Mi Gente (Personas de la comunidad): Zavier Borja

 Zavier Borja

Age: 25

Location: Bend, OR

What is your earliest memory of the outdoors?

Zavier: My earliest memories of connection to nature were when I would visit my Abuelito’s in a little town called Kimberly, Oregon. A very small town of 150 people but is home to a beautiful orchard. I absolutely loved going out there. As a kid I was able to get a hands on connection to nature by seeing where all this fruit came from. I would go out into the orchard with them and pick fruit. As I got older I was actually able to work there, by the age of 12 I had spent 5 summers working in the Orchard. I really think having spent all that time out there helped foster my love and appreciate for nature and the outdoors.

Did your family partake in any outdoor activities? If so what kind?

Zavier: In growing up my family never really did any outdoor activities. The only thing we would do was work outside on the house. Now that I think/write about it, I just don’t think we had the time and recourses to go out for a recreational hike/activity. It hasn’t been up until recently that we have gone to places like, Crater Lake, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Yosemite, Colombia River Gorge as a family. I really think that now that my sister is older and financially my parents are doing well that we have been able to enjoy these things and places as a family.

As an adult what is your favorite outdoor activity and is there something new you would like to try?

Zavier: As an adult my favorite outdoor activity would have to be hiking to a waterfall. Of course, seeing a waterfall or being under one is such a beautiful feeling. The thing I love most though is hearing the power of the waterfall before even laying my eyes on it. My imagination runs wild in picturing it.
As for something new, I’d like to try trail running. I’ve done a few races and have been getting into running a lot and would love to kinda cross my love for hiking and new found enjoying (running) and  start to do some trail running.

What is your favorite part about working with Youth in Bend,OR?

Zavier: My favorite part about working with youth in Bend is being able to take them somewhere absolutely beautiful and seeing how they interact and are passionately curious about these places. Being no more than 40 minutes from a mountain resort and living in a recreation town. You can only imagine how spoiled we really are here. So being able to show the youth the beauty that surrounds them so that they hopefully won’t take it for granted.

 

Was is hard to move back to Bend after spending sometime in the Bay Area?

Zavier: I never in my life thought that I could live in a city. Let alone one of the most well know cities. Coming from a small town of 3,000 people (Madras, OR) , then moving to 80,000 (Bend, OR) that was a big change. Then moving to San Francisco a city of almost 1,000,000 people! That’s jut crazy. Going back to my thought of never living in a city then finding myself in SF, I absolutely LOVED IT. Being back in Oregon, there sooo many things that I miss about the city! All the different districts, being able to walk just about everywhere, all the different walks of life, hearing different languages when I’d hop onto Muni, all my friends I was able to make. The thing I miss most is walking through Union Square in the early mornings. So quite a peaceful. You could hear the birds singing and the way the sunrise hits all the buildings giving off beautiful beams of light was truly magical. Probably on of my favorite spots at anytime of day, but those early morning walks were my favorite. Also, the entire Mission District was probably my favorite area in the city. Spent a lot of time in that area.

Your IG is full of beautiful photos, is there one with a special story behind it?

Zavier: This was a photo that I took recently, my father and I went to my Abuelita’s to make tamales. For anyone who has every made tamales it’s a looooong process. While we were making them I starting thinking to myself about how this was a beautiful cultural tradition that someday could be lost in my family. It made me wanna cherish that entire day spent with my family making them and anytime after. To learn, to have memories, to pass down and keep traditions like this alive. Realizing and remembering my roots.

How could Bend benefit from having more Latinos in Recreational spaces?

Zavier: The outdoors is such a special space to me because it’s a place where I can go and feel free. A place of wonder and beauty. No judgment, just pure enjoyment about what is around me. The fascination and curiosity that nature brings me is what always has me going back to enjoy. Here in Bend, Oregon there is an extreme lack of diversity, 93% Caucasian and with Latinos holding 6% of the city’s population (85,000). Outdoor spaces in general are already lacking in Diversity so being out there and encouraging more Latinos to get outside and that it is a space for everyone. By being vocal and using any positionally I have to be a voice to get more Latinos to feel welcomed outside.

