7th grade schoolchildren from Saint Paul's school
Since the "Katrina" hurricane, there are only 9 of us in our class... There were 27 of us before our school was flooded.
For four months, we all had to attend schools spread right across the United States, but finally, we were able to come back to our own town... in new houses, new districts...
As part of our schooling, we had already been thinking about the theme of sustainable development. This subject concerns us and has a great effect on us, especially since "Katrina"... That hurricane turned our lives upside down. Many of our districts were destroyed... We experienced chaos. We saw so much sadness on the faces of those close to us...
"Katrina" was to lead us to understand the full importance of the role of the marshlands.
It is our duty to protect these marshlands, to do all we can to breathe life back into them!
Hundreds of species of animals and plants live and reproduce in this habitat... But that's not all!
Our idea for progress
Much of the inspiration for our idea for progress was drawn from an initiative that is set up during the Christmas festive season: old Christmas trees are collected to be set up as shelters for the animals, to reinforce the reefs in the marshland areas that are beginning to weaken.
"Katrina" uprooted over half the trees in our region... Why not use these trees to strengthen our marshlands? Why not use this wood to give shelter to all these animal species that have also been suffering horribly since the hurricane...?
Man thought first and foremost about his own houses, but we think that it would be good to think about the survival of the animal species around us. Each day, tons and tons of tree trunks are brought to the waste collection centers... We would like to hope that this wood could be used for something useful!
We love our marshlands, we love the animals that take refuge there! We love our town, and not for anything in the world would we want to move away from it!
Note.
American studies have emphasized that some dykes, protected by the marshlands, were able to resist the violence of the waves that devastated the town of New Orleans', on August 31, 2005, following the passage of Hurricane Katrina.
This also explains why the children in this class have attached a lot of importance to their marshlands.
Click the thumb to enlarge the picture.
