En Nigeria aún quedan gorilas!

En Octubre Destiny Child Center cumple su primer aniversario. Lo celebraremos con una función teatral. Llevamos tres meses trabajando y ensayando. Habrá baile africano, danza flamenca, canciones populares, desfile de modelos, y un gran drama.

Por las noches un grupo se encargó las primeras semanas de escribir el guión. Por las tardes preparamos las coreografias en casa para al día siguiente enseñárselas a los niños después de clase. Los miércoles vamos al centro cultural para aprender baile africano.

Divertiremos, si, pero la idea del teatro desde el principio fue utilizar el escenario para hacer una denuncia social. Tocaremos muchos temas: prostitución, brujería, maltrato, derechos humanos y del niño, medioambiente, interculturalidad, ect.

Mi responsabilidad directa en el teatro se limita a cinco minutos de una clase ficticia de medioambiente donde Fosky y yo seremos los profesores. Escribí parte en español y la parte más técnica la robe de discursos que completan la lección.

Se abre el telón. Estamos en una clase de DDC, sentados en sus pupitres los niños escuchan atentos:

There are still gorillas in Nigeria!!

Do you believe me?

Here, in the state of Cross River gorillas remain??.

They are close to us, only a few hundred kilometers away.

So close, that they can see us, they can feel us.

Humans have reached the heart of the jungle, the heart of the mountains,

pushing away the gorilla, like many other animals, to small santuaries reserved for wildlife.

We come from Europe. In our country, Spain, history books say that long time ago a monkey could cross thousand kilometers without touching the ground.

- Now it's impossible! Why?

- "Because there are no trees!!

- Right. Because there are no trees. Large parts of Spain are now desert and this desert is spreading. But also, it is why there are no monkeys!

- Don´t you have monkeys there??

"No one! The monkeys died when there were no trees left.

- OOOOhhhh!!!

 

Processes such as deforestation, desertification and urbanization often contribute to changes in climate. We have witnessed changes in seasons in Nigeria, changes in rainfall patterns resulting in droughts, storms and flooding.

 

The environment is under serious threat, due to the overexploitation of natural resources, poor agricultural production and the continued deterioration of the economy.

 

Resources are tapped unsustainably. People are part of the environment and they need to use their resources meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future generations, conserving it so that their children can also benefit from it. It requires principles of balancing the environmental, economic and community concern.

 

Nigeria is much richer than we think. "This tropical region is unique in the world because of its environment. Many people study its fauna and flora, amazing for its beauty. Others seek to develop sports and nature activities. Others a place to escape from the city. The whites love looking closely at safari animals that they can only see in documentaries.

-Do you know what it is a national park?

-"A place reserved for wildlife!!

-"Okay. A national park is a territory protected from human activity for its uniqueness and its rich wild life. But do you know any national park in Nigeria?

-"Mmmmmm.

-"In Nigeria there are 10 national parks covering more than 2.5% of the total area of the country. Some like Gashaka Gumti are in danger. Due to the furtive hunt, the numbers of big anthilopes have decreesed".

-What can we do to preserve our environment??

 

This question is just the one that Wangari Maathai asked herself before winning the Peace Nobel Price. Then, she started to plant trees. One by one until getting a forest where before there was nothing.

Planting only a tree can sound very little, but if every Nigerian planted a tree, We would get a forest of 150 millions of trees.

But that is not enough, the key is to create faster than to destroy. -How to do it?

Our response:

Reduce, reuse and recycle.

This is by far the easiest response that every one of us can do and make a difference. We have to reduce the use of fresh water, new paper, new packaging, less fuel, less energy through efficient technologies. We have to re-use some of the resources that we can renew before we throw away. We also have to recycle to get new products.

Let me challenge you to start taking action today of your choice to save tomorrow. Let´s go and lead by example. Together we make a significant difference.

"start today … save the future".