Esquivel Cristino Bastian

6th “B”

Respect and sustainability.

“Sustainable Swiss Boy”

Campus Puebla

“Sustainable Swiss Boy”

It seemed like an ordinary summer afternoon in the city of Puebla with

the intense heat , the happy people for the holidays , and the fast pace of
the city. The Munguia family awaited the arrival of an exchange student from
Switzerland who was called Finn. They anxiously went to the airport to pick
him up.

Max: “Dad, how will he be? Will he speak Spanish well? And if he doesn't like
us?

Ernesto (Max's father): “I don't know Max but we will do all possible to make
him feel at home. We will teach him our culture and we will learn from him.”

Soon, they arrived at the airport and that was the beginning of a
beautiful friendship. They were both 11 years old. Finn spoke Spanish and
English very nervously but got along very well with the whole family. In his first
week, they took him on a tour of some towns in the state. When they traveled
on the road, a strong fire in one of the mountains caught his attention. Finn
asked why they were not doing anything about it because it was taking too
long to control that fire. Ernesto replied “A forest fire has not been an
important issue in our country. Every year we lose many hectares of forests.”

Finn: “In Switzerland, we have an environmental policy that has made us the
most sustainable country since we use all resources responsibly.”

Therefore, Elizabeth, who was Max's mom, suggested that they could
start a campaign to raise awareness about caring for the forests. She thought
that with Finn's help, they could attract the population to join, starting with
Max's classmates.

Then, Finn and Max went to the fire department to investigate more
about this issue. Mia, who was an experienced firewoman, explained that the
risk of forest fires depended on several factors, including temperature, soil
moisture and the presence of trees and shrubs among others. “Climate
change makes organic matter dry out more easily. This increases the
potential for wildfires to spread, and they are not always human-caused.”
As a result, some recommendations to prevent wildfires were:
* Only start a campfire in an appropriate place cleared of all
vegetation.
* Don’t start a fire on a windy day.
* Always make sure the fire is completely out.
* Get a bucket with water.
* Don’t throw lit cigarettes.
* Don’t burn your trash.
* Only use fireworks in clear areas with no woods nearby.
*Immediately call 911 to report a fire.

On the other hand, Finn and Max were surprised to learn that there
were also benefits of wildfires like reducing pest populations, removing
non-native and invasive plant species, providing nutrients and new sunlight
for plants.
The next day, Max called his friends from the school, and among all of
them, they brainstormed many ideas. They created a web page with the
campaign for the protection of the forests. They began to post it to all their
social networks and in a few days they had thousands of followers. They knew
that was part of doing a bit to take care of our planet with justice, respect
and love.
FInally, summer was finished and it was time to say goodbye to Finn.
Everyone will miss him a lot because he was very nice and generous. Finn left
happily to contribute with his ideas. He had found new friends with whom he
would continue working on his project ever since.
The end