190
Sharing with their families encourages interest and involvement in bird
identification:
Ahora los maridos llegan y: “a ver mija, tu guía versa, porque ahí anda un ave y verás vimos
que tenía así y asa”
(Now the husbands come and say: “let’s see your bird guide, because there is a bird and
looks like this and like that”).
The group also recognizes the practices that damage the environment and they adopt
new attitudes of appreciation towards birds and the ecosystems they live in:
Simplemente de que tirábamos basura y ahorita ya no, ahorita es: “¡Hey! no la tires por la
ventana, échala aquí en una bolsita y cuando haiga un bote de basura pues la tiramos”
(We used to dump the trash everywhere and now no more, now we say: “Hey! Don’t
throw the trash out the window, here is a bag and when we see a trash can, we dump it
there”)
Being part of this group that carries out a conservation activity has influenced their
habits. Women are the administrators of environmental resources in the domestic
activities and they possess knowledge of local environmental processes, but the
impact on their home and in the community is not recognized. However, women
consider themselves more prepared to make changes in habits and they organize
themselves to contribute to the protection of the environment (Arora 2011).
Foundations of a Social Identity
Identity is constructed from values, culture, and symbols that are shared among
social actors, groups, and collectivities. It is formed by the accumulation of memories that a group or person carries with itself (Grayling 2002; Mendoza 2009). The
collective memory of the group is formed by significant memories and anecdotes,
from its origin to the present. The moment they decided to be part of a women group
who performs bird monitoring is one of those memories:
-Alguien le avisó a Saul Espinoza creo, le avisó a la Karla
-A la Karla para que viniera la Andrea a ver de qué se trataba, que le gustaría que
hiciéramos un grupo y fue así como que “no pues como que si” y ya que vimos lo fuimos
planteando, pero más bien, la verdad uno se viene por lo económico, porque todavía no le
agarras amor al arte... hasta que ya estas ahí así que así empezó... fue por la parte de que “no
que hay un proyecto, que se baje un recurso” y pues órale, y pues que metiéramos papeles
porque podíamos meter otras 10, otras 10, otras 10, y como se aprobara…
(-I think someone told Saul Espinoza, and he told Karla.
-Karla told Andrea to go and figure out what it was all about, finally she wanted us to
form a group and that is how the group was created. At the beginning, honestly, we entered
for economic reasons, because we still did not do it for the fun of it …then, we learned we
could submit paperwork to apply for funds and resources; that is how we started and then
we could add more and more [women] 10 after 10 after 10 as approved).
With this memory, the group recognizes that the original motivation to start up this
project was to receive financial support that would give them greater solvency and
D. Pinedo et al.
Sharing with their families encourages interest and involvement in bird
identification:
Ahora los maridos llegan y: “a ver mija, tu guía versa, porque ahí anda un ave y verás vimos
que tenía así y asa”
(Now the husbands come and say: “let’s see your bird guide, because there is a bird and
looks like this and like that”).
The group also recognizes the practices that damage the environment and they adopt
new attitudes of appreciation towards birds and the ecosystems they live in:
Simplemente de que tirábamos basura y ahorita ya no, ahorita es: “¡Hey! no la tires por la
ventana, échala aquí en una bolsita y cuando haiga un bote de basura pues la tiramos”
(We used to dump the trash everywhere and now no more, now we say: “Hey! Don’t
throw the trash out the window, here is a bag and when we see a trash can, we dump it
there”)
Being part of this group that carries out a conservation activity has influenced their
habits. Women are the administrators of environmental resources in the domestic
activities and they possess knowledge of local environmental processes, but the
impact on their home and in the community is not recognized. However, women
consider themselves more prepared to make changes in habits and they organize
themselves to contribute to the protection of the environment (Arora 2011).
Foundations of a Social Identity
Identity is constructed from values, culture, and symbols that are shared among
social actors, groups, and collectivities. It is formed by the accumulation of memories that a group or person carries with itself (Grayling 2002; Mendoza 2009). The
collective memory of the group is formed by significant memories and anecdotes,
from its origin to the present. The moment they decided to be part of a women group
who performs bird monitoring is one of those memories:
-Alguien le avisó a Saul Espinoza creo, le avisó a la Karla
-A la Karla para que viniera la Andrea a ver de qué se trataba, que le gustaría que
hiciéramos un grupo y fue así como que “no pues como que si” y ya que vimos lo fuimos
planteando, pero más bien, la verdad uno se viene por lo económico, porque todavía no le
agarras amor al arte... hasta que ya estas ahí así que así empezó... fue por la parte de que “no
que hay un proyecto, que se baje un recurso” y pues órale, y pues que metiéramos papeles
porque podíamos meter otras 10, otras 10, otras 10, y como se aprobara…
(-I think someone told Saul Espinoza, and he told Karla.
-Karla told Andrea to go and figure out what it was all about, finally she wanted us to
form a group and that is how the group was created. At the beginning, honestly, we entered
for economic reasons, because we still did not do it for the fun of it …then, we learned we
could submit paperwork to apply for funds and resources; that is how we started and then
we could add more and more [women] 10 after 10 after 10 as approved).
With this memory, the group recognizes that the original motivation to start up this
project was to receive financial support that would give them greater solvency and
D. Pinedo et al.