-no Spanish when we arrived in September.But connecting with the people around her was and is clearly a priority and she read the dictionary every night, studying the language. Kether speaks clearly now and has a vivid memory for words.She now converses comfortably and awes me with her ability to step out of her comfort zone to talk with anyone she meets from other cyclists along the road to Maud’s local friends to grocery store attendants and anyone else that may cross her path.
Recently, I learned of a mythic symbol that depicts a snake with wings.I immediately thought of the theme of my journey.I thought of the unlikely chance that a snake would ever grow wings and learn to fly.Then I thought of all the people I have met throughout this adventure, I thought of all I have learned I can do, and I thought of my friend Kether.I remembered the time she built a brick wall in Pisco and was so excited to have done it all on her own.I thought of the time she spent an hour with an old woman in Argentina, learning how to make alfajores, later producing the cookies to a T, and finally smiling delighted yet humbly as I confessed it was the best thing I had ever tasted.I am now wearing the symbol around my neck so that I am always reminded of all the snakes with wings I am so lucky to know.And I am happy to be confident that future PEDAL for Change journeys can produce a few more.
For the last week, Emily and I have been exploring the marvels of Chilean Patagonia.We discovered not only vibrant, blue-green lakes and breathtaking mountains, but also a plan for a controversial energy project.So, being the South American explorers that we are, we decided to do a little research.We discovered that an organization is in the process of trying to construct several hydroelectric plants.Here is the lowdown:
By: Queen I (Rayna)
The Organization:
HydroAysén is Chile’s largest proposed energy project currently under environmental assessment by the Chilean government.They were established in September of 2006, and are trying to pass the environmental assessment in order to begin construction on a hydroelectric project in the Aysén region of Chile (also known as Northern Patagonia).
The Proposed Project:
HydroAysén plans to begin constructing five power stations that will form a mega-hydroelectric project in 2014.The five sites will be on the Baker and Pascua Rivers in southern Chile.According to HidroAysén, the stations will have the ability to produce 18,430 GWh of power, which is 35% of Chile’s electricity consumption for the year 2008.
The construction site will cover 5,910 hectares (14,604 Acres), which includes the power stations and the reservoir site.
(All above data comes from: http://www.hidroaysen.cl/site/ingles/descripcion_pha.html).
Aspects of the Project:
The Link System:
The energy generated by the power stations will be conducted by a power transmission link system that is connected to the Central Interconnected System, (http://www.hidroaysen.cl/site/ingles/descripcion_pha.html).
The Central Interconnected System or SIC is the main power grid in Chile spanning from the North of Chile all the way to the Lake region in the South.It transmits 68.5% of the national energy generated, and provides electricity to 93% of Chile’s population,
In order to connect the two grids, HydroAysén will put up large high voltage power lines though the region.They must cut a 100-meter-wide area for the lines.
Road Improvement:
HydroAysén plans to widen and improve the main highway in order to provide an easier and safer means of travel for the workers.
Port Infrastructure:
In order to bring all the materials needed for the construction, a 100-meter-long pier will be built in a nearby port, which will permit entry of ships.
Also, HydroAysén plans to build a landfill, telecommunication stations, power generators for workers, 40 new homes and a medical center for workers in a nearby town, temporary roads and concrete plants, (http://www.hidroaysen.cl/site/ingles/descripcion_pha.html).
What the Advocates are saying:
As you can see, this hydroelectric project is massive.It will have many strong impacts on Chile.HydroAysén and their supporters believe that the project will benefit Chile in many ways.
Advocates explain that hydroelectric power is a clean alternative to other types of power such as fossil fuels.HydroAysén states on their website that they seek, “to respond to a growing concern for the environment and for the development of efficient, clean, and renewable energy generation alternatives,” (http://www.hidroaysen.cl/site/ingles/descripcion_pha.html).
Also, a major benefit is that with this new project Chile will not have to rely as heavily on international fuels and, therefore, import less.
