LoraKim returns from Guatemala tomorrow. In the meantime, here's another of her older blogs about some of our project partners in that country, Column Muccio of ARCAS and his wife, Silvia Muccio Ruiz. This was written on January 27, 2016.
Colum Muccio handing out education and publicity materials
I work with an amazing and gifted man, Colum Muccio, Administrative and Development Director of ARCAS in Guatemala. Without his help our yellow-naped amazon conservation efforts would not be as far along as they are. With him we have hope. This past December I was a guest in his home in between our field excursions and had the chance to spend more time with his family.
On the way out the door early one morning I noticed a sculpture of a parrot and asked Silvia Muccio Ruiz, Colum’s spouse, if she had made it and what it meant. She told me that she made it for the yellow-naped amazon and that the sculpture was called, “The Messenger.” She explained that the parrot is grasping a cedar tree that represents their land. The bird is fiercely holding onto the providence lands to which they are rooted. Asking for a spiritual contribution from humans for their right to survive, the parrot awaits the good will of humans.
The Messenger
(This art is supported on a piece of iron that is filled with plaster, and has the phrase, “Came to tell you…” on it. The parrot is a biomorphic sculpture made of clay, enamel, and iron.)
I believe that all conservationists are asking the same thing as the bird, and that each of us can be a messenger to spread this request of hope. For the birds are strong and resilient and born to flourish, as are we and as is Colum, as exemplified by his decades of conservation work in Guatemala.
Thank you Column and Silvia for your dedication to the cause and to creating a more beautiful world through your art and the art of conservation.