Forever Forest Group Climbs Past First Fundraising Goal

From August 2008 to October 2009 the group of 6 kids raised $5,100.00. Almost all of the money has been raised from selling cards made with photographs from their own travels to the BEN (Bosque Eterno de los Niños) or from cards made with rainforest art designed by the kids. They have given several Power Point presentations to schools and community groups over the 14 months. The group is pictured above, apart from one member who was absent. The FFG is excited about their new goal to raise $10,000.00.

Spotlight on 2010 BEN Trip Leader – Maggie Eisenberger

Maggie Eisenberger (middle) during her M.S. research in Panama with other researchers.

Below, we’ve summarized the credentials of your 2010 trip guide to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. She is a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm and looks forward to hiking, bird-spotting, and adventuring with you. The early bird reservation discount of $100 discount on the 2010 trip expires after January 31st. Visit http://mclus.org/eco-tourism/ or http://mclus.org/2009/10/ for more details.

• Led a trip to the BEN in June 2009
• Master’s in Tropical Ecology from the Whitney R Harris World Ecology Center at University of Missouri-St. Louis (Her research was on the biotic and abiotic effects of opening a hiking trail in the rainforest. She spent 4 months in the Darien Region of Panama and managed the field research station at Cana)
• Has led trips since 1991 to Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, the Peruvian Amazon, Ecuador, and the Galapagos.
• Developed Curricula on rainforest education for which she received Eisenhower funding for her first trip to the Amazon
• Published rainforest educational activities online and distributed them via Fisher Scientific
• Has given dozens of talks on rainforest to a wide range of groups, including public and private school s (pre-K-12), senior citizen groups, church youth groups, the St. Louis Audubon Society, conferences for ISACS (Independent Schools Association-Central States), ISSL (Independent Schools-St. Louis),AMS (American Montessori Society), NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers), STOM (Science Teachers of Missouri), the Conservation Forum, and at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Sustainability Conference.
• Currently serves on the MCLUS board
• Served 6 years on the board of directors of Save The Rainforest
• Served 18 years on the steering committee of St. Louis Rainforest Advocates
• Written many articles for the E-Newsletters of Save the Rainforest and St. Louis Rainforest Advocates
• 30 years teaching experience (pre-K – 12^th; except 5^th)
• Currently teacher of high school science and math
• Received several teaching awards, including the St. Louis Zoo’s Teacher of the Year Award

Happy New Year From MCLUS! We look forward to partnering with you in 2010 to continue to protect, preserve, and restore the Children’s Eternal Rainforest.

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Many Thanks to the Howe Family for their Creative Fundraising!

Much appreciation is felt for the generosity of Bob and Margie Howe, who asked colleagues and friends to contribute to their favorite charities instead of having a retirement party. MCLUS was one of the organizations they chose, and we received a generous donation! Bob and Margie hope that their success will inspire others to raise funds for the forest in a similar way. They also encourage others to spread the word about the BEN, since many of their colleagues and friends had never heard of it. Bob has visited Monteverde 18 times, is currently teaching English there, and has been a long time friend of Carlos Munoz, former Executive Director of MCL. Bob and Margie hope to help bring electricity and other upgrades to the field stations.

Bob and Margie Howe (left) were honored with a lunch at the MCL office on November 18.

The Nature Quilt Project Completes Cross-Cultural Education Grant

The Nature Quilt Project submitted their final report this month to the Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation, who provided funds for students in Illinois and in La Tigra, Costa Rica to share in a water study. Students in Illinois visited a local outdoor environmental education center to practice the scientific method in investigating water quality. Meanwhile, students in La Tigra Costa Rica did the same, visiting a local stream in La Tigra and a stream at the Finca Steller Nature Center in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Both groups enjoyed the field trips immensely and learned a lot! It is hoped that more students in Costa Rica will have the opportunity to visit and spend time at the Finca Steller Nature Center, located on the Caribbean side of the BEN near the Pocosol field station. Rachel Crandell, former MCLUS President, invested much of her own labor and funds, to provide this educational facility for local children.

Fifth grade students from Industry, Illinois used nets to catch tadpoles, fish, and macroinvertebrates in a stream study in April (above). Students from La Tigra also captured and identified macroinvertebrates at a stream nearby their school (below), followed by a visit to a stream at the Finca Steller Nature Center (bottom).

Thank You All For Your Contributions to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest!

This beautiful poem captures what your contributions have accomplished, no matter how small or big.

The poem is published in the book Tertulia en el Bosque, a compilation of works by 5 international and 24 Costa Rican poets. The book was edited by Luissiana Naranjo and the poem featured below was written by her. It was translated by Allison Deines.

The Children’s Eternal Rainforest

I am relieved to know that
silence is found in every leaf on the trees
like that breath of air that we dream of,
always luminous.

To know that today
so many hands
are apprentice seeds,
and later,
they will be trunks to defy the moon
with their branches like mischievous children,
impetutous against the saw.

Because no tree wants to die
with its shadow naked,
cut down in its womb
like that last hearth
that gave warmth to some man.

And that this land is fertile witness
of his audacity,
to be a tree amongst so much lead and cement,
to lose its wild identity
because roots sometimes slip
and clouds tiredly move away from their ideals.

This forest is eternal
not only because it warmly preserves the bird or the plant,
the insect or the frog,
but also because it preserves the POET,
yes, it preserves that poetically green,
that life that is summed up in its essence,
that game of time that never is born, never grows, and never dies,
that innocent sprout for which everything is possible,
that pioneer wind that topples all,
that sensuous rain that multiplies all,
and the silence…that becomes more poetic in its silence.

I am relieved to know,
that this forest is eternal
just
because you and I
tossed a coin
to win its existence from our imagination.

Keep in mind the summer 2010 trip to the BEN. For more details visit http://mclus.org/eco-tourism/

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

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