That's why on Saturdays, Salva and a group of 60 to 100 students, parents and teachers can be found venturing into the high altitude of their northern Argentina mountains, trash bags in hand and llamas in tow.
They're part of Esperanza de Vida (Hope for Life), Salva's youth environmental group that is out to clean up the surroundings, one plastic bottle at a time.
Salva, 49, was born and raised in the Jujuy province of northern Argentina, an area known for its rich culture and spectacular vistas -- "the reason why most people fall in love with it," says Salva. But despite its beauty, Salva says there's no real environmental consciousness in her community.
"We have a lot of issues to work on -- the problem of water contamination; there's so much trash," Salva says. "We can't just think that it will take care of itself."
Salva, who has been a teacher in Jujuy for 20 years, says the environmental issues aren't recent ones. Ten years ago, she and her students noticed a lot of trash outside the school.
"The parks surrounding the school were littered with plastic bottles and beer bottles," recalls Salva.
They began volunteering with a government program, collecting and bagging waste in the area. But the program waned after a year, and students and teachers could no longer continue their environmental efforts.
"Our city had no formal recycling program or even knowledge of why it was important to learn about fresh water, forestation, and the importance of recycling," says Salva.
So Salva began Esperanza de Vida in 1997 to organize and lead young participants in "making our streets and our environment cleaner."
"I believe that change begins with the youth," says Salva. "They will teach future generations how to care for nature and everything that surrounds us."
At first, the group's activities were limited to cleaning parks near and around the school. But the organization's efforts have expanded well beyond the immediate area, and other Jujuy schools have joined in. About 150 people now take part, including about 80 children.
That's why on Saturdays, Salva and a group of 60 to 100 students, parents and teachers can be found venturing into the high altitude of their northern Argentina mountains, trash bags in hand and llamas in tow.They're part of Esperanza de Vida (Hope for Life), Salva's youth environmental group that is out to clean up the surroundings, one plastic bottle at a time.Salva, 49, was born and raised in the Jujuy province of northern Argentina, an area known for its rich culture and spectacular vistas -- "the reason why most people fall in love with it," says Salva. But despite its beauty, Salva says there's no real environmental consciousness in her community."We have a lot of issues to work on -- the problem of water contamination; there's so much trash," Salva says. "We can't just think that it will take care of itself."Salva, who has been a teacher in Jujuy for 20 years, says the environmental issues aren't recent ones. Ten years ago, she and her students noticed a lot of trash outside the school."The parks surrounding the school were littered with plastic bottles and beer bottles," recalls Salva.They began volunteering with a government program, collecting and bagging waste in the area. But the program waned after a year, and students and teachers could no longer continue their environmental efforts."Our city had no formal recycling program or even knowledge of why it was important to learn about fresh water, forestation, and the importance of recycling," says Salva.So Salva began Esperanza de Vida in 1997 to organize and lead young participants in "making our streets and our environment cleaner.""I believe that change begins with the youth," says Salva. "They will teach future generations how to care for nature and everything that surrounds us."At first, the group's activities were limited to cleaning parks near and around the school. But the organization's efforts have expanded well beyond the immediate area, and other Jujuy schools have joined in. About 150 people now take part, including about 80 children.
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