Monday is for dreaming: Papa Turtle
I recently went to a local film festival that showed short films focusing on the environment. Most were quite inspiring, especially the personal stories of how one person or a few people can make a huge positive impact on the planet when they have the passion to do so. The story that sticks the most in my mind was called “Papa Tortuga.” It was a story of how an everyday man, Fernando, who lives modestly in Tecultla, Mexico, has practically saved the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles from the brink of extinction. I became instantly dreamy about meeting this man and taking the family to Mexico to support and participate in sending these sea turtle hatchlings to the sea.
Fernando happened to catch a show on television in which Jacques Cousteau and the Philippene government were protecting sea turtle nests. He later saw a nest at the beach of his hometown and copied what he had seen on the show. One year he only found one nest, but the next year there were three, and year by year the numbers increased. Some nests he relocates to a fenced in area of the beach, while other nests he tries to camoflage in place, so that poachers don’t see the tracks left by the mama turtle. At this point, 31 years after he first began, thousands of school children from all over Mexico come to take hatchlings into the sea. As Fernando says in his film, “To see those faces. Happy, smiling faces. They take their turtles into their hands. They free them, they smile, they cry, they are full of emotion. This is my reward, because I know these kids in the future will be great citizens of the planet Earth.”
This is what travel is about for me. I want to bring experiences to my kids that fill them with passion and shape the things that become important in their lives. I fear that as teenagers they will start tuning things out and the impact (by that I really mean influence) I have on them will naturally deteriorate. I don’t mind this, I actually look forward to hearing about what things are important to them. I just want them to experience how any one person’s passion and work can effect and build a whole community which transcends borders.
To read more about travel dreams, visit Mara at Mother of All Trips
Oh my gosh – this would be such a perfect thing to do with my youngest! He loves sea turtles and has actually decided he wants to be a scuba diver when he grows up.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow your dream! It’s a great one.
When my sister and I were little, we took family vacations every year. In the car. No flying. We drove all over the Pacific Northwest and Canada. We were introduced to National parks, and Indian reservations, and glaciers. Those trips have stuck with me and as an adult, I have an enormous appreciation for nature. I will do the same thing with my kids.
Here’s my point (I swear I have one!) –
They will experience these passions and stories. They already are, through you. Ya, sure, they’ll go through that I-hate-mom stage when they’re in high school, but you’re laying the foundation now and that will stick. I really believe that.