During our week in Chile, Georgian Court University and Universidad Vina del Mar students collaborated together to present workshops teaching youth about air, water, and soil contamination and the health implications. Workshops included making sample water filters, doing experiments to demonstrate poor air quality and reveal particles in the air, composting and soil pollution, making insect ‘hotels’, creating recycled instruments and time capsules, and sharing drawings and writings about what currently pollutes the region and what we can do to make a difference. The 50 children joining these workshops were part of a free after school program called “4 a 7” that includes children from local schools in Quintero. Children enjoyed connecting with the university students and weren’t ready to leave when parents came to get them in the evening.
The 2nd day of the camp included an exciting opportunity to paint a mural on a wall by the parent pick-up location. The mural depicts the regional problems of bad air quality, and it shows the children flying in to make the difference and change needed for the future. The designer and muralist of this mural is Helena Lopez Lepe. We had the rare opportunity to also use a new product called Photio with the paint that decontaminates the air and absorbs CO2, meaning that the mural has the environmental impact of planting 43 trees!
On the 3rd day, we took the group on a field trip to a local beach for a beach clean-up and reminder of empowering them to take action within their own community.
The children of Quintero are suffering from air contamination on a daily basis. There are 23 factories located within a small location in the region, resulting in severe health problems. In the end from these workshops, the children were our teachers, and we were there to show our solidarity and to share with them. The children left imprints on our hearts and we will not forget them or their situation. Now we need to brainstorm how we can continue to support them from afar.
Click here to read article published in Quintero, Chile about our UniDos camp program. Here is an additional article published on the Quintero Municipality website.
