Braiding art, science and tradition for sustainability: the final day of the forum
The final day of the “Art, Science, and Tradition for Sustainability” forum was the essence of this forum. Friday March 18th featured Dawson representatives (teachers, staff and current/former students) visiting a preschool about an hour from Cuernavaca, in Tepetzingo, Morelos, Mexico. The pre-school, called Los Heroes del 47, revamped its campus through art made out of recyclable materials. The project was led by Yessica Vergara, an undergraduate students from the UPN Cuernavaca doing her internship in Educational Intervention, in partnership with Inspira, a humanist movement whose goal is to create spaces of love to promote happiness and wellbeing. Yessica has been involved in the Sustainable Campus Initiative for four years. What started out to be a simple internship eventually led to the idea of bringing together the community, both the school and the parents, by creating the campus environment with art and sustainability.
Our visit started with an inauguration of the new school grounds, which was marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony. The inauguration was followed by a tour of the grounds, which included numerous murals with positive messages, one of which said “La paz está en tus manos” meaning “Peace is in your hands”. We then watched a play that was put on by the “Corazon de la Barranca” theatre group, which demonstrated the importance of taking care of the rivers. It proved to be a huge hit with everyone, with the children being enthralled in the animal characters and Dalton Stewart (Dawson College intern) as a “sleepy boy”. There were many times when tears of happiness and joy were shed by Dawson representatives, both watching the play and connecting with the parents/administrators from the school.
We also got a tour of the school grounds, all of which was made out of recyclable materials. Tables and sitting areas were made out of old tires, paint and cement that the parents of the students had donated and volunteered to build on Saturdays. Flower mobiles were made out of painted plastic bottles, and it really brought the campus to life. This visit allowed us to see how positive and encouraging this school is for these children, and how this is what Chris Adam calls a living campus. This campus did not only provide an educational role, but an entire support system for the hopes and inspirations of these children. There was also a circle of sharing between Dawson College representatives, parents, and staff at the preschool. There was hardly a dry eye in that circle because it was illustrated though the comments that this environment was more than a school – it was a place for these children to have room and support to thrive.
After a wonderful morning, there were presentations by representatives from Dawson College, UPEMOR (la Universidad Politécnica del Estado de Morelos) and the Minister of Education of the state of Morelos at UPEMOR. These afternoon presentations provided the framework for the emotional experience we all had at the pre-school. The first presentation was a panel moderated by Gisela Frias (Dawson College) on the Internationalization of Higher Education, and included the participation of: Guadalupe Reza (UPEMOR), Susie Bouchard (Dawson College), Arielle Champetier (Dawson College) and Yarida Avila (UPN Ayala). Guadalupe and Susie provided information on the opportunities available to the UPEMOR and Dawson students to do international exchanges, including a discussion on the possibility of future exchanges between the two institutions. Arielle provided an insight into her internship experience in Mexico, while Yadira discussed her exchange with Dawson College. Many of the students in the audience were very interested. The next presentation was by Master student Maribel Santibañez Mendieta who talked about the negative impacts of neoliberalism and proposed the alternative concept of “el buen vivir” or good life model – to return to the holistic Indigenous way of thinking. The final presentation, by the Minister of Education Miguel Izquierdo, was on the coming together of multiculturalism and sustainability. In it he called for everyone to think about how we divide people by using the concept of “us. Vs. them”. He wrapped up the day as well as the forum nicely by talking about the importance of peace. Miguel Izquierdo also spoke about understanding one another through various languages and used Nelson Mandela as an icon for peace. The forum was closed by the words of UPEMOR director Mireya Gally Jordá.
By Lily Ieroniawá:kon Deer
