"...the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.

     ECHO, Education Concerns For Hunger Organization, was one of the most educational experiences I have had. The origination works to help not only foreign countries hunger issues but also those of the local Fort Myers area. While I was there they showed us the different climates in which they specialize which all were in the tropics or subtropics. I found the Lowlands environment to be one of the most interesting over all. ECHO implemented simple techniques like Raised beds to make sure that all the nutritious soil would not wash away as well as making sure that the plants would be able to thrive and grow. Vermiculture was also an easy yet effective tread to the area. It is a simple as putting worms in a bed of moist sediment, covering it so the sun does not dry out the bed and putting organic matter in the bed for the worms to eat and turn to nutritious soil. Another one of the areas I found interesting was the Urban Garden. They used simple things like carpet to make things grow. First they took a common item that could be found in this kind of environment, like an old bowl or pot and cut a piece of carpet and placed it in with a little soil and they had plants growing from it. 

ECHO uses simple things to achieve great things I feel that I learned a lot. Like how they used everyday items to purify water to take drinking water from this nasty brow water to something people can drink without fear. Or water pumps made from old wheels to get water from below the surface for drinking or irrigation. ECHO worked on irrigation that was a simple bucket and hose that could water large amounts of land without wasting water or time. They proved that simple things can make a difference in someones lives and it makes it possible to have food and a livelihood thanks in a big part to ECHO.  

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"At the far end of town where the grickle grass grows..." The Lorax By Dr. Seuss

My home in which I have left back in my childhood still holds fond memories for me those of adventure and excitement. When I was a young child I remember the carefree days or running and playing in the yard with the sprinkler going having the cold water hit my skin to cool off. The hot summer days in which I would find new and eventful ways to keep my attention. I would climb this huge tree in order to be queen of the world, and jump over the sprinkler to leap over the wide rivers of far off places. I would lay in the grass just to feel the soft green world that was around me and when our garden would bloom i would sit and smell the fresh crisp rose sent for what felt like hours but was probably just minutes.  

In the fall when the leaves began to touch the ground I would race around the yard grabbing the them as they fell. I would catch them in my tiny hands, or build big piles and jump into them. I loved the crunch the leaves made as I would descend. When the days became cooler I would bundle up in all my clothes just to sit in the yard and watch the clouds pass by. I would see the shapes I could make out of them, and make up stories for the faces and animals I would see. As it got dark I would go inside and watch the moon say hello to the stairs. 

Then came winter and oh how I wished every year that snow would fall. I would smell the fresh sent of the cut Christmas tree. It was almost like I could taste it. In my house we had a chimney in which we would light every year and I would sit there for ever just looking at this tree that would soon be filled with presents.

The cold would leave and the grass would grow, and the flowers bloom for me to know that spring had finally come. I would smell the flowers bloom and watch the bees buzz. I always loved this time of year I waited for the perfect moment to jump in the pool and bathe in the sun. And it always came.


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