Alejandra Pascagasa, Colombian Sociologist

“One day, you wake up, and suddenly the possibility of absence becomes a reality. That day, I woke up and felt grief for the first time in my life. Days passed, or perhaps even years, but one morning, I woke up and I was surrounded by water. Who would have thought that the immense waterfall before me would wash away my tears and embrace me with its warmth?

When I visited the Great Lakes for the first time, I felt a magnetic pull. Quickly the waterbodies became where I could transit through my emotions, from pain to joy. They say you can never step into the same river twice, but it’s also true that a river will never meet you as the exact same person twice.

Even when water is still, frozen, or forever captured in the beauty of a painting, it holds a unique wonder that speaks of movement and transformation. In the complexity of human experience, the flow of water feels both unpredictable and beautifully simple.

There are moments when nothing makes sense, yet every day I wake up, and I am still surrounded by water! Somehow, that is the only certainty I need to keep moving forward- to search for ways to protect and give back to the land and water. Even though someone once told me that, as a sociologist from the South of this continent like me, wouldn’t have much to contribute to the environment, I’m still here, standing.

These photos are memories of cherished times spent near water. My favorite? Cleaning up Lake Superior on a big canoe!”

Ashley Wolfe, Land-based Educator, Environmental Conservation Lab

My connection with the land and water has been a gift that my Grandparents and family have taught me about since I was a little girl. Even though I was born and predominantly raised in Winnipeg, my weekends and holidays were all spent on the land and water. My grandmother grew up along the Red River just North of the Old Stone Church at St. Peter’s, and my Papa grew up in the Garson, Tyndall area in the RM of Brokenhead. ~Ashley Wolfe

View the graphics below to learn more about Ashley’s experiences with water.

Minket Lepcha, Story Teller & Environmental Conservation Lab Researcher

This was my first offering to the frozen Red River. Having always seen a flowing or dammed water of River Teesta and many Rivers in India, I was standing on a frozen river to feel the seasonal gift that the water brings. I felt very humble when I was there. Water is a flowing element in Mother Nature which will allow us to unite and blend. The fluidity of water allows us to see the environment through the fluid element of nature and the impermanence of water. ~ Minket Lepcha

View the graphics below to learn more about Minket’s experiences with water.

Yiseul, a Feminist Geographer

“I love floating on the sea. Not swimming, but lying, gently drifting. While surrendering to the waves, the seawater closes my ears and fills my mind with sounds that are unlike any other. It whispers to me, urging me to cast my worries into the depths below. My troubles sink into the ocean’s embrace, and my eyes, fixed on the endless blue sky, stretch me infinitely, without knowing where the horizon ends.

My hometown is Jeju Island, located at the southernmost tip of Korea. As famous as it is for tourism, Jeju’s small communities have resisted destruction and oppression in the name of development for tourism. It has been a long battle to prevent our sea from no longer being ours.

Those who wish to develop Jeju cannot hear the voices of our halmang (grandmothers in Jeju dialect or the goddesses of Jeju). If they truly listened to the voices of the halmang, how could they destroy our sea, the land of the halmang and of us all?

We still gather to protect our sea, our playground, our shelter, our home. We dance, we sing, we share food. Believing that our care will, in the end, overthrow the ruthless greed.”

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