To learn more about Zavier Borja visit:

Instagram

All photos courtesy of Zavier Borja.

¡Claro Que Sí to Nature!

By Luis Villa

“Luis, ¿crees que estarás bien?” “Luis, will you be ok?”

I was asked this on several occasions as my time in Costa Rica drew to a close.  I had been living there for twelve years, immersed in its abundant natural beauty.  Around 25% of this Central American country’s land area is conserved as a national park or other nationally-protected area.  Tropical forests cover approximately half of Costa Rica.  Similar in size to the state of West Virginia, it hosts roughly the same number of bird species as does all of North America.

Luis with REI Risk Management Trainer Alyson Chun and Latino Outdoors Advisory Board Chair Richard Rojas

Many Costa Ricans inherently understand the wellness benefits associated with having close contact with nature and the outdoors.  The aforementioned question was posed to me with this in mind.  The people asking it understood that moving back to Los Angeles, meant going to a place that did not offer quite the same access to a trail, river, or forest as what I had grown accustomed to.  I probably reinforced this understanding shortly after returning to southern California.  From a pedestrian overpass, I snapped a picture of the L.A. River below me, sharing it with friends and family in Costa Rica.  They had never before seen a river with its banks and stream bed covered in concrete.  I tried in vain to highlight the lone sea gull in the image as evidence of a healthy, living riparian ecosystem, but folks simply responded with incredulous texts.

Despite unnatural looking rivers, my answer to all who ask if I will be OK in L.A. is “¡claro que sí!”, “yes, of course!”

Luis and Children of Latino Outdoors

More than a decade of total immersion in Costa Rica’s explicit, all-encompassing nature has made me more appreciative of the subtler instances of the natural world and outdoors beauty that occur in urban settings such as L.A. (including solitary sea gulls).  I have never been more aware of and enthralled by all the gorgeous trees lining southern California streets, the abundance of neighborhood birds singing in the mornings, and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, replete with exceptional outdoors recreational opportunities, serving as a majestic northern backdrop to the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.  In fact, my first outing with Latino Outdoors was a hike in these mountains, a little over an hour’s drive for me. Thanks to my keen awareness that a trek into this wilder part of L.A. County is not an everyday thing for me, I savored it in the way that a famished backpacker relishes their rationed out meals.

So ¡claro que sí!  I know I’ll be OK as long as I maintain a deep appreciation for subtle nature and an outdoors that is not always readily accessible.

2018 Leadership Campout

The rest of the LO team and I invite the support of everyone who shares our enthusiasm for getting diverse communities of people outdoors and doing away with real and perceived barriers to nature.  We thank all people and organizations who already contribute in many different ways.

 

“Yo Cuento Outdoors” ~ The Stories Of Latino Outdoors. Part 7

Author Josie Gutierrez

Originally posted on fitfunand.com

The stories continue for “Yo Cuento Outdoors”! Next up … me  : ).

In the last few months I highlighted some of the personal and inspiring stories of Latino Outdoors Volunteers and Leaders. They let us into their lives by sharing the first time they connected to an outdoor space and what it meant to them. One thing they all have in common is their love for La Madre Tierra.

Latino Outdoors is a unique Latino-led organization working to create a national community of leaders in conservation and outdoor education. As part of this work, they focus on expanding and amplifying the Latino experience in the outdoors; providing greater opportunities for leadership, mentorship, professional opportunities and serving as a platform for sharing cultural connections and narratives that are often overlooked by the traditional outdoor movement. It is a space for the community to be present, share their voices, and showcase how conservation roots have been ingrained in Latino cultura for generations.

LO is my familia and has been since 2015 when I became the Southwest Ambassador in San Antonio, Texas.

Hola, my name is Josie Gutierrez and here is my story.

What would be my earliest memories in the outdoors with a connection to Nature?

