It’s been two months since our program started, and we have lots to share!

The first good news are, in partnership with Belizario’s local church, we’ve managed to convince the water supply company to cede one of their big trucks twice a week so the district can send its recyclable waste to a recycling association in Muriae. Recycling has a major importance for places like Belizario and Rosario da Limeira which lie above gigantic bauxite mines (second biggest in Brazil). Only a strong society organization supported by Iracambi could deter the mining companies to explore our area in a recent past. Aluminum is the most profitable material for recycling associations, and the more we recycle, the less we need to jeopardize communities and environments in the name of progress.

And where do the Young Eco-Leaders fit in this initiative? Leading, of course. They are going to be part of the community mobilization, visiting houses and educating people how to separate their recyclable waste and put organic waste in good use. Isn’t it cool?

And in our program content we have just concluded our first theme: water. After sharing with them solid science about the topic, they helped our volunteer Jacqueline Reu with her water quality practical research using bio-indicators in Iracambi’s streams. As part of the content, we also took them to the biggest water treatment station in Muriae, so they could check out how the water flows in urban context, and visited two rural producers: one who has no more water in his property after the hard draught and depends on a good relationship with his neighbor to live and produce; and another one who believes his farm is a role model regarding environment preservation.  We wrapped it up discussing about climate change and its interference with the rain cycle and our relationship with water.

In two months we visited a lot of places and involved our team in different activities related to environmentalism and leadership. Still, this year has just begun, and we have much more ground to cover. The next topic will be food, extremely important theme in a region mainly composed by rural family producers, and we’re all looking forward to have more practical activities as the program continues.

And, once again, it is important to say that all this wonderful things are only possible because of people like you, dear friends and supporters, who put your faith in us.

Thank you very much!

Rainforest regards,

Young Eco-Leaders Team