Brigada Verde

Back in April I attended a regional conference of Brigada Verde, our environmental youth organization, and I was taken aback to see what the topic of conversation was. What an unusual sight to see a room full of 11 – 16 year olds spending their weekend learning about ecotourism and the meanings of biodiversity, endemic species and Dominican tourism (endemic = fancy science word for a species that occurs no where else in the world). The mix of American volunteers and Dominican youth has become commonplace in my work here, groups of young people aiming to contribute to the conservation of the natural environment and the development of their communities. But what struck me as an urgent realization was that they were all gathered for an extracurricular activity that has the power to lift their communities to a higher quality of life. Money from international tourism comprises the largest income to this country, aside from remittances from family members who have become residents of the States. By obtaining information on the natural environment, what tourists seek from their country and how to start a community based tourism project they, at 15 years old have the power to change the course of their community’s future. In the States its not as crucial to teach a rural Nebraska 12 year old how to show a French couple around the savannah but the reality here is, as one Dominican boy said when asked to define the word, “Tourism is when the Gringo comes.” Their present, and more importantly, their future economy depends on tourism from France, Germany and The United States of America.
The photo above is from the conference that my great friend Ryan and I were in charge of planning. We had about 40 youth from the central region of the country come for the weekend to learn all about ecosystems, trash, water, trees, themselves and each other. At the end we had a little ceremony where we handed out certificates which are now hanging up in most of their homes. It was a stressful but very rewarding weekend. That was the weekend on November 7th and my kids are still asking me when we're going to do it again.