Mariposas: The children of Saint John learn about butterflies for Spanish Language Day

Children, parents and residents of Saint John, New Brunswick, attended a storytelling event organized by the Latin American Network of South West New Brunswick on April 23

More than 80 children, parents, and residents of Saint John, New Brunswick, were immersed in stories of butterflies at a storytelling event organized by the Latin American Network of South West New Brunswick. The meeting, held in commemoration of the Day of the Spanish Language, on April 23, took place at the Saint John Free Public Library.

The event, aimed mainly at the little ones, consisted of two stories related to butterflies. The first was called "Señorita Mariposa" (Ben Gundersheimer), which told the story of the monarch butterflies' journey between Canada and Mexico. The second, "Por un color" (Susana Olaondo), recounted how a monarch butterfly that lost a color talked to other multicolored animals, asking them to give it the color that was missing.

Each story was followed by activities in which the children between 2 and 10 years old learned about butterflies, traced the journey of the monarch species (Danaus plexippus) on a map, interacted and recounted their own experiences with butterflies or other animals, remembering their countries of origin and even singing a song alluding to the main animal.

Although the activity was oriented mainly to Spanish-speaking children, audience from many different language backgrounds, such as English, also attended to the event.

The activity was possible thanks to the participation of volunteers Caro Vergara, Noemí Delgado, Isabel García Sagredo, José Daniel Rito, members of the Latin American Network of South West New Brunswick. Melissa Villarreal, Javier Hernandez, Rosa Sánchez, Brenda Ontiveros, Ronald Esteban also attended, who, in addition to Rito, make up the organization's Board of Directors.