Actions Speak Louder Than Words

It was March 21st, 2018. There was a school trip linked to a new subject we were being taught about, Climate Change. I was an eighth-grader, visiting with my friends the Tequendama Falls (Salto del Tequendama). A 132 m high waterfall of “Río Bogotá,” located 32 km southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha. We all very well know the “Río Bogotá” since its falls are currently considered to be one of the most polluted in the world. We’ve all smelled the repulsive air that surrounds the fall, the magnificent place where in the past tons of foreigners spent their vacations. Yes, that’s right foreigners, international visitors who were more interested in Colombia than Colombians themselves.

since I had only asked my dad for permission and not mom. It was a strategy, but it didn’t work well at all.

When they explained to us the species that made up the ecosystem including trees, insects, flowers, plants, and wildlife species, we were also told about a problem with sloths. The species went on searching for food, and as a result, ended up being run on in the street nearby due to the lack of their main food source, the Yarumo tree. In the first place, I didn’t know sloths could live in a place nearby Bogotá; I thought those species were only found in the Amazons, but that was false. However, it will be accurate in the future if we don’t act up to change the situation.

On the way back to school I was confused. First of all, everyone on the bus was yelling asking if they could hold my bunny, so the poor little guy was suffocated by 30 annoying fifteen-year-old girls, I really regret that. Anyways, I was weary due to the long walk and thoughtful about the environmental problems I had just had been shown in front of my nose. So after hours and hours of thinking, I got to the conclusion that I couldn’t ignore the problem in the same way as the Colombian government. I had to take action.

The next day I had Climate Change class with all the classmates that attended the trip. We started brainstorming with help of our teachers about ways in which we, as teenagers, could contribute to mitigate the environmental negative effects that were affecting the sloths. We finally decided to create a campaign named Yaroso which stands for “Yarumo,” the main food source of the sloths and “perezoso” part of the name of the sloths in Spanish. The main purpose of the campaign was fundraising to buy the Yarumo trees, which are expensive, and later plant the species in the plot of land we had visited. After naming the campaign we made a logo, developed a website, and since that day we’ve been doing several activities to share our apprenticeships with the rest of our school community, who has been contributing to the campaign significantly. By the way, thanks to all the people who have helped us!

By Gabriela Hernandez, 10thB

Anyway, in the visit to this wonderful place, we took a tour of the museum managed by the GEP Foundation. I learned plenty of things and got to know that the contaminated river is currently being cleaned. The project of decontamination has been financed by European countries such as France, rather than the Colombian administration. I was totally astonished. How could the government officials evade this severe problem? It has been affecting not only tourism and the lives of citizens, but also species that live in the body of water. However, I found myself soothed with the fact that at least there was someone interested in turning the falls into the wonderful and visited place it was in the past.

Later we visited an adjacent farm, in which we learned about composting, insects, species of the ecosystem, and farm animals. Actually, I remember visiting the bunnies and falling in love with one. I asked if they were freed after growing, but guess what? They were later placed on a plate! I immediately became frustrated and gloomy. Two minutes later I was asking how much they cost and bought one. However, I didn’t know the consequences of the little purchase when getting home

The project started in April 2018, and is still ongoing. We plan to sustain it as long as the whole plot of land in the GEP Foundation is restored as a Cloud Forest, with its native biodiversity that includes Sloths bears and Yarumo trees. Each year we try to raise even more money than the last one, and we hope that in a few years (maximum 4) we would have restored that land. Our team of Green Leaders is the one involved; we lead activities to collect money and plant Yarumo trees with our teacher Kattia Lozada.

After two years, we have learned so much about the impact of human life in the tiniest of things, we understood that the sloths are only a meager part of the animals that are dying because of us. Also, we have taught all the school community (almost 2,000 people including students, teachers, administration staff, and parents involved) about the problem which directly affects sloths. As a result, we have already planted 40 Yarumos, in the GEP Foundation farm in order to help Sloths, Yarumo, and biodiversity conservation of this ecosystem. For all our efforts, we are now recognized by Jane Goodall’s foundation, Roots & Shoots, with the Yaroso Campaign. Whenever you want to change something remember that you’re not too young and you’re not alone, with teamwork and hard work it is possible to contribute to a change in the world.