As simple as if you cut it off, it will cut you off

Sullana, Peru-based small businessman Mario Sarango is worried because the deforestation and the climate change are risking his business – apiculture. The news is not new but it is crucial from the sustainability point of view of its entrepreneurship as well as our whole life. And when I talk about our life, I’m talking about our life on the Earth.

But before we go to the very global, let’s try to understand the Sarango’s preoccupation in a most local sphere, and the best way is remembering our high-school first grade little classes, or less, when we learned about ecosystems and food chains.

One of the most remarkable species in Piura Coast is our kind of carob tree, the Prosopis pallida, that is something like our national tree. Native of South-American Central-Western edge, it’s not only is a source of food, fertility, and life, but its complex system of roots allows to fix the soil and capture the underwater that sustains the so-called Equatorial Dry Forest while no rain drop falls from the sky.

And when the sky hugely loads, the carob trees, in alliance with other tree species, prevent erosion and keep the fertility levels, plus being the shelter of a hundred species living among their trunks and branches. Yes, like the waltz sings it.

One of those species are the bees, those within other things don’t only help to pollinate everything, then propitiating the growth of our food, but they also make the whole list of products in their ives, which the honey is just the top of the iceberg. And that list is the sustain of hundreds of people in our community who gain their life by caring the environment and giving jobs to other people and sustaining one of many value chains where even the people who never knew an ive in their lifetime end to benefit.

Let’s get back to the pollination issue, the action through the bee, working to extract the nectar of the flowers for giving to eat its wwwhole community, gets its little paws sticked with pollen, that tiny mostly yellow dust that once carried to other flower of the same kind, fals down inside it and allows the fertilization. So, the formation of a fruit, and that fruit turns in our food… unless the bee enjoys to eat corn.

If we take the bee out or eliminate it of the picture, the natural process of pollination will not be possible, then the formation of fruits either. The human being can artificially intervene pretending to be a bee (and I’m not talking about costuming such as a bee), but if there is already a species that manages this issue efficiently, then there’s no reason why the human being, as it uses to do, break down that balance.

The protection of bees doesn’t only mean not killing the bee, although more than a guy falls in panic because the bite, while others have a justified fear because an overreacting consequence of the body if that accident came to happen – the so-called anaphylactic shock.

The protection of the bees goes through also protecting the spaces it uses like a house and the spaces where it flows through looking for its food not damaging anybody, rather the whole opposite.

Here is where the carob tree plays its part because many bees, due to some good reason, like to form their ives or their ives to be installed next to the carob trees. Even, the existence of carob fruits, which starts other value chain that the algarrobina is another iceberg top, highly depend on pollination that our buddies know to do excellent.

How are we responsing them in practical terms? We are cutting off the carob trees for diverse purposes, but the recurrent ones are the expansion of agricultural surfaces, the horizontal growth of the cities, or the making of coal that it’s usually consumed by the restaurants offering broaster chicken or the BBQ’s through many people are looking for extra money.

Our replacement or reforestation policies of individuals we have cut off are inexistent in practical terms in spite of many people say to have it written, or sstill the worst, when it is reforestated, early or fast-growth species aare used, those are not native of our ecosystem, then what we have is short-term trees but not integrating to the chain set with the carob tree. If the chain cuts off, everything cuts off, especially the natural production of food for human consumption.

And if that is a bit, in times of climate change, the carob trees cut-off also seems to be weakening other carob trees. When they don’t find conducive fertility conditions to blossom their flowers, it’s impossible the individuals replace each another ones in a natural way, like the carob tree itself were letting to die. Bad news for the bees because without flowers, they won’t have pollen to carry. And without pollen, there won’t be fruits neither, so they are also bad news for the humans.

Here is the Mario Sarango’s preoccupation: to protect the carob trees and the bees not much because his business gets protected so, that is a valid purpose since his business is benefitting the whole community, but the protection of bees and carob trees suppose the protection of humankind.

