Our third meeting - Voting and Organizing

One of the concepts I introduced to the kids early on was the Action Box.  We built the Action Box together and decorated it as one of our activities in a prior meeting and made it clear that any ideas someone has can be put in the box and referred to later on when we decide to act.

At this meeting we decided to look at all of the ideas that were in the box so far and vote on what we should act on.  There were lots of a great ideas in there, from planting flowers to beautify the local soccer fields, to protesting the animal circus that was coming to town.  I was pumped to hear all of the various ideas and it was clear these kids are truly engaged and motivated to improve the health of our planet!

After explaining each idea clearly we voted through secret ballot.  This process covered another one of my goals with the club which is to introduce them to how peaceful democracy works.  Those who were responsible for the idea had a chance to stand up and promote it and I helped as best I could where this was difficult as these are all pretty young kids.  I chose the secret ballot because it is representative of the larger electoral system and also not to create any division between club members as no one knew who voted for or against an idea.

In the end, we decided to raise money in order to adopt an animal and with further voting we decided on a dolphin through WCDS.  This was a great idea because it leads to something very ecology sensitive and also to something concrete (stickers and a picture of a dolphin that the organization is tracking).

The rest of the meeting we organized around how we would raise money (a bottle drive), who would do what, when we could do it, etc.   Not all was decided on the spot because parents needed to have their input and I needed to assign roles to kids based on their abilities so much of it was worked out via email afterwards.  But in the end, everyone was pumped to actually do something with a common goal in mind!

If I can get the club members to learn what do to when they have an idea, how to organize together with like minded people, and how to act peacefully and constructively to achieve that goal, we'll have kids that will grow into adults that won't be passively accepting things they feel are wrong in our world.  We'll have activists and citizens not only willing to act for what they believe in, but able to act because they'll have practised it before in a safe and non-judgemental environment.  And I'll be a happy camper indeed :-)

Our second meeting - Animals

Opening with the handshake and welcoming of the club, the meeting got underway with the "Planetary Checkup" or "Check la Planete" in french (our group is actually 100% french speaking).  I discussed the following news items:

• Out of Peru, the plant that tackles toothache
• Hungary recyles old bricks of money to heat the poor
• Success for James Cameron's expedition to the deep sea
• A dam in Nigeria is being built that will displace millions of people
• Interesting fact; they've invested a silk worm that produces spider silk:
• Human hair 1cm thick can hold up 1 elephant
• Steel wire 1cm thick holds up 3 elephants
• Spider silk 1 cm holds up 8 elephants

Note that the news items are intentionally skewed towards positive and constructive news items. The last thing I want to do is inundate the youth with the endless number of serious issues our planet faces. My goal is to stimulate and energize the kids, not depress them!

External observation was nice because spring was coming so we took the time to close our eyes and hear the melting snow dripping and the sounds of birds chirping. The warm spring wind caressing our cheeks and the smell of spring was wonderful to tune in to.

Coming back inside we played a True/False game based on various environmental trivia I gathered up. Here were the questions (translated from french by google translate):

• Between 1820 and 1889, nearly 60 million buffalo were slaughtered in North America - T
• It takes 6.9 pounds of grain to produce 1 kilo of pork - T
• Poachers kill rhinos for their legs - F
• The St. Lawrence beluga is the least contaminated mammal on the planet - F
• Many farmers give antibiotics to livestock to make grow faster - T
• In Africa, about one third of agricultural production is fed to livestock - T
• There are more than 3 billion cows and sheep on Earth - T
• With global warming, mosquitoes that carry diseases will diminish - F
• One species of fish in three endangered - F
• 98% of the genes gorillas are identical to those of humans - T
• The ivory trade is banned-T

We then discussed a number of local animals that are endangered (and discussed what it means to be endangered) and how an ecosystem is impacted when animals disappear. And finally we touched on circus like Circo Mondo because they happen to be in town. We discussed how animals are better left to be 'animals' than human entertainment and how often circus don't treat the animals properly so most often it's better to seek out circus experiences that are human based like Cirque du Soleil.

