Mayan Children Create a Zoo from Recycled Paper

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Mar 10 2002 (IPS) - An entire village participates in a project to recycle tons of paper as a means to get children interested in the world of nature, in a country were fears inherited from a past civil war are still evident – Hundreds of children from low-income families in the village of Tejutla, Guatemala, helped create a zoo from recycled paper, learning about protecting the environment and the importance of all living things in the process.

Tejutla, home to a population of mostly Indians descended from the Mayans, is located in San Marcos department, 365 km west of the Guatemalan capital and near the Mexican border.

This unique zoo was begun in September 2001 and exhibits sculptures made from recycled material, helping solve the problem of getting rid of paper waste. It serves as an introduction for local children to the animals of Africa, though there are also species on display that are native to Guatemala, such as the 'quetzal', a bird in danger of extinction.

“It has been a big success, because our aim is for children and adults to learn to love and respect nature,” Mirna Soto, creator of the zoo and training director for the Red Cross of Guatemala, told Tierramérica.

The entire village got involved with the project. Children, alongside their parents and teachers, worked to collect at least 15 tons of paper to make the animals, which were set up in a large hall at a local school.

“This would have been a difficult task in any country, but in this part of Guatemala it was even more so, because there is a great lack of social coherence. People still live with fears that have persisted since the war,” Soto said.

Guatemala's civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996, claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people, a figure that includes 45,000 “disappeared”, an unprecedented figure in Latin America.

The army and the paramilitaries dismantled the communal work groups in rural areas, charging that they were collaborators of the guerrillas. Even today, six years after the peace accords were signed, in isolated areas residents tend to distrust those who attempt to help reorganize their communities.

The paper zoo has three sections, representing different habitats. In each, visitors can enjoy the life-sized animal sculptures, which include reptiles, an elephant, giraffe, tiger, monkeys, turtles, and the Guatemalan quetzal.

Schoolchildren from neighboring towns make what can be a two-hour trek, with their teachers, to visit the Tejutla zoo. It is impossible for most of these children to experience the traditional al zoo with live animals, like the one in the capital, because the trip would cost eight dollars, a sum far out of reach of the area's impoverished families.

“The paper zoo has been a wonderful project,” said Orland Estrada, a sixth-grade teacher from Tejutla. “It has encouraged the children's curiosity in science and stimulated their intellectual development.”