I'm back :)

As you know, Tommy and I got married last weekend.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and some family and close friends joined us for the brief ceremony.

Among those friends there were two special ones. One in flesh, one in thought.

Celeste and Leslie

We met Celeste and Leslie some time ago, when we got in contact with the Wildlife Brigade. I've writen about Celeste in the past, when I told you about Zöövenirs-Peru.

Celeste and Leslie thought about us and decided to give us a wonderful gift. Celeste couldn't make it, but Leslie showed up with a small basket. She approached us after the ceremony, once we were outside the building with that little basket.

She said: "Butterflies can't speak, but they can carry your wishes for the future in their wings".

She asked us to whisper a couple of wishes to the butterflies she had in the basket, before we set them free. We did. Then we opened the basket. The butterflies stayed there.

We offered them our hands, and they gently climbed on them. They listened to our wishes again, stayed for a couple of pictures and after a couple of minutes, they were on their way.

I had never had a butterfly in my hand before. It was an amazing experience, an awesome surprise on a very special day.

Thank you, Celeste and Leslie, for making our very simple wedding, something extraordinary and unforgettable!

Mel and Tommy

Saturday Morning - Parque de la Amistad (Friendship Park)

Saturday morning, hooot weather but refreshing experience. The BFS (Brigada de Fauna Silvestre), Wildlife Brigade, got together in one of the most beautiful parks in Lima to teach children, teens and adults about fauna and conservation.


It was an amazing experience for kids and parents, for brigade members, and for me, as I am still a wanna-be brigadist :)


When we got to the park, some brigade members were already there, Celeste and Leslie were sitting on the 'second table'...


Carlos was the 'star teacher', he got the attention of the kids talking about the importance of leaving wildlife in their habitats, not taking them to domestic environments, etc.


We even had a celebrity! ¿Recognize Mr. Spiderman here paying attention to Kelly's speech?


That's me talking to the kitty...


After learning some cool facts, the kids moved to the second table to leave their 'marks'.
As a symbol of their commitment to share what they learnt and be ambassadores of nature, they painted their palms and left an impresion of their hands.


The kids were so excited! Is there something better than seeing a bunch of kids with the biggest smiles?






They signed commitment letters to keep on learning, teaching others and taking care of wildlife, and took them home to remember.


We spent there a little over 3 hours, but the brigade stayed until 5pm. I had a few teachers that motning: brigade members and kids like Alexis, who shared their experiences and what they knew about animals. UN FOR GET ABLE!

Museum Morning

Yesterday morning I went to the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University in Lima, with the Wildlife Brigade to start my 'training'.

A big part of the brigade's work is related to education, passing on what we learn on conservation, wildlife, environment, etc.

Raúl, President of BFS teaching

The Museum started a program for kids called 'Guardianes Ambientales' (Environmental Guardians), it is a summer program that teaches them about natural resourses, conservation, pollution, recycling, wildlife, etc. They have activities and field trips to help the kids understand the importance of taking good care of what surrounds them.

Yolanda, BFS member, explaining about their responsibilities

The BFS (Brigada de Fauna Silvestre) - Wildlife Brigade - was invited twice to teach about wildlife and its importance, the risks of having a wild animal at home and to encourage the kids to teach their families and friends.

Yesterday was the last day of the program and the Museum, once more, invited the brigade to give a final lecture. At the end, the kids received a certificate and signed a personal commitment with their own ideas on what to do to preserve nature and to share their new knowledge with everyone around them.

Mel, lady in pink, with Alejandra, first kid!

After the kids left, we were allowed to walk around the museum. I was amazed. I haven't been there since I was a kid and went there with my classmates, back then it looked so big and new. Yesterday it was sad to realize it was a tiny museum, well kept by the university, but with such small funds that animals on display were in bad shape. Birds had feathers off, faded colours and strange shapes. We asked about it and they said that even though they tried to keep them in good shape, resourses were not enough.

We walked sad out of there, but then Yolanda reminded us of what we saw earlier, just before the activities: Sitting quiet, like waiting for us, was a 'turtupilín' (vermilion flycatcher-pyrocephalus rubinus), it sat still while Tommy took this picture with my camera (remember that it is as simple as a digital camera can be). It looked at us, sang and flew away.
So, after all, with the kids, the nice people from the museum and the turtupilín, it was quite a good morning!

I'm trying to become a member!

I've been attending meetings as a guest for over a month, and I finally begun the process to become a member.

But, what is this?

BFS (Brigada de Fauna Silvestre) would translate very much like 'Wildlife Brigade' and it is a group of young people, students and professionals, volunteering their time, hands, brains and talents to both learn and teach the community about the importance of conservation and issues related to our native natural wonders. The group has people with different backgrounds and studies and that makes the meetings extraordinary, diversity is the perfect word to define it. Its first anniversary will be on February 13th.

The main objective is EDUCATION, to learn and grow as a person and a professional, and to teach others later on... And I can't wait to get started!

In the following days I'll be going out with them to watch them in action, mostly with kids and teens, and start learning the million things I need and want to know. We'll be going to museums and parks with our big smiles and teaching material. I'm sooo excited!!!

I have to pass a series of tests: knowledge, public speaking, interaction with kids and teens, etc, and the final one: I have to create educational materials for kids (ages still unknown) based on peruvian flora/fauna! I'm shaaaking! hahaha, but also happy, it is a fun challenge and it will not only get me into the group, but my contribution will help spread their amazing work!

And that is not all, even if I don't become a member, I am already involved in a project with native communities in our Amazon jungle (will tell you more about it in the future, because it is BIG)

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know about this group and how happy I am to be able to join them!