Thursday, 5 Feb 2004
CHACABUCO, Chile
Good (yawn) morning! I'm writing to you very early on this Thursday, because at 7 a.m. I will be taking a boat to shore and going to Lago Caro -- or Caro Lake -- where the "Kids for Forests" group is camping. Lago Caro is in a remote area, a good three-hour drive from the fishing port of Chacabuco, where the Arctic Sunrise is currently at anchor. If mining company Noranda succeeds in constructing a hydroelectric facility for its proposed aluminum smelter, the area will be ravaged by industry, and thousands of acres of ancient forest around Lago Caro will be lost to flooding caused by dams.
I'm looking forward to spending more time with the kids, who range in age from 11 to 17 years old. Part of my job as the web editor on the ship is to capture stories about the people involved in our work and to use those stories to inspire and educate others. Usually that entails walking around with a mini-disk recorder, a microphone, headphones, and a digital camera, inevitably getting in people's ways. But the kids, who have been at the lake for three full days now, will be glad for the diversion, I'm sure. And I have no question that their stories will inspire.
Their involvement with Greenpeace begins at the schools. Greenpeace volunteers throughout the country set up information tables about the Kids for Forests program on playgrounds. Kids who are interested in getting involved can sign up to receive more information, including action alerts. The volunteers also work closely with teachers, helping them integrate forest-related issues into the curriculum. In this way, more than 6,000 students at more than 30 schools in Chile have become involved in the program. When a forest-related campaign begins, such as the one we are currently undertaking, each school can nominate one of its students to become part of the core campaign team. The 13 kids now at Lago Caro are the select few who were invited to participate this year.
In addition to protesting Noranda's proposed aluminum smelter, the kids have been actively generating support for forest protection in the lead-up to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this month. The kids have written letters to and have held meetings with Chilean public officials, asking them to take action to protect Chile's ancient forests at the CBD. They also organized an exhibition of photos and drawings for local officials in Punta Arenas, where the Arctic Sunrise first docked in Chile. Three of the kids will go to the CBD in Malaysia next week to meet with representatives and present drawings and messages prepared by young people across the country.
One of the student delegates, Manuel, lives in Puerto Aisen, a town near us here in Chacabuco. Puerto Aisen is an economically depressed place where opportunities are extremely limited. Manuel was abandoned by his parents when he was young and was taken in by his aunt, who has done everything possible to try to give him a better life. His involvement with forest protection efforts in Chile and his upcoming trip to Malaysia have been widely publicized and have inspired young people across the country.
Well, I'm going to be thrown overboard if I'm late for the ferry (a zippy little Greenpeace inflatable, of course), so I'll sign off.
P.S. Don't forget to visit our expedition website.
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