Christofer Blog #2 Environmental Justice Conference Youth Leadership in Nature Challenge D.C.

Christofer Martinez, Senior, Houston East End Greenbelt GreenSchools! Co-op Green Ambassador - The Green Institute- Furr High School; (Serves 5 schools and a community center)

Hello, my name is Christofer Martinez and I’m a green ambassador from The Green Institute at E.L. Furr High School serving for the Friends of The National Forest and Grasslands in Texas (FNFGT) -Latino Legacy to transform Houston Urban food deserts into Food Forests. During my senior year I decided to join the Green movement at my high school, for the reason that all my teammates engaged with the purpose to empower our people and to restore back the environment. This year, was also the first year the program started at my school, and it caught my attention. It has been an inspiration to be part of this great mission in the pursuit of restoring our health and the environment.

What keeps my fire burning is being able to work with diverse groups of people, and finding ways that will benefit their education and health. I want to be able to help all types of groups in order to unify nations and work together as a big family to restore mother earth. Being able to impact the youth and to pass down knowledge that benefits mother earth in order to live the way we were meant to live is one of the reasons why I am passionate about the movement.

Regaining the knowledge that we were taught by our ancestors and to prepare for future generations.Gaining care and compassion for the earth and reconnecting with positive energies. At the same time not only are we connecting back to nature, but connecting with each other. Just like the buffalo almost went extinct our people too will come back numerous, stronger and wiser than before.

Many of us are raised with economic struggle, we are not aware of opportunities nor fortunate to have a good education or the right education needed to survive. Not being able to speak or read English fluently hindered my access to knowledge, it was difficult for me to interact and understand other students. Self-educating myself to read at the age of 15 and staying open minded enormously boosted my social skills. Two years later, I was able to speak English fluently. In fact, “learning how to read will set you free,” like Frederick Douglass said, and indeed it has set my mind free and expanded my imagination. My future career is to study for Forestry, Conservation Education and Geology. I am also have an interest in Biotechnology and Genetics. Friends of the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas –Latino Legacy and my school have granted me the advantage to get a glimpse into the field of forestry. After I graduate I will attend Houston Community College for two years to earn my Associates Degree and then I will attend Stephen F. Austin University.

During the first years studying in Houston for my career, I will have the opportunity to train, mentor and work with high school Green Ambassadors in the movement. Being able to see changes such as people working together to restore the soil, fighting climate change, ending world hunger and transforming concrete jungles into food forests really keeps pushing this movement forward.  We “humans” continue to destroy mother earth with every single action we make. Now it is the best time to unite and take action to restore the land we live in and to begin making some real changes. Now is the time to change the way we live and the way we eat because every second that passes by will never exist again. As I write this message, I think of the many lives being lost at this very moment. Now it is the time to unify and end these great issues at hand, because without your support we will not be able to fight this battle; the battle to end suffering.  Together, we can bring environmental justice to all.