Immersion in Equador

FUND FOR TEACHERS:

AN IMMERSION EXPERIENCE IN EQUADOR

Danielle Bishop was the recipient of a Fund for Teachers fellowship, making possible an immersive trip to South America to learn about permaculture.

Bishop, a Tallulah Falls School upper school science teacher, wrote a proposal to travel to Ecuador’s Andes mountains and the Cotopaxi volcano in an outdoor education course to prepare to launch a program that gives students a hands-on permaculture experience to restore the tradition of farming on the TFS campus.

“The immersion was on target,” Bishop said, of her time living and working in a biodynamic organic permaculutre farm environment.

“The family that runs the educational nonprofit farm couldn’t have been more welcoming,” she said.

“They essentially care about the earth, everything is about sustainability. She learned about composting, soil monitoring, crop rotation and the care of livestock.

“All of that mindset is what I wanted to bring back to TFS to take care of the resources we’ve been given,” she said.

She endured altitude changes during her time in Ecuador in traveling to remote areas to reforest the slopes, gaining 5,000 feet in elevation and camping at 14,000 feet above sea level.

“The landscape was totally unforgiving. There were no trails, we used a map orienteering our way through the mountains,” she said.

She volunteered with a joint conservation initiative between Palugo Farm and The Water Fund to plant trees on degraded mountainsides in the Andes.

“The Amazon Rainforest is incredibly important to our global ecosystem, and I was honored to work as part of this initiative,” she said.

Bishop said the volunteers crossed a river via raft and ferried across with the trees multiple times, then hiked the seedlings up to a campsite, and eventually brought them up to the top of the barren slope and planted the fast-growing trees to aid ecological succession and restore soil health while preventing further damage.

She plans to add lessons learned during her time to classroom curriculum delivery, specifically the ecology unit.

She hopes, via the outdoor club, to integrate environmental education and organic permaculture to establish gardens, not only to learn but to feed students and also to give/donate the crops.

In addition to the immersive educational experience, Bishop journaled and spent quiet time outdoors.

“I learned the value of art and creative time to sit and reflect,” she said.

According to the website, “Fund for Teachers has awarded $32 million in grants to nearly 8,500 of America’s top educators over the past 19 years. FFT Fellows have traveled to 152 different countries on all seven continents. Fund for Teachers honors the professionalism of dedicated teachers and values their judgment as to what best impacts their practice.”

“I am planting one of many seedlings on a degraded mountainside in the Andes. During my FFT Fellowship I was blessed to volunteer at Avispero and participate in reforestation of the Amazon to show love for our earth and further climate change education.

Combating climate change through active reforestation in the Amazon is one method to ensure a secure, sustainable future for the next generation. Through combined efforts between the Dammer Family, local and international volunteers, and The Water Fund, thousands of trees and crops have been planted on mountainsides that were previously unusable land area due to landslides and deforestation.”

Hiking through the Paramo and catching this view of Volcan Antisana was one of the most emotional times I experienced in Ecuador. Traversing the unrelenting volcanic terrain challenged me physically, emotionally, and intellectually as we backpacked as a group at high elevation. From my expert guides, I learned how to forage for native herbs (mountain mint) to make tea which combated elevation sickness. I experienced the unique dynamics of group travel, risk assessment, and group decision-making while orienteering to achieve a final goal and arrive at our appropriate camping and final destinations.

“In this chicken field I discovered a renewed passion for the connection between Earth, food, and actions as caretakers of our environment. A deep gratefulness blossomed in me as the chickens provided rich food and sustenance for me daily. Choosing to treat the chickens’ infection with elderberry flower tea and vinegar instead of antibiotics is an example of the organic farming practices I experienced at Palugo.”