I Have an Absolute Faith in the Capacity of Human Beings for Good

I Have An Absolute Faith in the Capacity Human Beings for Good

A short overview of my life

I am from Colombia. My country is the gateway to South America, blessed by the waters of both the Pacific Ocean, to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean, to the north. We are rich in natural resources, such as coffee, emeralds, flowers, fruits and biodiversity.

I have been teaching English and Spanish since I was fourteen years old, when I started tutoring other children at the bilingual school I attended in Colombia. I also started writing books when I was just a child, but did not publish my first one until 2001. When it comes to my art, I can’t remember a stage in my life when I was not recreating my surroundings with any material I found. I was always told art would not pay for a living, so I simply created out of an intense need to capture the magic of the world around me.

The most life-altering experience I have had was living in the Amazon Rainforest for a year. I am a passionate advocate of nature, and the lessons I learned from the people and the animals I met in and around the River changed my outlook on life forever.

I started creating and illustrating bilingual books because of my own children. I homeschooled when we lived in New Orleans, when we decided to make a new life in the U.S. I simply could not find the kind of books that I wanted them to read, so I decided to create them.  Later on, I had the opportunity to produce and anchor an educational television program in Colombia, geared for children. It was then that I understood the potential of a multimedia approach to language learning.

I love learning about other cultures and countries, and have been fortunate to travel to many places and love to share my experiences. There is so much to be learned from other peoples’ everyday lives!

I have two children, a 19 year old daughter and a 17 year old son who are still my favorite students. We speak Spanish at home and life goes on around us in English. We have always lived in the south because we do not like the cold, we definitely are tropical flowers. So far, we have lived in New Orleans, Dallas and we are enjoying San Antonio immensely.

I was trained as a teacher and taught for twenty years. I have linguistics as a background, a passion for languages and the heart of an artist. I have had my own publishing company for six years. Thanks to it, I have also been able to help people to publish their own books. I am currently teaching art and meditation, tutoring and teaching English and Spanish and continuing to write and create art.

I have been married to my Colombian sweetheart for 22 years, and we still are adding twigs to our nest. It has been a fascinating, ever-evolving journey.  Recently, I read that it is predicted that today’s professionals will be forced to redirect their careers an average of five times in their lifetimes. Looking back, I realize I have done precisely that, and this adventure has allowed me to discover hidden talents and to overcome fascinating new challenges.

I dream about someday returning to the Amazon and creating a school and a native fishery where people can swim right along with the fish. I do not think my life’s surprises have all been unwrapped yet, there are still many productive years to come, and so are yours. Our journeys are still unfolding, promising so many exhilarating possiblilities, and who knows, the future of the rainforest and our sustainability might be in the hands of someone my art or my words can move to action. Perhaps one of you can unlock the puzzle of sustainable progress and you might be able to lead us so that, together, we might find a better way of living in our beloved planet without destroying it.

 I have an absolute faith in the limitless capacity of human beings for good. I believe that each and every one of us can label our life with a purpose. I think that is why I chose Lunita as the name of my company, which means little moon. I have always prayed to be light for others. Language is the magic code that allows us to explore the world and figure out what our role is within its unfolding mysteries. I hope that my books, my art and my stories become the treasure maps for this quest to many adventurous souls.

 With Immense Love and Gratitude Always,

Lina M. Cuartas

A Lifelong Thirst for the Green

I grew up in Colombia, the doorway to South America,  a country blessed by coasts on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and gifted with an unbelievably diverse range of habitats. I remember being in third grade Social Studies class and half-listening to the teacher's speech about our desert to the north, our very different beaches, the Pacific, rimmed by rainforest and the Atlantic, idyllic and punctuated by sun kissed white sand. Then she talked about our mountain ranges, three rugged daughters of the Andes and how they enter our country, dotted with volcanoes and snow here and there, and among which our main cities are nestled. Then she mentioned, casually, how almost half of our territory was split between fertile, seemingly endless plains perfect for cattle herding, that suddenly end as the dense vegetation of the Amazon takes over, and she punctuated, "less than five percent of our population lives in this wilderness"...
That was like a golden key to unlock my imagination. I started dreaming about finding the way to move there, to learn about the macaws, the jaguars, the monkeys, the flowers, all the magnificent creatures I read about and all the others the books hinted at, many of which, especially fish and insects, had not even been seen or classified by scientists. A magical being started visiting my dreams. She introduced herself as Penelope, the spirit of simplicity, and promised to guide me as I learned more and more about this place that tantalized my heart. I remember how everything I had to do at school I tried to channel into a project that would allow me to learn more about the Amazon.
I wished with every fiber of my being to find a way to actually see the wilderness. I dreamed about finding a life project that would allow me to combine my passion and make a living. I had no idea about the tortuous path that it would turn out to be. How by following my heart, I would in fact, find my way to the Emerald Forest, where I would leave a piece of my heart and in return, I would keep memories that became intrinsic to who I am. I dreamed about flying high, but I did not know this desire would bring me so far away, thousands of miles away, and now back, twenty-two years later, an eager explorer hoping to share the stories of the changes I will witness and feed the urgency of my message: we need to learn more about the Emerald Rainforest and fall in love with it, so that together, we can save it.

with love,
Lina Cuartas, Jungleeyes.