A Love for Nature… And for Themselves
We could see within the first days of working with a group of girls from a nearby foster home that the impact of connecting with nature was so powerful that we decided we had to continue building on this partnership (Read more about where this collaboration started). Since that first week-long camp, we’ve returned several times to take the girls on birding trips around the area, each time introducing them to a new habitat that’s just beyond their backyard. During the past year, we have coordinated and transported them so that they could participate in two worldwide birding events, and they collected data about their observations in a citizen science application called eBird. (What’s “citizen science”?)
We even coordinated with a local school to do a day of cleaning and restoration at the big, old house that is home to up to 20 girls in foster care at a time. We painted, created a mural, decorated their common areas, fixed swing sets, built benches from eco-bricks, donated clothes, and cleaned up the yard. The girls were so surprised and appreciative of the efforts.
The mural painted by a local school group at the girls’ foster home
Alejandro, the occupational therapist at the home, mentioned that many of the girls have significant challenges with social interactions, and this ongoing relationship with The GAAP has been important for their social development. He went on to say that The GAAP, unlike other groups, has established a sense of consistency that has encouraged the girls to form real connections with our team members, giving them a new kind of social interaction and a new space to practice a different kind of socioemotional skills. Alejandro added that when the girls see our team arrive in the van, they are beyond themselves with excitement. They know the van and our staff equate to a chance to get out of the house to see a new aspect of nature that, although it may not be far from their home, they have never had the opportunity to experience.
At this point, the girls count on these trips and the moments in nature, and they are counting on us to continue them!
Seems like they’ve spotted something interesting!
Even among the girls, Alejandro notes that on the days when they head out to the Valdivian Forest or the surrounding wetlands, there are less conflicts among the girls and an overall calmness that is not always easy to achieve with a group that has faced so many challenges. He has observed that in the days following these outings, the girls tend to collaborate and work together more frequently and more effectively, compared to an average day.
On our most recent trip, these positive socioemotional effects were communicated in a simple way -
the girls drew hearts on our van as they waited to pile in at the end of a fulfilling day at the beach spent identifying birds, working as a group, and breathing in the ocean air.
In fact, the evidence is so encouraging that the therapist from the foster home wants to continue collaborating with us to create more opportunities to use nature as a vehicle to work on different aspects of the girls’ socioemotional development. With that in mind, this coming winter break (which happens in July here in Chile), we are designing an experience for the girls that concentrates on 4 basic feelings: fear, anger, anxiety and sadness, all within the context of nature.
Our goal is to keep this project going, but we need your help! We don’t want to let the girls down!
Can you be part of inspiring in these girls a love for themselves as well as for the natural world around them?
Any amount will make a difference. One-time gifts are welcome and ongoing gifts will help even more.