Save Mayan Conservation Practices

Under rain-heavy skies, ArtCorps Artist Isabel Carrió, teachers from the Xeman and Rancho de Teja schools and Josué Morales, the local artist who has collaborated on this project over the past two years, head to the most remote communities in the area of Los Rocosos in Totonicapan, Guatemala.

The picture book workshop is a continuation of the previous training workshops with the teachers with whom we created the book Wisdom of the Rocky Hillsides.

To break down the process for the teachers, we divided the workshop into two parts: writing and illustration. The steps we covered included body movement dynamics, word games, drawing exercises with music, shared reading and presentation of visual images.

Mind you, we are not telling just any story. We study and communicate such interconnected topics as reforestation, indigenous practices, recycling and garbage control, natural disasters, forest management and community empowerment. All of these issues are closely related and represent a cascade of causes and effects.

In just one morning consisting of four hours of work, we delved into these subjects, gently encouraging each student to fully participate. At the end of the session, amidst applause and congratulations, everyone got a chance to read their story out loud, show their drawing or pose for a photo in front of their colored chalk masterpiece on the floor.

It was a special activity because we Luis Quino from ArtCorps and Barbara Vallarino and Melissa Haley from our partner EcoLogic Development Fund shared the experience, and the 60-something students and the teachers were brimming with smiles and appreciation. But we are equally grateful to them, for having opened a space for us to share and, together, project a better future.

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