Cherokee Youth Learn from
Eco-Study Tour in Costa Rica
The young eco-travelers and their chaperones.
One
way CPFdn engages youth in learning and
preserving their culture is to develop
cross-cultural experiences such as visits
to other indigenous communities. Such exchanges
expand the horizons of young people, and
the experiences also deepen their appreciation
for their own culture.
Several groups of
Cherokee and other youth in the region
(ages 14-17) have experienced
unique eco-study tours of Costa Rica
since 2005. The trips are funded by CPFdn
and
planned by the North Carolina Cooperative
Extension Service and EARTH University
in Costa Rica.
Getting ready to tour a banana processing plant.
Highlights
of the trip have included:
- A visit with members of the
Maleku tribe.
- Adventure trips, such as
canopying (moving through the treetops
on zip lines) and
canoe trips.
- Working on EARTH University’s
organic farm tending goats and pigs and
planting
pineapples and seedlings.
- Visits to a
volcano, a banana plantation, a rainforest
and a beach.
Here are some of the things
the young travelers have had to say about
the trip:
- “I learned that you have to give
something a try because you many
not ever have the chance again.”
- “The trip opened my eyes to see
the advantages we have.”
- “Our cultures are similar in
a way because (the tribes in Costa Rica)
are
going through a struggle with government
issues like we did. What is different
between us is language, which is what is really
lacking in our Cherokee culture.”
- “We not only learned a lot about
the cultures of the tribes in Costa
Rica, but we learned a lot about our
culture
as well.”
- “The people in Costa Rica don’t
waste anything.”
- “If we don’t recycle, this
world is doomed.”
- “The people (in Costa Rica) eat
beans and rice for breakfast, lunch
and supper.”
 The
trip is a wonderful experience for the
young travelers. They learn they can do
anything that they set their minds to do.
They also better appreciate what they have
at home and the importance of preserving
the Cherokee language and culture.
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