Another main point that HydroAysén states is that, “Water is the most important source of energy for Chile. It is the sole resource of our own that is clean, safe, renewable and abundant enough to generate the energy needed by the country. Chile has a hydroelectric potential of about 20,323 MW and is currently using only 25% of it,” (http://www.hidroaysen.cl/site/ingles/descripcion_pha.html).
Several people on our journey have explained that the project will bring employment opportunities, more wealth to the communities, and commodities such as improved roads, Internet and a “higher quality of life.”
HydroAysén also has pointed out these benefits.
“The HidroAysén Project will provide a great development opportunity for the XI Region inhabitants by creating new and better employment and training opportunities, and improved living conditions thanks to the development of its commerce and a greater connectivity, thus integrating Aysén inhabitants to the rest of the country.The Aysén Project will generate about 5,000 new direct jobs during its construction phase –when the season is high-- and an average of 2,260 workers every month, with some of them being hired in the region, ” (http://www.hidroaysen.cl/site/ingles/descripcion_pha.html).
The company is proposing to construct another project in order to supply electricity to the inhabitants of the region.The current project under investigation will not provide the inhabitants of the area with electricity, only the inhabitants of central Chile.Additionally, the reality of construction of a project for the local inhabitants is unknown at this time.
How the Opposition feels:
Several people in the region are strongly against the project.Although the company and their supporters have pointed out many benefits, the locals have found many negative repercussions.
One area of sensitivity is the environmental impact on the land.Building dams in rivers highly impacts the aquatic life and surrounding wilderness area.
“After dam construction, there is an immediate drop in water quality that destroys useful fish populations and poses a threat to livestock and humans,” writes Lanza, an aquatic biologist and microbiologist who consults for the environmental organization International Rivers, (http://www.azocleantech.com/Details.asp?newsID=2152).
Also, the 100-meter wide destruction of forest though the entire region will have a large impact on the Patagonian wilderness.
People are concerned about not only environmental degradation, but also social and economic impacts as well.Yes, the construction of the project will improve the road conditions, bring Internet and a medical center, but will it truly “improve” the inhabitant’s quality of life?
Locals such as my friend Michel Raab and hitchhiking friends such as Rodrigo have explained that with the new development, negative influences such as drugs, increased crime rate, and alcohol consumption will also come to the area.
Although the project will help with unemployment a bit, what will happen when the project’s construction is over?Michel pointed out that HidroAysén plans on bringing many employees to the region, but after the project has been built, the people will no longer have a job.
My Take:
When I think about the concerns of the Southern Chileans, a quote from the book, Ancient Futures,By Helena Norberg-Hodge, creeps into my mind. She writes,
“I have seen that community and a close relationship with the land can enrich human life beyond all comparison with material wealth or technological sophistication.I have learned that another way is possible.”
After spending a week in one of the most incredible places I’ve visited in my life, it is hard for me to believe that bringing technological improvements and wealth will increase happiness. This area has long hosted strong communities that have a close connection to their land.Generation after generation has been herding cattle, growing crops and living off the land.Both Michel and Rodrigo pointed out that the new generation do not this same relationship to their surroundings.More and more younger members of the community are leaving the area to go work as professionals in central Chile after studying at a University.I can hear grief in their voices as they explain this phenomenon to me.However, I can understand the desire to leave one’s home and become a successful professional.I can also sympathize with those who want to grow and develop their community in order to be a part of the progressive business world.
The issue of energy is a perpetual battle between individuals, communities and nations all over the world. Yes, we need to find sustainable energy sources like hydroelectricity.But, we need to make sure these energy sources are sustainable on all levels: social, economic, and environmental.How do we approach our energy crisis?What are some other solutions for Chile and where do we start?
The following video depicts our investigation of HydroAysén, our trip to Río Baker, some of the people we met along the way, and a community's struggle to maintain a "Patagonia Sin Represas," (Patagonia without dams).
