The life of 11 year-old Maria Fernanda Herrera Sandoval today is radically different from just a year ago. Fernanda’s ideas on environmental conservation sent her from her humble home in Bajo Tejar in San Ramon to the capital of France.

Fernanda is in the fifth grade at the Alberto Manuel Brenes school in San Ramon, an institution selected by Panasonic to represent Costa Rica at the awards ceremony of the Eco Picture Diary Global Contest, celebrated at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on February 8^th.

The Eco Picture contest is sponsored globally by Panasonic to raise awareness regarding environmental concerns and the ecological conservation efforts of future generations.

The Alberto Manuel Brenes school was chosen in 2011 to participate in the second edition of Eco Picture, which is a contest designed to develop the creativity of schoolchildren and promote environmental protection among them.

Children in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades participated in the contest. They kept a diary of the eco-friendly activities they performed at home, in their communities and at school.

In 2011, Panasonic’s initiative had the support of the Ministry of Public Education (MEP in Spanish), an institution that incorporated its Blue Ecologic Flag program for public schools. The Blue Flag will once again fly this year, getting even more schools and students involved. This initiative is aimed at grade schools, and Panasonic includes it as part of the company’s Eco Ideas program. For the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of Panasonic, the company has set its sights on becoming the leading Green Company in the consumer electronics industry sector.

Fernanda’s Ideas

In the 2011 edition of Eco Picture, over 130,000 children from 37 countries and autonomous regions submitted their ideas. Fernanda’s neat ideas, along with 29 other participants from across the world, earned her the honor of traveling to Paris for the awards ceremony along with her mother Teresa Sandoval Carrillo.

At the awards ceremony, UNESCO ambassadors and environmental experts evaluated the ideas and granted prizes in different categories.

High Hopes and Sweet Triumph

When Fernanda decided to take part in the contest, her family was a bit skeptic of her chances at winning, but she was always hopeful that she could become a winner.

When her name was announced at the end of 2011, her family’s initial doubts turned into tearful emotions as Fernanda was congratulated by her classmates and teachers. “Mami was crying while Papi laughed. Everyone found out in my neighborhood, so I was congratulated whenever I was out and about”, explained the young Tica.

Prior to departing to the City of Light, representatives from Panasonic took Fernanda and her mom on a shopping trip to Multiplaza in Escazu and the Real Cariari mall, as they needed adequate clothing for the European winter. They were greeted by Panasonic reps upon their arrival at the Charles De Gaulle airport, and they were assigned an interpreter.

Fernanda spent long hours taking in the sights of Paris along with a girl from Guatemala, and the two became inseparable. “The rest of the children spoke different languages. When we wanted to take pictures together we would use hand signals and understood each other in the end.” Fernanda was interviewed by RTE, the broadcast network from Spain, and she got to talk about her life here in Costa Rica.

The most impressive visit for Fernanda was the Versailles Palace historical museum. “The first thing I saw was a large group of buildings, and then we visited the royal chambers where they slept and ate, and there was this huge hall with 355 mirrors, filled with sculptures and rugs.”

Fernanda was also impressed by the snow that covered the elegant city of Paris when she visited the Arc de Triomphe. “At first I did not want to touch the snow, but then the girl from El Salvador started playing and we ended up in a snowball fight. Our gloves got wet and our hands got very cold.”

The Eco Picture Diary Global Contest will be held once again this year in Costa Rica, and it will involve even more schools and the support of the MEP.

About Panasonic

A world leader in the manufacturing of consumer and industrial electronics, Panasonic is based in Osaka, Japan. Shares of the company are traded in the Osaka, Nagoya and New York Stock Exchanges. Panasonic is also a significant employer in Costa Rica.

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