189
(-To say things,
-Dialogue,
-What have they done to us? They have gotten us together, and we know that we have to
talk things here and say what we don’t like…
-Rather than talking about those things somewhere else, we fix issues here).
The communication is not only associated with the dialogue between the group, and
it is also the ability to communicate and express themselves in front of other people
and groups. Some members explain that being part of the group has allowed them
to develop this capacity:
Porque a mí no me… no sabía explicar y pararme ahí enfrente que me hicieran preguntas y
decía, no puedo
(Because I didn’t know ... I did not know how to explain or stand there in front of other
people who were asking me questions and I used to think I could not do it).
The environmental education activities carried out in the community schools allow
the developing of communication skills, and an increment in confidence and the
disclosure of the done work. The community/social feeling is associated with the
ability to relate to others and the willingness to cooperate with them in order to
achieve an effect on the community: “see with the eyes of another, hear with the ears
of another and feeling with the heart of another” (Oberst 2002). Since its formation
until now, the group has managed to organize its monitoring work; even with economic deficiencies they continue working since they have appropriated the project:
-O sea, como que ya lo agarramos… aunque no nos estén pagando
-Como comunitario
-Porque las amamos…
(-I mean, considering that we were working anyhow, even though they do not pay us,
-As a community member,
-Because we love birds...)
Best Practices
The environmental education within the “Women with Wings” group is a process
that happens mainly in the family nucleus, when they participate in the bird watching activities they include their daughters, sons, and husbands. It is recognized that
environmental education is necessary for the community and that their work within
the family can multiply and create an impact at the community level:
Como que ya 10 mujeres, como quiera esas 10 mujeres tienen su familia, y esa familia tiene
más familia, ya se corre la voz, ya hay más educación ambiental, ya cuidan más pues…
(We are 10 women already, and those 10 women have their family, and that family has
more family, this helps spread the word; now there is more environmental education, and
we protect the environment better...).
The influence of women in the family nucleus is strategic in the attitudes and habits
that foster a paradigm shift for the care and use of natural resources (Galvis 2009).
11 “Women with Wings”: An Experience of Participatory Monitoring in a Natural…
(-To say things,
-Dialogue,
-What have they done to us? They have gotten us together, and we know that we have to
talk things here and say what we don’t like…
-Rather than talking about those things somewhere else, we fix issues here).
The communication is not only associated with the dialogue between the group, and
it is also the ability to communicate and express themselves in front of other people
and groups. Some members explain that being part of the group has allowed them
to develop this capacity:
Porque a mí no me… no sabía explicar y pararme ahí enfrente que me hicieran preguntas y
decía, no puedo
(Because I didn’t know ... I did not know how to explain or stand there in front of other
people who were asking me questions and I used to think I could not do it).
The environmental education activities carried out in the community schools allow
the developing of communication skills, and an increment in confidence and the
disclosure of the done work. The community/social feeling is associated with the
ability to relate to others and the willingness to cooperate with them in order to
achieve an effect on the community: “see with the eyes of another, hear with the ears
of another and feeling with the heart of another” (Oberst 2002). Since its formation
until now, the group has managed to organize its monitoring work; even with economic deficiencies they continue working since they have appropriated the project:
-O sea, como que ya lo agarramos… aunque no nos estén pagando
-Como comunitario
-Porque las amamos…
(-I mean, considering that we were working anyhow, even though they do not pay us,
-As a community member,
-Because we love birds...)
Best Practices
The environmental education within the “Women with Wings” group is a process
that happens mainly in the family nucleus, when they participate in the bird watching activities they include their daughters, sons, and husbands. It is recognized that
environmental education is necessary for the community and that their work within
the family can multiply and create an impact at the community level:
Como que ya 10 mujeres, como quiera esas 10 mujeres tienen su familia, y esa familia tiene
más familia, ya se corre la voz, ya hay más educación ambiental, ya cuidan más pues…
(We are 10 women already, and those 10 women have their family, and that family has
more family, this helps spread the word; now there is more environmental education, and
we protect the environment better...).
The influence of women in the family nucleus is strategic in the attitudes and habits
that foster a paradigm shift for the care and use of natural resources (Galvis 2009).
11 “Women with Wings”: An Experience of Participatory Monitoring in a Natural…