Project Narrative-
Description of our project
| View our project - The Matura Experience |
| Bibliography /Acknowledgements |
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Problems we had to overcome
What we had initially plan to do we couldn't because we had to prepare for end of term exams and when we simply did not have the time to plan the trips properly. It took a long time to get in touch with Mr. Dansteel since he is always in the bush. It seems as though he is the only one in the community who knows the area well enough to take us. We had planned to visit Manatee island as a group but we found it very difficult to secure a boat that was willing to take us. Finally Mr. Sammy, the president of Nature Seekers offered to take us but the waters were too rough for us to go out. In fact the authorities prohibited any boats from going out. The rough seas lasted longer than we thought so we eventually had to exclude Manatee Island from our itinerary. Generally the hikes were too much for some of us as we were not physically prepared.
Internet and Computer Use
Most of the students do not have computers or Internet at home and rely on the school computers and Internet. Our school is well equipped with computers but the Internet is very slow since we still use a dial up connection. We are patiently awaiting the Ministry of Education to provide us with high speed Internet
Technologies that we used
We used the computers in school and Microsoft FrontPage to develop the website and we used cell phones as well as digital cameras to photograph and video tape. We used Windows Movie maker to create movie slide shows for the site.
Encompassing the theme-"Learn and Unite"
Through our project a lot of relationships were established among groups from within the community and the school. We have forged an invaluable friendship with Mr. Dansteel, the local bushman who promised to always lend a helping hand whenever we need it. The local tour guide group was so glad for the opportunity to learn new trails and to create links with the community members and the local nature watchers group - Nature Seekers, that they didn't even charge us for their services. We brought in the Civilian Conservation Corps to train us and everyone benefited from this exercise. We learned quite a bit from all the persons involved. The few of us who grew up in this area and are accustomed to the bush, we learned things that even surprised us.
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A little bit about Matura |
Our local community of Matura village is nestled in the wider Matura National Park which encompasses 9000 ha (22,400 acres) and includes the watersheds of the Rio Seco, Rio Salybia, Grande Rivière and Shark River. The Matura National Park is situated in the Northeast part of Trinidad which is the larger island of this twin Island state of Trinidad and Tobago. It is comprised mainly of dense tropical forest and the largest intact Mora forest in Trinidad and Tobago. This forest is believed to be approximately 30,000 years old. It provides important wildlife habitats for many endangered species of animals such as the pawi, ocelot and other rare animals and plants. This is why Matura National Park was declared an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) in November 2004, the first such area for Trinidad and Tobago with its natural and scenic beauty of streams, waterfalls and rugged mountains. The village itself is rather large with an estimated population of 1638 for a 7 km radius. The villagers live modest lifestyles some living off the land, others off the sea while most seek employment outside. What is striking however is that they have managed to preserve the natural beauty of the land. Summary of our project The Matura High school Environmental club consists of 10 students and three teachers and we were all involved in this project. We chose the title "The Matura Experience because we wanted our viewers to experience the village as we do on a daily basis. Trinidad is fast becoming a developed nation and as such people tend to forget the "good ole days" of liming by the corner or by the parlour. We consider the entire village of Matura to be a step into the past, a reflection of a better simpler time and that we believe, is an attraction in itself. We also decided to highlight some of the familiar and unknown wonders of our community in an effort to increase widespread appreciation for the natural beauty that exists right here in our country. The sites highlighted in our website are only known by a few locals and we were determined to uncover them. We had to plan three consecutive trips to gather the material for our website. We asked around and were pointed in the direction of a local bushman who knew every inch of the forest. It took us a while but we finally caught up to him and convinced him to take us to the places we wanted to go. We didn't take any chances though, we got professional training and certified tour guides to accompany us. It was three days of grueling trails and sweltering heat but we did it and we had fun doing it too.
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