The Whispering Seeds is a heartfelt work, and it is the outcome of innumerable lessons conducted and learned over time and practicum in English language classrooms in Ecuador, Brooklyn, NYC, Costa Rica, and Indonesia. However, The Whispering Seeds was created in stunningly beautiful Ecuador! What Ecuadorian educators achieved is a classroom practice that represents the sincere work of many Ecuadorian students who were of different levels in their ability to communicate in English, as well as an assortment of insight-gains, understandings, meaningful communication, joy, enthusiasm and cooperation. The Whispering Seeds is primarily the result of the wisdom and insight of two Ecuadorian teachers: Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz. Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz had attended and dedicated so much of their time to many different English classes and training sessions, as well as other encounters that helped to prepare them for eventually accomplishing this educational project. Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz traveled and worked at Centro Espiral Mana - now also known as the Institute for Collaborative Learning - in Costa Rica. The learning experiences they had occurred in 2005 and 2012 for Ernesto and in 2007 for Eugenia were integral to developing their skills as educators of the English language in Ecuador. Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz had the privilege to undergo _intensive training_ on how to improve their performance as teachers with Ms. Mary Scholl. Ms. Mary Scholl is the director and founder of Centro Espiral Mana and the Institute for Collaborative Learning which gives aspiring educators the opportunity to hone their pedagogical skills by working with real students who genuinely come to learn and further improve themselves in the English language. Being in Costa Rica and working with Ms. Mary Scholl is an experience that demonstrates the values and benefits of working in a student-centered class. At the Institute for Collaborative Learning, multi-sensory activities including manipulatives, collaboration, and heartfelt discussion nurture an environment of creativity and self-exploration! Doesn't this encompass all forms of learning? Ernesto Munoz, Eugenia Proano and Peter Lindo think so, and allow this to be a major element in their classes These activities all support student acquisition and use of the target language in whatever language a student may be learning and for whichever language a teacher may be teaching. What was achieved in Ecuador as a means to learn English can be applied to learning any language in so many areas of the world. After returning to Ecuador, Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz were ready to 'step outside' the “comfort zone” of traditional language teaching. They decided to apply what they had learned at the Institute for Collaborative Learning (in Costa Rica) in their classrooms at Universidad Técnica del Norte in Ibarra, Ecuador. They used the procedures they were introduced to with Ms. Scholl, including visual, auditory, verbal, kinesthetic, and tactile, among other strategies and techniques. Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz worked to apply these methodologies in a student-centered, collaborative environment that promoted mutual support and respect. The Whispering Seeds manifested in time between stellar Ecuadorian educators, enthusiastic Ecuadorian students and a Bermudian educator who was working at a language school in Brooklyn, New York City. The practices, work and guidance of Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz in the classroom were driven by “theories” and “their beliefs” about what would work best for university students to be engaged and motivated in learning a foreign language. It was a time to explore and experiment with more innovative techniques! There was just so much potential! This time of experimentation and exploration that Eugenia Proaño and Ernesto Muñoz did show great potential for the students and teachers. We reflected on our daily teaching practices and re-formed the practice to be more conducive to language. I, Peter Lindo, was learning what was happening in Ecuador and could see the potential that this had for the world. To help bring healing, unity, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and love. About the Author Greetings to one and all who have chosen to explore this heartfelt and didactic work, The Whispering Seeds. The Whispering Seeds is a collaborative work between Peter Lindo, Eugenia Proano, Juan Munoz, and Ernesto Munoz. My name is Peter Lindo and I am originally from Bailey's Bay, Bermuda and when I was 17 years old, I traveled to Ecuador as an exchange student affiliated with the excellent international exchange organization, Youth For Understanding. Youth For Understanding gave me the opportunity to move to Ibarra, Ecuador and live with a wonderful Ecuadorian family for a year. I also attended a Catholic school in the center of Ibarra, and this is where I first had the opportunity to meet Ernesto and Eugenia. Ernesto and Eugenia were both my English teachers even though English is my native language, I was required to attend all the class subjects being offered to immerse myself in the very pleasant Spanish language. I did my best in the classes where Spanish was the medium of instruction, but I was inundated with a language that I didn't know and had never studied. I was relieved to attend Ernesto and Eugenia's English classes and be of some assistance to the other Ecuadorian students who were doing their best to learn English. One day, Ernesto asked me something that would change my life. He asked if I wanted to try and teach English to the class. I replied, "I don't know how to teach English". Nonetheless, Ernesto believed in me and he encouraged me to just try and since then, teaching has been integral to my life. Ernesto and I became friends, and we managed to keep in contact throughout the years. I eventually went on to teach English in beautiful Indonesia. While I was teaching English in Southeast Asia, Ernesto and Eugenia were teaching English in Ecuador and undergoing training on how to enhance their pedagogical skills in teaching English at the Institute for Collaborative Learning in Costa Rica with Mary Scholl. Ernesto and Eugenia brought what they learned in Costa Rica to Ecuador, and Eugenia is the educator who initially came up with the stellar idea to start a seed project in order to help Ecuadorian College students to learn English. Eugenia Proano and Ernesto Munoz worked together to develop this new pedagogical approach to learning a foreign language using seeds to make art and write essays that reflect the seed art. I was asked by Ernesto to help edit the essays that the Ecuadorian students were working on. I was working in Brooklyn, New York during this time period, and I fell in love with the seed art that the students were creating, and their compositions touched my heart as I did my best to edit their work. I truly consider myself blessed to have been chosen to contribute my love of writing and editing to this brilliant, heartfelt work: The Whispering Seeds . It is our hope (Eugenia Proano, Ernesto Munoz, Juan Munoz, Peter Lindo) that what was achieved in invigorating Ecuador by engaging students with seeds and writing and learning a foreign language can be learned and spread across the world. Our work - The Whispering Seeds - is truly a work of collaborative love and enthusiasm, and nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm. The Whispering Seeds is a book to read, enjoy and learn from. To guide others to do the same. Make art with various seeds. Learn another language. Compose short stories about various topics whatever the topics may be. Handle and become more in touch with seeds and God willing, tend a garden and read a book in the garden. We believe that the more humanity tends a garden, the more a garden will tend to humanity and love is the flower that humanity really wants to see bloom. Forevermore. I must include the words of Mary Scholl that describe The Whispering Seeds so well. LIFE FORCE, GRATITUDE AND BLESSINGS The book you have in your hands contains beautiful, unique expressions that students have created thanks to the creativity, ingenuity and love of their teachers, Eugenia, and Ernesto. Nature, wisdom, life, and pride for Ecuador are woven into every step of this beautiful endeavor. From the design of the project and lesson plans, to the choosing and preparing of the seeds and the materials, to the actual art created with the seeds and the stories told that accompany it, this project is filled with love and care. It is through the medium of seed-art and text that the students’ life forces and energies have been translated into action and expression. Students not only created beautiful images with the seeds but also created wisdom stories and essays that leave the reader more aware of and connected to Ecuador, truth, and life. From my front porch in Costa Rica, I send gratitude, admiration and care to the teachers, Eugenia and Ernesto, the students, and the creators of this book. One Love.