The children of Mariscal Sucre
"I just saw a deer with my uncle, but quiet, while he went for the shotgun, me and the other kids scared it away and it's already gone into the jungle, we saved it."
I remember when I started to visit the community (a settlement of mestizo settlers from the province of Cañar), my little son was experiencing his first days at school and he stuck to me like a tick, not wanting to stay with the other children or the teacher. After a while I decided that it was a good place to share our idea of conservation and sow in those beautiful little heads -which at that age are like sponges- the idea of protecting the space in which we live and fight for a healthy and happy environment.
I remember that the first thing I taught them was to learn about the Amazonian animals that lived in our forests, and when I say our forests, I am not only referring to the space that we take care of as a Conservation Center, but also to the remnants of forest that the families of this community also own. I will never forget when I asked if they knew the agouti (an Amazonian rodent), a boy responded by saying that on the weekend he had gone hunting with his uncle and prepared a delicious meal. By that time my thinking and knowledge had matured, I clearly understood that the jungle was the source of food and medicine for the people who inhabit it (mainly for the natives) and that hunting, gathering and use of natural resources was an existing practice for thousands of years without significant detriment to nature. It was the development of capitalism and man's ambition that brought sadness and suffering to our peoples, an event that began perhaps with the conquest, where he began to forge wealth and the accumulation of capital with blood and mud. Now it is the monster of extractivism and the vision of the forest as "green merchandise".
Well, returning to the subject, it was interesting and very beautiful to share my time with the children, to talk with them about the different animals of the jungle, their function in the ecosystem, the interrelationships and the importance of conserving and protecting them; and after a year of work, one day, the same boy who had told me about his hunting with his uncle comes running to me and tells me: "I just saw a deer with my uncle, but relax, while he went to get the shotgun, I and the other children scared it and it has already gone to the jungle, we have saved it: I just saw a deer with my uncle, but don't worry, while he went for the shotgun, me and the other kids scared it and it has already gone to the jungle, we saved it. How wonderful, these are results that cannot be put in a formal report, it is life itself that gives you these days where you harvest fruits and you feel a little happier. More than 8 years have already passed and we have left to be those people who come to teach something new in the community, to be part of the community, to be proudly "mariscaleños", to share our experiences, to learn from everyone, to fight collectively for our rights, for our jungle, for our happiness.
(story: Lucero Mora)
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