Hola amigos,
For those of you who did not know
Friday was my last day at Ayala Campus. These past few days have been fulfilled
with team building, hard work, sharing knowledge, laughter, and emotional
tears. Thursday the Cactus group worked on planting new cacti they had gathered.
The Self-watering container group maintained the compost and Ricardo (the
artistic student of the school) started to design the drawing for our special
activity. Last week’s proposal has been approved, therefore Kendall and I went
to buy paint and paint brushes for the students of Ayala. The final activity we
wanted to do with the students was to create a UPN Ayala Peace Wall.
My visit in Mexico was all about
sharing knowledge, therefore I wanted to show them the Peace Wall we have in
Canada and offer the students to have their own Peace Wall. When we met with
the students to present this activity, we had Gisela on Skype to congratulate
the students for all their intense work. They had a meaningful discussion with
Gisela. When we proposed the Mural activity to the students, they agreed to the
idea. We asked them to reflect upon what
brings them peace, so they could paint a peace message or image on the wall to
share with their school.
In Canada our Peace wall, is in
our teacher, Chris Adam’s, house. As a class we devoted ourselves to peace and
non-violence. We wanted to take action to promote our values for non-violence
and our Peace Garden at Dawson College. We wanted the community, country and
the world to be aware of our goodwill. The creative way of promising the world
that we are peace messengers was by engraving our signatures onto the
designated Peace Wall.
On Friday, the students were ready
to paint their Peace Wall. Even if, at our surprise the medicinal plants had
finally arrived, the students wanted to keep the planting for Saturday so
Kendall and I could be there for the creation of their Peace Wall. We got the
paint and brushes ready for use. The students quickly got their creative mind
started. Hand painting was the new trend. The students were smiling, laughing and
enjoying the feel of the paint in their hands. Teachers joined and added their
peace touch to the wall. It was beautiful to see the Ayala campus coming together
to create their Peace Wall. Each person had his or her personal handprint on
the wall. Some even added a personal image or phrase to share. Friends helped
each other and had fun playing with the colors. They watched each other
engraving their handprint. The school gardener joined in with enthusiasm. Even
though the Peace Wall looks beautiful, it is a growing mural. More teachers and
supporters outside of the school who have devoted their time to help Ayala
campus are awaited to add their handprint to the Peace Wall.
I do not think I could have asked
for a better month in Mexico, Cuautla/Ayala. The memory of seeing the students
I worked with playing and enjoying themselves doing something special was touching.
It was difficult to say goodbye to Ayala. Students crying, “Stay another month!”
was not making it any easier for me to leave. As much as I would love to have
stayed longer I believe that Ayala campus is surrounded with many knowledgeable
and talented people. The students have the goodwill to make their environment a
peaceful and healthy living. They have grown tremendously throughout the past
few weeks. They have made me proud, more knowledgeable and shaped me to a richer
spirit. This makes me excited to see what more Ayala has to share with the
world. I know that they have great potential to making whatever else they want
the world to see and believe.
I am looking forward to going
back to Canada to share all of my memorable discoveries and adventures that I
have had with the people from Mexico. I am especially excited for our Earth
Week from April 22-26 at Dawson College, to tell all of Mexico what we have
been doing in Canada to help our world become more sustainable, peaceful and
engaged with Nature.
I thank you once again, all my
friends from Mexico, for making my stay here a life-changing experience. I look
forward to seeing how your projects are developing and we will keep in touch
exchanging our growing knowledge.
Le doy las gracias una vez más, a todos mis amigos de México, para hacer que mi estancia aquí una experiencia que cambia la vida. Espero con interés ver cómo sus proyectos se están desarrollando y seguiremos en contacto intercambiando nuestros conocimientos cada vez mayor.
Hasta luego y we will see each other through my next post.
With great love; VIVA MEXICO,
Gabrielle
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