Sonoma Ecology Center’s bilingual outings involve Hispanic community with Valley’s parklands

Bilingual family hikes grow in popularity and participation in Sonoma Valley.|

Senderos Naturales Próximo

March 17, 10am - 12pm

Sábado el 17 de Marzo

Caminata de los Incendios: Sugarloaf Ridge State Park venga para aprender y ver lo que paso en nuestro parque.

March 24, 1pm - 4pm

Sábado el 24 de Marzo

Crecer en el Jardín: Evento Bilingüe/Grow in the Garden: Bilingual Event @ Sonoma Garden Park, 19996 7th St East

April 21, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm

Sábado el 21 de Abril y Sábado el 26 de Mayo

Senderos Naturales: Caminata de la Primavera @ Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve

Registraciones son requeridos por teléfono o internet a más tardar 5 pm el día antes de la caminata. Direcciónes y información de contacto durante el día del evento estará enviado por email y text después de registración.

Por favor contacta a Alana para registrarse. 707-591-1726 o alana@sonomaecologycenter.org

The Sonoma Valley belongs to all of us, but it sometimes seems the hikers, cyclists and joggers trend toward the whiter shade of pale – aside from seasonal suntans, of course. Senderos Naturales, an outreach program of the Sonoma Ecology Center's education program, is changing that.

On a recent Saturday, 20 people, 11 of them children, met a shuttle at La Luz Center in Boyes Hot Springs that took them to Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. There they joined a handful of other hikers for a bilingual walk along trails and creeks through some of the park's fire-damaged regions, to see how nature restores itself.

'It's been my experience that people are in awe when you walk though certain areas,' said Alana Fichman, SEC's bilingual educator who took over the program last October right after the fires.

The group headed down the trail along Sonoma Creek. Tony Fernandez, a bilingual volunteer with the Sonoma Ecology Center, was soon surrounded by young children who hung on his every word as he told them – in Spanish – about the trees, the flowers, the birds, the land restoring itself.

'The kids loved him,' said Fichman. 'Some wanted to hold his hand.'

As well as the La Luz troop, other hikers included a bilingual family of three from Chicago, and four others who joined the hike specifically to work on their Spanish. So even though the hike was billed as bilingual, Fernandez gave most of his spiel in Spanish,

'I felt that the kids needed some kind of role model,' said Fernandez. He knew that their parents work hard, often seven days a week, and they don't have the time to go to the beach or for hikes. And, in many cases, they don't want to go far, because of 'the fear' over their immigration status.

Fernandez, who has a degree in ecological restoration, knows the value of his work. 'Sonoma Ecology Center is doing a good thing for the Latino community – reaching out to the migrant workers and their families. More than anything, they do it for their kids.'

Fichman also speaks Spanish, but she is not a native speaker. She said she 'had incredibly good luck to grow up here (in Sonoma County) and learn a lot of Spanish in my elementary school.'

She continued to study Spanish at UC Berkeley and spent two years in Latin America before returning to the States, where she started working with youth on the East Coast.

'I found having the ability to reach all audiences (through language) to be really rewarding. it's been a huge pleasure to come back to my hometown and help build bilingual education in Sonoma Valley.'

The Feb. 17 hike at Sugarloaf was called 'Caminata de la Recuperación de los Incendios,' focusing on the natural recovery of the park. 'Because there are relatively few bilingual events in Sonoma Valley, it makes sense that it was the bilingual aspect of the hike that was attractive to people,' said Fichman.

A week before the hike, the Family Resource Center recognized that a two-hour hike that began at 10 a.m. would end at lunch time, and helped organize a potluck almuerzo. It was held next to Sonoma Creek at the park's campgrounds, and as the grownups lingered over lunch the kids played in the creek, as kids will.

The two-hour bi-lingual outing was the first of ten that SEC plans for this year, not all of them hikes. The next is Saturday, March 24, at the Sonoma Garden Park. Other coming junkets include the Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve, Sonoma Valley Regional Park, and a paddling trip on the Petaluma River.

Fichman made it clear that the initial success of the program was due to the Family Resource Center at La Luz, with a special shout-out to Ana Rios and Suzie Radillo. 'The Hispanic community is coming up with the event ideas,' said Fichman, and promoting them through word-of-mouth and Spanish-language fliers. 'Doing outreach to the families is important. We want the families to know and take advantage of these amazing lands that we have.'

Mario Castillo, the former head of the Family Resource Center at El Verano, was also instrumental in popularizing the program in previous years. He noted that many of the Latinos who now live here grew up in rural areas, with plenty of 'open space.' But the language barrier, and lack of bicultural programs, discouraged participation, he said. 'Through Senderos Naturales we tried to address all those issues, and people responded very positively.'

'I didn't particularly want or expect anything,' said Fichman, 'I just wanted people to get outside and enjoy the park.'

The outings in Senderos Naturales are free, funded largely by the quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2006 for the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space district (Ag and Open Space).

For more information, visit sonomaecologycenter.org/education/senderos-naturales.

Contact Christian by email at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.

Senderos Naturales Próximo

March 17, 10am - 12pm

Sábado el 17 de Marzo

Caminata de los Incendios: Sugarloaf Ridge State Park venga para aprender y ver lo que paso en nuestro parque.

March 24, 1pm - 4pm

Sábado el 24 de Marzo

Crecer en el Jardín: Evento Bilingüe/Grow in the Garden: Bilingual Event @ Sonoma Garden Park, 19996 7th St East

April 21, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm

Sábado el 21 de Abril y Sábado el 26 de Mayo

Senderos Naturales: Caminata de la Primavera @ Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve

Registraciones son requeridos por teléfono o internet a más tardar 5 pm el día antes de la caminata. Direcciónes y información de contacto durante el día del evento estará enviado por email y text después de registración.

Por favor contacta a Alana para registrarse. 707-591-1726 o alana@sonomaecologycenter.org

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