As Sarango has told me, what he has got as an answer are from indifferent attitude to arrogant attitude at any local or regional government office he has presented to expose his arguments. And, look, Mario is not any rookie on the spot because he has experience in funding, authomation, aand where you see him, he has traveled twice to Australia for having internships those allowed him to perfectionate in apicultural management. He is also an enthusiastic advocate of the activity  next to other partners across Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, and Canada, he uses to participate in advocacy and training activities with all them, and he’s a lover of Sullana’s traditional tales and our folklore too. Yes, he doesn’t fit quite in the profile of the average businessman or entrepreneur, as we have in the local market. And that’s good!

The problem with Mario, as I said him many times, is this campaign to protect the carob tree and the beess has not to entirely lay over his shoulders, despite he has stated on his Facebook posts that he is addressing part of his gains to reforestate (and somebody should deduct it from taxes in case of success), but he should be, at least, a province-wide campaign. Forget if the municipality passes a resolution ruling about because it uses to be useless, although if it does it is useless either. It should be a commitment of our whole community.

Now the school is up to begin, for example, a pretty school project could be to reforestate and sponsor a carob tree. I don’t know, and I wonder, for example, and look at me releasing a name  because I meet him, former Bellavista’s Councellor and teacher Hary Piedra whose (yes, he’s going to kill me for uncovering private chatting) I certify the ecologic issue fascinates him and he has tried to hold campaigns about, during his administration in that metro district. I think Mario has an excellent ally there, as he link other district adding to his.

Yes, I know it’s bad education to point out, but, people, keep the shyness for other moment and lift up to the adventure of making alliances, damn it. Let’s continue.

As I said it in other op-ed, behind his house lives a follower of mine and also lover of local folklore called Luis Enrique Curay, who is entrepreneur and athlete too. We also have Sullana Museum’s Carmen Cruz, who Mario knows very well and supports a lot. We have there two more allies. Here, the whole El Regional de Piura and FACTORTIERRA.NET newsrooms, if my senior publisher doesn’t pull my ears, also can join that campaign by publishing and educating, I think.

And so and so, you, you, you, you, and you can also join, and when we have the less awareness, all Sullana is part of the change, and a change able to measure, see, and reply. It’s no other additional promise that never becomes real.

Do you realize? The thing is as simple as understanding the problem and joining. Will the little bees and the carob trees thank it to us? Yes, of course. They will do it. How? By preservating us as a species. A more practical action like that is imposible and is crucial for us to continue living. Of course, we have to link that to a policy of water, energy, and resources saving. Anyway, changing our mind and and that mind that comes us back to the simple life, provides us prosperity.

Rather, and only for satisfying the bureaucracy in Piura and Sullana, Mario and who join that campaign actually should quantify how much we have lost, how much we need, what the loses will be in every sense and every term. You know, the typical bureaucrat, if you don’t overflow with statistic, will feel you are teaching the cathecism – pure good will, zero commitment.

Thus, we already know what our upcoming work is for now: to prevent that the deforestation of more carob and native tree species surface follows up, and we have effective alert systems that allow to preserve out there when we can’t put the eye because they are too far away, like the rural zone. Obviously, the authorities have top lay their part, but we, who are the majority, also have to play the ours. Let’s start.

Send me your comments on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

TWP – The key for you to be featured on the media

The people use to have worthy stories for releasing to the public more frequently than they believe. Mostly, the problem is that for many reasons they don’t reach the media and leave missing. That disappoints those people so much, who become to believe the journalism has no quite interest, although it really could be about ignoring a technique making those stories highly attractive to be released

Although having a contact could be your first response, the challenge is how becoming to be public not meeting anybody and not trusting so blind in the power of social media (they help but the chance to overcome is almost a gamble). In the oter hand, you could have the problem of a low, none budget for making a big media campaign that put you in the spotlight. That’s why I propose here a matrix you can consider for that effort begins to be successful.

Memorize this acronyme – TWP, that resumes the skills you must achieve: telling a story, writing a story, pitching a story.

