How I grew up like Alba (the game) and the story of my Daddy as a Nature Protector

To the left: screenshot from the game Alba. To the right: my dad and I (circa 1991).

Today I finished the game Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. In the game you control a small girl who walks around an island discovering animals, cleaning up trash, while trying to save a small Nature Reserve. The game made me cry all the time, even although it’s a very happy and colorful one, because it reminds of my childhood and how I grew up: I grew up just like Alba.

Screenshot from the game Alba. “Even the smallest person can make a big difference. Join Alba, as she sets out to save her beautiful island and its wildlife. And possibly start a revolution.”

April also holds World Earth Day, so it’s the perfect opportunity for me to talk about how I grew up like Alba and how my daddy Reinold Baudisch was a very important figure in the nature and preservation of the State of Paraná — Brazil.

The game reminds of my childhood and all moments with my daddy. My father was a prominent figure in the sports fishing scene in Brazil, he had a fishing store, a fishing newspaper, a fishing course and then for 20 years he had his own TV show — you can think of him as the Brazilian Bob Ross, but instead of painting, he was the Fishing Bob Ross, where everyone watched him due to his charisma — persons of all ages.

We would go fishing all the time and I would also get lost taking a look at all the different animals, insects and all the time he would teach me about the importance of each animal, the balance of things, and the unfortunate degradation of everything due to humans.

Everywhere we went there was thrash, so we would take our own bags to clean up the trash of others.

Trash Pickup Events and Nature Educational Campaigns

Thanks to his newspaper, he organized big events to cleanup rivers, reservoirs and lakes cleanup, where the family that got more trash earned prizes. This happened from 1992 to 1998, at least once an year.

Article from April/1997 in his newspaper “Pesca Paraná” (Paraná Fishing) talking about one of the cleanup events that happened in Represa do Capivari — Campina Grande do Sul — PR. The article highlights that tons of trash was removed from the reservoir.

Our family grew up participating in these events — since my father was the organizer with my mother and his brand Peskito. I grew up with the mentality of preservation. Here’s a letter that I wrote in April/1997 when I was 9 years old in his newspaper:

“Pollution is destroying nature and rivers. Many people when go fishing, throw their trash in the water or leave them on the ground. And this ends up killing the fish and destroying nature. If you go fishing, always bring a plastic bag to take away your trash. This way, you will help preserve nature. — Alfred R. Baudisch, fisherman, 9 years old”

Pesca Paraná newspaper from April/1997, highlighting the article from my father Reinold Baudisch — “Pescador Ecológico” (Ecologic Angler) and to the right my letter scanned. To the right, a photo where Reinold captioned as “Are plastic bags the future of fishing?”.

I am the kid to the right, the sign says: “Water Lovers — Cleaning Effort”, “Sponsored by: Peskito — Thinking about the Future!!!” (Peskito was my dad’s brand). This is Represa do Capivari — Campina Grande do Sul — PR — Brazil. “Amantes das Águas — Mutirão de Limpeza”.

A video of myself from 1995 winning 2 trophies and 4 medals after a cleanup event + fishing tournament where we caught fish for poor families, the tournament was organized by him:

Awards and Recognition

Circa 1996 my father and my mother, Arali Aparecida Tosetto Baudisch, received an award from Paraná’s State Police and the Government of Paraná due to their Nature Educational Campaign:

Arali A. T. Baudisch and Reinold Baudisch in an award ceremony — “Campanha de Educação Ambiental — A Natureza Também pertence a Geração Futura” — “Nature Educational Campaign — Nature also belongs to the future generation!”, by Peskito, Paraná’s Police and the Government of Paraná — Brazil.

Photo of another award that he received from the Florestal Police, this time in April/2000 — “Diploma de Amigo da Política Florestal” (Degree to a Friend of the Florestal Police). “Reinold Baudisch receives this degree due to his services in collaboration with the Police, collaborating with the efforts of fauna and flora preservation in the State of Paraná — Brazil”.

Repopulating Fishes

From 1994 to 1998 my father would also buy fishing hatchlings (with the support of some other people and institutions) and in partnership with the Ambiental Police of the State of Paraná, they would repopulate some lakes and reservoirs:

Reinold Baudisch, my father, letting go of fish hatchlings into the Represa do Capivari — PR.

Reinold with the Ecological Police of the State of Paraná

Fishing and Nature TV Fishing Show

After 2000 my father dropped the newspaper and the fishing store and kept only his fishing course and mostly important, a TV Fishing Show until 2019 — Pesca Dinâmica. In the show, where he had produced almost 2000 episodes over the years, he talked extensively about nature, about cleaning the rivers, preservation, etc (and of course, fishing a lot — since fishing was the focus).

He was only on TV all these years, but 1800 or so of his videos are on YouTube: youtube.com/PescaDinamica.

In 2015, in the same spot where he held the trash cleanup events in 1995, trash was back in a bigger scale, in this scene in this episode of Pesca Dinâmica he was saying that an angler that throws trash on the ground is not an angler, is a “piglet” (“porquinho” in Portuguese).

He had a phrase that he first wrote in his book in 1998, “Release the fish you catch today, so your children and grandchildren can fish tomorrow” (Solte hoje, para que seus filhos e netos pesquem amanhã), that he constantly repeated in his show.

He would constantly say in the show: “Release your caught fish today, so your children and grandchildren can fish tomorrow”! This photo is from an episode from 2018.

Reinold clapping when Guará birds flew close to the boat

Memories and Making a Game About this Subject

Unfortunately he passed away in 2019, but his legacy is big. And I’ll remember forever everything he taught and showed me. I’ll remember forever all moments with him. I hold an extensive love for nature and I still do the things I did as a child, like picking up the trash of others and losing hours looking at animals and insects.

Special video about his legacy, where I narrate a bit about his story:

Long story short, I’m also making a game about all of this, from my memories and moments with my daddy related to nature, and getting inspired by the game Alba is the push I needed to move forward and to finish my game!

Games like Alba are very important to educate and inspire all generations about nature!

NOTE: This article was originally published in my website.