<h3>Transcript</h3>
Voice 1 &nbsp;

Welcome to Spotlight. I&rsquo;m Anne Muir.

Voice 2 &nbsp;

And I&rsquo;m Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1 &nbsp;

The little boy is always in trouble. He throws rocks at the cat for fun. He runs through his mother&rsquo;s plants. And when she tells him to stop, he just laughs. No one can make him behave better, not even at his school.

Voice 2 &nbsp;

But one day while the boy is chasing a small dog, someone stops him. It is Maritza Morales Casanova, a girl he plays with at school. The boy likes Maritza. She is kind and gentle, even when he is not. But today Maritza seems angry. She shouts at him for chasing the dog, who has done nothing. She tells him that he is responsible for taking care of the earth.

Voice 1 &nbsp;

The boy listens to Maritza. He is ashamed. He did not want to hurt anyone. He just wanted to have fun. But Maritza makes him feel like there is something in the world he does not know. So he learns from her. She tells him about animals and plants. She teaches him how they are all connected. Soon, when the boy sees a dog, he does not want to hurt it. He wants to be its friend.

Voice 2 &nbsp;

These situations also change Maritza&rsquo;s life. As a child, she decided to keep teaching people about the environment. And years later she became one of the most respected environmentalists in her country. Today&rsquo;s Spotlight is on Maritza Morales Casanova.

Voice 1 &nbsp;

Morales Casanova grew up in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world.&nbsp; People love its beaches and huge tropical forests. Cancun is a famous town in the Yucatan. People from all over the world fly there on holiday. Places like Cancun make a lot of money from tourism. But tourists can cause a lot of harm to the environment.

Voice 2 &nbsp;

Morales Casanova saw this environmental problem when she was very young. She also saw how other children did not seem to care. They also harmed the environment. Many did not even know that what they were doing was harmful. Morales Casanova tells writer Julian Cribb what happened when she saw her friends harm nature:

Voice 3 &nbsp;

&ldquo;That encouraged me to spread the idea of living things existing together peacefully. It means that each single living thing has a place in the world. We must respect each plant as if it were the last one. We must care for each animal as if it were the last. And we should respect each human equally.&rdquo;

Voice 1 &nbsp;

Morales Casanova was just ten when she decided to educate others about the environment. She began with small things. She gathered friends together. She taught them how to take good care of plants and animals.

Voice 2 &nbsp;

But Morales Casanova also understood that the problem was much larger. There were many adults that did not understand what she knew! So she decided to fight for environmental education beyond just her school. In 1995, when she was still a child, she created a not-for-profit organization called HUNAB. This stands for Humanity United to Nature in Harmony for Beauty, Welfare and Goodness. Through HUNAB, Morales Casanova talked to many people in the government. She spoke about her ideas. And she tried to make people understand why they needed to know about the environment. Some listened to her. But, because of her age, many did not. In 2013, she told National Geographic:

Voice 3 &nbsp;

&ldquo;My greatest difficulty was people believing me. I had been developing solutions for years. But authorities and business leaders only looked at my age, not my experience.&rdquo;

Voice 1 &nbsp;

Still, Morales Casanova continued. And, when she was just 13 years old, she had one of her greatest opportunities. She had a meeting with the president of Mexico. Morales Casanova told him about her plans. She was going to open a school. But this would not be a normal school. It would be a place where children would learn about the environment. And they would not just learn from books. The school would be IN nature. Children would learn by being in the world and observing it. Morales Casanova&rsquo;s school would be named after a special tree that grows in Mexico: Ceiba Pentandra.

Voice 2 &nbsp;

But the Mexican president did not support her ideas. She asked him for land to build Ceiba Pentandra. But he refused. Like many people before him, he thought she was too young to change the world. But Morales Casanova continued to work hard for her goals.

Voice 1 &nbsp;

Very slowly, Morales Casanova found people who would help her. She went to school and studied more about the world. As she got older, people were more willing to accept her ideas. And many Mexicans became more concerned about the environment. Pollution began causing health problems, especially in the Yucatan. In 2012, the Government of Mexico finally gave her the land to build her school, Ceiba Pentandra. In early 2012, Morales Casanova received the Rolex award for Enterprise and the National Geographic Young Explorer&rsquo;s award. The money from both awards was exactly what Morales Casanova needed. She immediately put it towards the first buildings of her school.

Voice 2 &nbsp;

Maritza Morales Casanova is still young. But already she has achieved a lot. Today, Cieba Pentandra has many visitors every day. Children come from their normal schools. Or they attend Cieba Pentandra for full school. They learn in nature. They teach each other. They show that environmental education is possible in Mexico.

Voice 1 &nbsp;

There are still many problems in Yucatan. Pollution has already damaged many special places. Some of these places cannot ever return to their natural state. And some people do not want to learn. Others would like to use the environment for profit. But Morales Casanova believes that one day people in Mexico will hear her. Because what she is saving really belongs to <em>all</em> of them. She says:

Voice 3 &nbsp;

&ldquo;If a country has problems with democracy, it will have more time to solve it. It will survive. If a country has problems with its economy, it will have more time to solve it. It will survive. But if a country has problems with the environment, the country will not have more time to solve it. It is the base of healthy development and growth. It is the country&rsquo;s history and its freedom.&rdquo;

Voice 2 &nbsp;

The writer of this program was Dan Christmann. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at <a href="http://www.radioenglish.net">www.radioenglish.net</a>. This program is called, &lsquo;Maritza Morales Casanova: Environmental Education in Mexico&rdquo;.

Voice 1 &nbsp;

Tell us what you think about today&rsquo;s program. You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us at <a href="mailto:radio@radioenglish.net">radio@radioenglish.net</a>. And find us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/spotlightradio">Facebook</a> - just search for Spotlight Radio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.



Question:
What do you do to improve the world?