Telling the story

Piura, Peru-based journalist Margarita Rosa Vega, one of my mentors, said during a meeting before scientists, that the best way to say what you are doing is to assume your audience is a 5-year-old boy or girl, so your two first challenges will be to catch their interest and to wonder them.

The first one is gotten by ordering all your data under two logic structures. First, the classic drama or 3-act play, that begins to set me up the basic data of your story, then it develops them, finally it drives them to an open or close end. Second, using what we call inverse pyramid  in journalism, that means putting the important, interesting in the beginning, letting the irrelevant, indifferent for the end.

The second one is gotten by playing the role of who is going to know your story and anticipating a questionnaire you are going to answer by using one of the two structures in the previous paragraph, but taking the ability to create them new questions those leave them hungry to know more. What’s next?  What comes up? How does that change my life?

Writing the story

Having clear the structure to tell the story and the datadose, the best you can do is to take your pencil or your keyboard and starting to write. I know this may be the most complicated part for many persons in case of not having the practice, but it’s precisely the practice  what you need to reach mastership.

Use simple sentences, those subject+verb+complement basic structure, then read what you have written as many times as it makes sense. Correct it as much as you can, then test it. If you don’t have a friend journalist who review it to you, send it to someone you don’t know a lot, who almost ignores what you do, and don’t ask if understood it (to say yes or no) but to say what understood in personal words.

If the answer matches or approaches muchly to the idea you want to spread, you’re pretty on your way. If it doesn’t match or get too away your idea, re-write and when you have a new version, send it to another person below the same criteria. You can also send it to me. I’ll leave you how to contact me down this entry.

Pitching the story

Once your written version had approved the test, have it ready and pay attention to its two first paragraphs. Then, start the adventure to contact the mass media for telling wwhat you are doing. But look, you don’t have to target random, look for the one most preferred by the people whom you are going to address, and the best way to know it is by asking them straight which one they prefer. Save their two first answers.

When you have defined the medium, enter its website, search its contact info, notice if its articles or stories are signed, maybe the author leaves a contact e-mail or social media account. If affirmative, ssend a message telling your story in brief. How is it achieved? Do you remember the two first paragraphs you should choose and memorize? So, here is when you are going to need them.

If the journalist manifests to be interested and replies you, attach the text you wrote in the step-2 exercise. If you have pictures or video links, include them. It’s bettet to use the Attach Files function instead of embedded data because there will be problems at the time we download them. Here is just when your social media are going to work: if you have released something and you got many favorable votes as well as good comments, it’s almost sure that the journalist will propose your story to the editors, and they approve the coverage. If you get to interest the editors, bonus point in your favor.

If you want more advise or need an intensive personal or remote training, you can write to my e-mail address, or contact me on my Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn accounts.

CEI, la clave para que aparezcas en los medios

La gente suele tener historias valiosas para difundir al público con más frecuencia de lo que cree. El problema es, mayormente, que por diversas razones no llegan a los medios y se quedan en el olvido. Esto genera mucha desazón por parte de esa gente, que llega a creer en cierto desinterés del periodismo, aunque en realidad podría tratarse de ignorar una técnica que haga a esas historias altamente atractivas para ser difundidas.

Aunque tener un contacto pudiera ser tu primera respuesta, el reto es cómo llegar a hacerte público no conociendo a nadie y no confiando ciegamente en el poder de las redes sociales (ayudan, pero la posibilidad de sobresalir es casi un juego de azar). Por otro lado, podrías tener el problema de un bajo o un nulo presupuesto para hacer una gran campaña de medios que te ubique bajo el reflector. Por eso, aquí te propongo una matriz que puedes considerar para que ese esfuerzo comience a ser exitoso.

Memoriza este acrónimo, CEI, que resume las tres habilidades que debes desarrollar: contar una historia, escribir una historia, impulsar una historia.

