SYNERGY

Today we won’t talk about of one single Roots&Shoots group... today the protagonists are the synergies of a handful of people from different areas have managed showing the soul of Roots& Shoots during recent weeks.

Synergy means cooperation and, according to Wikipedia, is defined as the result of the joint action of two or more causes, but characterized by having a greater effect than that resulting from the sum of these causes.

We are fortunate to have a various R&S groups scattered throughout many regions of Spain, each with their own projects. Today's story deals with two of them.

El Cisne Negro, is a volunteer group of animal rights led by Clara Carrillo, partner and IJGE super-volunteer. This group was created one year ago in Barcelona. From the beginning, it’s been collaborating with many associations in defence of abandoned animals, which have limited funds or few workers. The volunteers take care of the animals in a variety of ways, for example walking the dogs, feeding the cats, and in many cases the volunteers provide the supplies. They also administer the veterinary medicines, build and repair the the dogs' and cats' shelters, clean up after them. El Cisne Negro promotes the responsible adoption of dogs and cats through various activities and exhibitions.

The empathy felt by members of this group also extends to fellow humans. El Cinse Negro has worked on a variety of other solidarity campaigns. One of these was helping collect over11 tons of plastic caps in a matter of a few days. YES! A trailer truck full of plugs!!! The recuperated plastic will be sold to a recycling company and the money received in return will be contributed to adapting the home of a 15 year old boy who suffered a serious accident while playing. As a result, the boy was afflicted with irreversible brain damage and loss of mobility. In another project, El Cisne Negro is collecting more plastic caps to help pay for an auditory implant with a girl.

Yet the work of El Cisne Negro extends even further!

The group is working with the recycling campaign Movilízate por la Selva www.movilizateporlaselva.org/es/ , the mobile phone collection campaign run by the IJGE, raising awareness of the issues associated with conflict minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Additionally, a few weeks before Christmas, El Cisne Negro took part in a project with Azinnia, a group of volunteers at the Hospital del Mar. All the members of El Cisne Negro worked toward collecting books and toys for the children's playroom. These children, and especially this group of volunteers from the Hospital, have been named honoraries Chimpamigos Petit Prince of the year (www.janegoodall.es/es/chimpamigos).

But this is only the beginning of a network of active and positive people who are sharing initiatives, knowledge, projects and desire to improve the world for all!

Every year, children hospitalized in this center are visited by Santa Claus and a group of entertainers who deliver of toys and sing Christmas carols. However this recent Christmas season, Santa was only going to come alone. Having heard this, Aude—a Cisne Negro volunteer and member of the international group of jazz and swing a capella singing group El Trio Chikiboom—encouraged her partners come to the rescue! They sang, cheered, and brought joy to the patients, family members, volunteers, and staff of the Hospital del Mar. The holiday festivities were in full swing!

And where did the toys come from? Eight boxes full of toys arrived all the way from Zaragoza!

When children of the R&S El Cuarto Hocico found out that their friends of R&S el Cisne Negro (with whom they share their passion for dogs and cats) were bringing smiles to hospitalized children, the Cuartohociqueros decided to collaborate. The children collected toys in their home town, Muel, and two nearby villages. They also wrote some letters to accompany the gifts...so sweets and tender...that it is best you read them!

Cesar, is the teacher and leader of el Cuarto Hocico group of kids and teaches children the important things in life. Thanks to him, the toys were sent for free by SEUR Foundation to Barcelona. Then Alex, member of the R&S El Cisne Negro picked them up, filled his car with toys, and took them to hospital.

A handful of active and positive people, a Santa Claus, the girls of Chikiboom Trio dressed as "Mother Clauses," the children, some families who received a special bit of love (which in part, came from the bottom of the heart of children many miles away). All of this was pure tenderness, affection, and thankfulness! The synergies between the groups, all of them working to make a better world; it’s a message of hope that inspires and motivates all of us.