Field Trip: ECHO

While on our field trip to ECHO I learned that their main purpose is to help other countries make what you need out of the materials that you have. Our tour guide showed us many interesting cooking methods people can use. He told us that mothers that cook with their babies strapped to their backs are really harming their babies. The smoke that the stove gives off is equivalent to the baby smoking 2 packages of cigarettes a day. That is a ton of second hand smoke! He showed us alternative ways in which they can cook. For example he showed us blocks of recycled cardboard that have been crushed up and made into block shapes that they can us for firewood and for cooking. Another interesting thing that he showed us was a water purifier. He said that every 6 seconds a child will die from drinking bad water or not getting water. Then he showed us a Neem tree and told us how good the Neem tree leaf is for your teeth. The Neem leaf is a great addition to your toothpaste. Overall this trip to ECHO taught me how lucky we are as Americans to have running water, food available to us at all times, and how advanced we are when it comes to farming and growing our own crops. This field trip opened my eyes to how great we really have it and how we should teach others ways in which they can do less harm to our themselves and to our planet.