PECH Practicum

The Guardian Shepherds

Members:

Orlando Felicioli 

Reshmi Ramdass *Leader

Tua Seebaransingh

Nayan Timla 

Evette Roach 

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 Table of Contents

Title Page Number

Introduction 3

Description of Project 6

Appendix 9

Introduction

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The Guardian Shepherds consist of five (5) veterinary students studying at the University of the

West Indies St. Augustine’s Campus, hailing from three (3) different countries inclusive of The

Bahamas, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. After being assigned a community outreach

activity, we all combine our knowledge of current issues, all while keeping in mind the 2030

Sustainable Development Goals. After some thinking, we decided that the areas we wanted to

focus on were Recycling and Sustainability. The greatest threat to the world today, especially the

Caribbean is Climate Change and global warming. The increase in sea levels and natural

disasters are evidently seen throughout the Caribbean, for example the catastrophic category five

hurricane Dorian. With the main cause of global warming being carbon emission, it is safe to say

that reducing our carbon footprint can intern slow down the rate of global warming in efforts to,

hopefully, one day, completely reverse it. 

The main issue concerning global warming and climate change is the increasing global

temperature. The continuous depletion of the ozone layer exposes the atmosphere and earth’s

surface to more ultraviolet (UV) rays. As a result, the ice structures are melting, causing a rise in

sea levels and the ocean temperature is gradually increasing, which has gravely affected the

Caribbean. In 2018, Benjamin Strauss and Scott Kulp wrote, “Climbing global temperatures

bring rising sea levels worldwide. Melting glaciers and collapsing ice sheets swell the oceans,

and increasing ocean temperatures cause seawater to expand. While rising tides are a threat to all

coastal places, the Caribbean Basin is unusually vulnerable, due to the flat, low-lying

topography, porous limestone bedrock, and tropical cyclones common to the area.”1

Furthermore, in 2017, Dr. Micheal Taylor wrote, “the Caribbean region will warm a further 2-3C

over the 1C already seen in the last century,” and, “projections also show sea levels rising by 1-2

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https://sealevel.climatecentral.org/uploads/ssrf/Sea-level-rise-threats-in-the-Caribbean.pdf

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metres,”2 which shows that conditions as we know it can worsen, and hence become detrimental

to the future generations.

Also, the increase in ocean temperature can cause fish to migrate out of Caribbean

waters; which affects the food source. Coral reefs, which the Caribbean is full of, are also

affected by the rising temperature and increasing ocean acidity; due to more carbon dissolving in

the oceans. The destruction of the reefs affect our coasts. In 2018, Head of Multilateral

Environmental Agreements at the Ministry of Planning and Development, Kishan Kumarsingh

stated, “Corals also provide sand for beaches and dampen wave energy. If you have an increase

in sea surface temperature, corals are not likely to survive. They can begin to die or bleach.

When they go it means coastal areas of islands are now exposed to wave energy. It means waves

can come in further, they can wash away beaches.” as well as, “Over time we have actually

observed a 29 percent increase in the ocean’s acidity. This will have a direct impact on coral

reefs by bleaching them, hampering growth.”3 

The major cause of global warming is pollution, whether it be emissions of fossil fuels

from cars, factories or power plants or even improper disposal of non - biodegradable items from

households. Large amounts of plastics and other non - biodegradable items are used and

improperly disposed. Hence these items tend to get into waterways and either disrupt drainage,

which leads to flooding, or flows out, polluting the ocean. These items are also burnt, with other

wastes, releasing harmful gases. Thus, adding to air, land and marine pollution, these items

encourage global warming.

2
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/06/climate-change-in-the-caribbean-learning-lessons-
from-irma-and-maria
3
http://www.looptt.com/content/expert-climate-change-could-make-tt-uninhabitable

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 Therefore, we decided to do a project which entails ideas and activities that encourage the

act of recycling non - biodegradable materials. The project is being done at the Jaya Lakshmi

Children’s Home, in hope to educate the children about recycling and its importance and

benefits.

Goals:

1. Teach the children about the importance of recycling and reuse material in craft activities 

2. Teach Children about hydroponics and set up a small hydroponic garden 

3. Construct a Cement Garden

4. Create a mural on wall 

5. To encourage working in teams  

Description of Project

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 Global warming has tremendously affected the Caribbean as of recently, with the rising

sea levels and increasing severity of natural disasters. Contributing to this is the ongoing

pollution, due to the improper disposal of non – biodegradable wastes. Some waste has flowed

out to the ocean through waterways, polluting and harming marine life; destroy the marine

ecosystems. Also, within the last year, Trinidad and Tobago, has experienced terrible floods due

to increased rainfall and drainage blockage by non – biodegradable waste. During one of these

events, central and southern Trinidad were gravely affected, with persons losing most of their

belongings and having to evacuate their homes. Therefore, because of the horrible effects global

warming and pollution have had on Caribbean countries, as well as globally, we decided to do a

project where most of the activities involve ways to recycle materials.

