Proyecto Ecológico del Río Piura

Posted by Christopher Ives on 11 November 2008 · 3 Comments 

I haven’t written a blog in a while but I have recently (today) … (30 minutes ago) … got some great news…

After living in Piura for a month or so, Natali and I began to put some hard thought into what we should spend our time doing while living in such a different and interesting culture. Natali played with the idea of tutoring english and tryed to set up a “cambio” or exchange between spanish students at UNH and english students at UDEP, however, due to some technological difficulties and time constraints this never came to fruition.

Since then, Natali has found her classes to be interesting and time consuming, and I set off on the magical and depressing journey of finding a job to assume upon my return. My efforts has so far been unsuccesful. However there is one more endevour we set out on that has had some exciting, memorable, and positive outcomes that both Natali and I have been able to put some of our effort into.

This “proyecto” or project that I am refering to is one tham came to Natali and I early on during some of our many walks around the city which found us traversing the Río Piura many times.

The smell reaches you before the sight, unfortuneatly, and both are unpleasent. You see, environmental education, isn`t something very prominent in a country that is quickly developing its Westernized mindset. Seeing people throw their rubbish on the street, in the park grass, in the river, or just wherever they might be while unwrapping one of their treats or toys, is a very common sight. The river is filled with trash from passerbys, bags of home garabage, and even runoff from the local Hospital!

I began to research the river and thinking about what I could do to help. From the rare southern mangrove forest at its delta to the migratory birds that feed on its banks, to the life giving water it supplies in this desert region, the Río Piura is a fundamental piece of the Region of Piura’s Ecology, and is extremely fragil.

I have since designed an educational sign to be errected at the entrances to the two pedestrian bridges to be accompanied by new garabage cans for an alternative place to put people’s trash. We have presented it to the Municiple Governent in two spererate meetings over the last week, and are very excited to meet with a committee tomarrow morning to work out the fine details of making this project a reality! Natali has been my priceless translator and assistant in making this project a reality, giving her pages and pages of emails and project outlines to be translated into spanish, which she, of course has done extremely well!

Here is a look at the Banner Proposal.

Filed under Peru · Tagged with sustainability