we're gonna build something this summer

wet feet ocean camp 2009. every summer, CEDO has two summer camps - one in english, and one in spanish. the english camp is basically my responsibility to coordinate, and pia is in charge of the spanish one. the english one this year was especially interesting because we accepted 9 kids from peñasco whose second language is english, so it also had an intercultural component to it (adding a very cool dynamic to the camp).

this years theme was la vaquita marina. i don't recall if i've written in here about the vaquita so here goes. the vaquita is a marine porpoise endemic to the northern gulf and is the world's smallest and most endangered cetacean. it's so endangered for man-made reasons - vaquitas get entangled in the nets of fishermen and drown. the fishermen aren't trying to catch them - it's completely by accident. but ... there are only about 125 of them left and this incidental catch is basically the only true threat to them. so there's a huge movement in mexico to save the vaquita, but it's complicated and complex since th fishermen need to work and feed their families.

so ... what we did was divide the kids up into four teams of stakeholders - government, conservationists, fishermen, and developers - and we conducted interviews with reps of each group, identified key viewpoints of each, debated/discussed, and created a conservation plan.

these kids were between the ages of 9 and 12 and they absolutely blew me away. they were incredibly intelligent and interested in the situation - thinking really deeply as to how to solve this complex problem that no one in mexico knows how to solve. it was incredible. and they ended up creating a really great plan ... that could actually probably function in the real world. i was so impressed (still am, to be honest).

the camp, of course, is not all work, but also includes a trip to isla san jorge, the estero, tidepools, and lots of fun games/activities etc.

here are just a few photos. i also posted a ton on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90318&id=61496142760) if you want to see more ...



[me giving the NHT ... this is very "me" here at CEDO, and i'm just putting it here because my mom wants a picture of me :)]


[snorkeling at isla san jorge]


[all 17 kids packed in the van]


[sea lions underwater! no zoom!]


[all of us at the malecon]


[classic photo in front of the whale skeleton]


i love my kids.