I guess this would be my first connection to the outdoors, learning how to walk on the grass at my abuelita’s house. My first adventure with the wind in my baby hair and a smile on my face, lol. I grew up in the 70’s and the outdoors for me was the place I connected with my friends and countless cousins. Rollerskating, biking, hide-n-seek, climbing trees, making up cheerleading routines and running around till dark were just a few of my favorites. Good times from sun up to sun down. This was my foundation and one that I will forever be grateful for.

I loved the outdoors and growing up we would go to local parks but it wasn’t until the age of twenty that a friend suggested we go to Garner State Park. I am always down for an adventure so off we went. I never expected that weekend to hug my soul the way it did. The most beautiful river flowed right through the park with endless trails to explore. This was to be my first adult connection to Nature “my happy Place“.

Garner State Park, San Antonio, TX

How do I connect what I do now in the Outdoor space?

Soon after that trip to Garner State Park I became a mother and my primary focus became that. To be the best Mom I could be and that meant I really had to grow up quickly to provide all I could for my daughter. Parks like Garner were but a dream as I had my second daughter a few years later. My partner and I bought a small house to raise our girls in and settled into our lives. The girls were getting older and since a real vacation was not in the budget I suggested Garner State Park. I called and found out it was totally within our means to camp out for the weekend. The only problem was gear. I don’t really remember where we found our first tents but we did. We loaded up the family truck and off we went, into the Texas Hill Country.

This park became a yearly tradition for many years. We were happy there and that’s all that mattered. We would tube down the river for hours and enjoyed the time with the girls and the nephew and nieces that we sort of adopted as our tribe for these adventures.

The girls got older and these trips to the park became non existent. High school and sports took over then graduation and college came soon after. The kids no longer needed Mom and Dad as much and we now had more time for ourselves. I took up running to shed a few pounds and that meant running outside at different parks around the city. I felt happiest outside and I knew I needed more. Social media was the tool for the next chapter in my life.

I meet a local Latina blogger who inspired me to start my own blog. I started Fitfunand.com – Fitness, fun and life! Because life is too short for regrets and what a great way to share information and success. The need to explore my city and share outdoor recreation led me to some amazing opportunities. I was ready for more but wasn’t sure what was next. Then along came Latino Outdoors. I felt totally labeled in the best way possible! Two words that connected me instantly. Their Instagram and Twitter pages were full of Latinos being highlighted in nature. I tagged myself in more than a few pictures and was excited to show support from Texas.

A few weeks later, I get a message from LO in regards to becoming an Ambassador in Texas. Totally shocked and a call or two later, I was officially announced the new Southwest Ambassador. What would this mean and how would this change my life? LO was growing as well and I had no connections to any Nature groups in town. They connected me to my local REI store and their Outdoor Programs and Outreach~Jeanette.

I cannot begin to tell you how many connections and people all over the city of San Antonio she helped put me in contact with. I will forever be grateful to her for wanting to see LO be a force in Texas. Lucky me, a female Latina who knows every outdoor group in and around her city. With her continued help and support I have been able to build a solid foundation. Our Texas group is continuing to grow with at least one outdoor event a month. Hiking, bird watching, kayaking, camping and much more.

I have found myself on a trail with endless possibilities and no way out. Just the way it should be : ).

What makes the outdoors special to me and do I have a favorite hike?

 

It is special in the way the wind plays with my hair, the way the sun lights the trails, the way the river hugs me as I swim, the music the birds make as I explore and the feeling of being present in the most purest way possible.

My favorite hike to date would be walking along the Santa Elena Canyon Trail at Big Bend National Park in Texas with my family this year. This was a little more special because we have a granddaughter now who shared this adventure with us as well. Three generations making moments.

It has only been in the past few years with LO that I have given myself space to grow in the outdoors and to feel more comfortable and vulnerable. These past few years have taught me that I am capable of more than I ever imagined. Latino Outdoors is a platform to share our stories and let our voices be heard. In a full circle kind of a way I know this was where I was meant to be.

Love what you live!

Josie~Southwest Program Coordinator