Quebrada Seca, State of Sucre, Venezuela. May 18, 2017.
Team: Ana Vargas, María Daniela Ceballos, Hector Chang, Eliana Ramírez, Diana Ruíz, Ana Rodríguez and Raquel Portillo.
The educational program Tracing Spaces at the Quebrada Seca Rural School Nucleus, located in the remote town with the same name, aimed to teach participatory design tools to transform a meeting space within the institution, sowing the value of citizenship in the members of the educational community. The team traveled to the small town of Quebrada Seca to work with primary school students with the support of the San José Foundation team as a local ally.
This time emphasis was placed on the third step of our methodology: Transform. The proposal was to construct in one day a mural of planters that, besides transforming a wall of the school, would function like germination pots for the orchard that normally works in the school.
Through the realization of 16 planters made of recycled wood pallets, the group of 17 young people aged between 7 and 12 years learned about recycling, planting, teamwork and proportions. They also learned how to use construction tools such as tape measure, sandpaper, level, hammer and brush.
Working with the students and the educational community in the construction of the planters, skills such as leadership, teamwork, manual and logical skills flourished, a fact that surprised us pleasantly. We loved working in this community, and we look forward to the participants being able to replicate what they learned and continue filling the mural of planters!
