miércoles, 20 de abril de 2011

Summit Zoo, April 17, 2011 / Parque Zoologico Summit Abril 17, 2011

Today we visited the Summit Zoo within the Soberania National Park. Gregorio worked very hard on organizing affordable transport. He succeeded, and 17 Koskuna kids arrived at Summit at 1:30 pm. Many thanks to the driver, Ricardo Martinez! 
The Zoo was founded in 1923 when the former Canal Company established the Summit Experimental Farm to research tropical flora of Panama. The children had a great time. We had a wonderful guide who took us around, showed us tapirs, crocodiles, monkeys, different species of trees, and the famous Harpy Eagle. Looking forward to another field trip!




 










viernes, 15 de abril de 2011

"Who will you be when you grow up?" April 10, 2011

Today, Jose gathered all the children and told a beautiful Kuna myth about the Daughters of the Stars. For most of the kids this was the first time they were hearing this quite well known among the Kunas story. At the core of it is a belief that the Kunas are deeply connected to the rest of the Universe, and that they in fact "came from the stars," as Jose described it.

Right after the story was told, taking advantage of this precious moment when children's imagination is wide awake, we asked each of them to paint a star on the paper we provided, and to dream for a little longer about who they would want to be when they grow up.  They then cut out the stars and wrote inside them their future professions.  Many children dream of being doctors, teachers, professors, lawyers, and policemen. The stars will be hung up high in the community building to remind the children that they can reach the stars.




We we were also really happy to have a Dutch scientist, Masha who studies lianas, pay a visit to Koskuna. She was helping the kids to paint more stars on the walls of the community building. The kids loved it!

martes, 5 de abril de 2011

UNEP Painting Contest / PNUMA Competencia de Pintura - 3 Avril / April 2011

Sunday, April 3, 2011, we arrived to the community armed with lots of paper, as Beatriz found out about this international painting contest for kids organized by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The theme was "Life in the forest." Painting Contest More than 20 children from Koskuna created their personal visions of the forest and turned them in to participate in this contest. It was a lot of FUN!

VIGÉSIMA COMPETENCIA INTERNACIONAL DE PINTURA INFANTIL sobre el tema de "La vida en el Bosque" organizada por el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el MedioAmbiente (PNUMA).