The community we chose, the Jaya Lakshmi Children’s Home, is located in Central

Trinidad. Children between the ages of three years and seventeen years stay at the home;

currently there are thirteen inhabitants and most do not have parents/families. We deemed it

important to address the issue in an affected area, as persons can relate to and be willing to

participate in the activities. The main activities include gardening, hydroponics and crafts; all

using recyclable materials.

Also, due to the type of community we would be at, we planned other activities to

promote character development and team work. These include painting a mural, a chow –

making competition, team building exercises and a games day. This will be done in effort to also

focus on the different areas of child development such as cognitive, social and emotional

development and will carry out activities to amplify each.

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 The activities for the first visit to the home include introductions (names; ages) and

making of nametags for easy identification. Also, there will an icebreaker session, in which we

will play “2 truths, 1 lie” and “concentration”. Then, we will show them videos, pictures and

have an interactive session to inform them about global warming, the contribution of pollution

and the proper way and importance of recycling. After this, we will set up bins for them to

dispose of their recyclable materials; which will be used for crafts later on.

On the second visit, we will introduce to them the idea of hydroponics, its importance

and benefits; as well as the type and crops we intend to use. We will also go through the basics

of gardening and the crops we intend on planting. After this session, the group will attend to our

designated area where we will proceed to paint a mural on the wall.

On the third visit, we will review the necessary details about hydroponics and gardening.

After which, we will split the children up into appropriate age groups; where the older children

will assist in the hydroponics, while the younger children will assist with the garden. One of our

ideas is to create a garden/garden patches using concrete bricks. The bricks will either be stacked

in a manner which the soil can be placed in the spaces/holes in the blocks; or, the blocks will be

placed in a circular/rectangular manner, enclosing the garden. Another idea is to create a

hydroponics system using The potential crops are pepper plants, chadon beni, celery, pimentos,

chive, ginger.

The fourth visit will be designated to craft. Using the collected materials, as well as

material bought such as paint, glue, sequences, beads, wires and others; we will create garden art.

The proposed ideas are butterflies, flowers and animal art (pigs, cows, etc.). These items will be

used to beautify the garden area.

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 On the fifth visit, we will a chow making competition. This activity will involve

teamwork and motor and lifestyle skills. After this, we will do another craft session, also using

the recycled materials, to do storage containers, decorative ornaments, “piggy banks” and games

like a bowling set. The children will be allowed to choose which idea(s) they would like to do.

On the sixth and final day, we will have a games day. This activity will be treated as a

character development activity where all aspects of child development will be covered. There

will be board games like ludo and snakes and ladders; card games; musical chairs; and proposed

games made in the crafts session. There will participation prizes for everyone as well as prices

for first, second and third place in musical chairs.

Our expected outcome upon the completion of this project is for the children at the Jaya

Lakshmi Children’s Home to have a better understanding of the importance of recycling and the

threat that global warming poses to the wider Caribbean region. The educational activities

planned will not only teach sustainable living but also responsibility and teamwork which is an

essential part of the holistic development of a child. The children at the home are from an age

range of 6 to 17 and during this stage children are impressionable and our mission is to not only

teach them but engage them and peak their interests in preserving the environment.

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Prospected Timeline

Date Prospected Activities 

February 1 , st
 Introductions (Name, age)

2020  Name tags

 Ice – breakers (2 truths, 1 lie; concentration)

 Teach children about global warming and recycling (using videos,

animations)

 Set up recycling bins for them to collect items which can be used

for crafts.
February 8 , th
 Introduce hydroponics

2020  Discuss importance of gardening

 Paint wall and draw a mural

February 15 , th
 Brief review of hydroponics and gardening

2020  Start hydroponics and garden setup

February 22 , nd
 Crafts with collected recyclable materials (garden art)

2020  Continue hydroponics and/or garden if incomplete

February 29 , th
 Chow competition (portugal, pineapple, mango)

2020  Continue garden crafts if activity is incomplete

 Do normal crafts as well if possible

March 7 , 2020
th
 Games day

 Board games: ludo; snakes and ladders;

 Card games

 Musical chairs

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  Games made during crafts

Challenges:

 As there is a big difference in the age range (6 – 17 years olds), finding ideas to

incorporate all ages into one activity has been difficult.

Budget

Fundraising will be done by collecting $200 from each member.

Source of funding Items needed for Prices

$200 was collected Hydroponics

from each member

$200.00 x 5
Crafts $400
Garden $
Total amount $1000.00

Donated items:

Appendix

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