The song of the month was La Corrida by Francis Cabrel, a song that speaks to the plight of bulls who are the victims of a gruesome form of entertainment in Spain (bull fighting). The song made waves when it was released and is beautifully written and performed. I had carefully selected pictures of bulls in the corrida (not too bloody or gory) and explained how the 'game' worked. The translated words can be found at the end of this post.

Closing things off we played La Machine. It's a simple game that kids like. You pick someone to start in the middle. That person starts a movement and a sound, like a piece of a complex machine. Next person connects to the first and adds his/her own repetitive movement and sound. As as each kid attaches that gets louder and more complex until it breaks and all falls apart. The kids love it and its fun to watch and listen to as its different every time. A secret handshake to wrap things up and that was it!

La Corrida de Francis Cabrel

Since the time I patient In the darkroom I mean we have fun and we sing At the end of the corridor; Someone touched the lock And I dove to the big day I saw bands, barriers And the people around In the first moments I thought Need only defend But this place is hopeless I begin to understand They closed behind me They were afraid that I fell I'll just end up having This dancer ridiculous ... Is what this world is serious? I remember Andalusia Grasslands lined with cactus I will not tremble before This puppet, minus this! I'll catch him and his hat Rotate them like a sun Tonight the wife of the bullfighter Sleep soundly Is what this world is serious? I continued ghosts Almost touched their ballerinas They hit hard in my neck I bow to They go out where the acrobats Paper with their costumes? I never learned to fight Against dolls Feel the sand under my head It's amazing how it can be good I prayed that everything stops I remember Andalusia I hear them laughing as I rattle I see dance as I succumb I did not much we can Play around a grave Is what this world is serious? x2 If so hombre, hombre Baila, baila Hay que bailar de nuevo Y otros mataremos Otras vidas, otros toros Y otros mataremos Venga, venga a bailar ... Y otros mataremos

Our first meeting - Introduction

At our first meeting, I started by welcoming everyone to the club and discussing what the goal of our club is. Our goal is to have fun, learn, and act together in the context of the environment.

Next came teaching the kids our secret handshake (see the prior blog post).  The kids took to this right away and now use it when they meet each other in all sorts of circumstances.  Cool!  It is easy enough that even very young kids can do it and we can do it as a group together as well.

Not sure about what I could squeeze into a 2 hour block I had lots planned and we didn't get through all of it but the following is what we did get through.

I kicked off the first "Planetary Checkup" with various news tidbits.  This was followed by the external observation to see what was going on in our backyard environment.  The kids were quiet and meditation and it was a very nice experience with everyone taking their turn to speak to what they felt.

Next we discussed what an ecosystem is.  I had some graphics printed out on paper which showed a simply prairie ecosystem involving the sun, plants, worms, grasshoppers, mice, and a hawk.  We discussed how healthy ecosystems result in harmony and balance; a continuous cycle that is dependent on diversity (I explained that as well).

I then took a right turn and discussed why I think art is important and should be involved in environmentalism.  Art opens and softens our heart so that we can feel what is going on around us, good or bad.  Only once receptive to our environment can we understand it, its condition, and its needs, and art increases our sensitivity and therefore ability to respond more appropriately.  Art also practices us to see the world from different perspectives and perceive deeper meanings which are all important for connecting to our world and caring for it.

In order to understand the importance of art to humanity I read a great story from Leo Lionni .  Leo Lionni stories are great and I use them quite often for the club, especially with the age group of kids that I have (from 6 to 11).  The kids then took the time to write a poem and some really beautiful poems were created!

Time was ticking and I had gone overboard for content so we switched to craft time.  I had created an Action Box where club members can put there ideas for actions in (like a suggestion box).  It was covered in white paper and ready for decorating so we split up the letters (Boite d'action du Club de la Terre de Ste Anne) and went to work.  Each letter came out different colours and sizes and we pasted them all together (the box was a medium sized one) and had an awesome work of art and our first collaborative creation.

A secret handshake to closed things off wrapped up our first successful meeting.  I call it a success because the kids were pumped and smiling when they left :-)