Contando la historia

La periodista piurana Margarita Rosa Vega, una de mis mentoras, dijo en una reunión ante científicos que la mejor manera de decir lo que estás haciendo es asumiendo que tu audiencia es un niño o una niña de cinco años de edad, así que tus dos primeros desafíos serán captar su interés y maravillarle.

Lo primero se logra ordenando todos tus hechos bajo dos estructuras lógicas. La primera es la del drama clásico o de tres actos, que comienza planteándome los datos básicos de tu historia, luego los desarrolla y finalmente los conduce hasta un final abierto o cerrado; la segunda es usando lo que en periodismo llamamos pirámide invertida, esto es poner lo importante e interesante al inicio y dejando lo irrelevante e indiferente para el final.

Lo segundo se logra poniéndote en el lugar de quien va a conocer tu historia e imaginar que te hace una serie de preguntas a las que irás respondiendo usando alguna de las dos estructuras del párrafo anterior, pero teniendo la habilidad de crearle nuevas preguntas que le dejen con hambre de saber más. ¿Y qué sigue? ¿Qué viene a continuación? ¿Cómo me cambia la vida?

Escribiendo la historia

Teniendo clara la estructura para contar la historia y la dosis de los datos, lo mejor que puedes hacer es tomar tu lápiz o tu teclado y comenzar a redactar. Sé que esta puede ser la parte más complicada para muchas personas si acaso no se tiene la práctica, pero es precisamente la práctica lo que necesitas para lograr maestría.

Usa oraciones directas, las de estructura básica sujeto+verbo+complemento, y luego lee tantas veces lo que hayas escrito hasta que cobre sentido. Corrígelo tanto como puedas, y luego ponlo a prueba: si no tienes un amigo periodista que te lo revise, envíaselo a alguien que no sea muy conocido tuyo, que casi no sepa a qué te dedicas, y no le preguntes si lo entendió (te dirá que sí o que no), sino que te diga en sus palabras lo que entendió.

Si su respuesta coincide o se aproxima mucho a la idea que quieres transmitir, vas por muy buen camino. Si no coincide o se aleja demasiado de tu idea, reescribe y cuando tengas una nueva versión, envíalo a otra persona bajo los mismos criterios. Me lo puedes enviar también a mí; más abajo te dejaré cómo contactarme.

Impulsando la historia

Una vez que tu versión escrita haya pasado la prueba, tenla lista y pon atención a los primeros dos párrafos. Entonces, lánzate a la aventura de contactar al medio de comunicación para contarle qué estás haciendo. Pero, ojo, no tienes que apuntar a cualquier lado; busca el que sea preferido por la gente a la que vas a dirigirte, y la mejor forma de saberlo es preguntándole directamente cuál prefiere. Quédate con sus dos primeras respuestas.

Cuando tengas definido al medio, entra su sitio web, busca sus datos de contacto, fíjate si sus artículos e historias llevan firma, quizás el autor o la autora dejen un contacto de correo o redes. Si es afirmativo, envíale un mensaje contándole tu historia en resumen. ¿Cómo se logra esto? ¿Recuerdas los dos primeros párrafos que debías seleccionar y memorizar? Pues aquí es cuando vas a necesitarlos.

Si el o la periodista te manifiesta su interés y te responde, adjúntale el texto que escribiste en el ejercicio del paso 2. Si tienes fotos o enlaces de video, inclúyelas. Preferentemente usa la función de Archivo Adjunto antes que la de datos incrustados porque luego habrá problemas a la hora que lo descarguemos. Aquí recién es cuando tus redes sociales van a funcionar: si ya has difundido algo y además de muchos votos a favor, tienes buenos comentarios, es casi seguro que el periodista propondrá tu historia a sus editores, y éstos aprueben la cobertura. Si consigues interesar al editor, doble punto a tu favor.

Si quieres más consejos o necesitas un entrenamiento intensivo presencial o a distancia, puedes escribir a mi correo electrónico, o contactarme mediante mis cuentas de Facebook, Twitter o LinkedIn.