Marcus Antonius and the Ocean in Venezuela
When Marco’s father went to Rome to study international law, he was captivated by Roman law and named his son after Marcus Antonius, one of the integral players who founded the Roman Empire in support of Julius Caesar. As the son of a father who worked in the Mexican Foreign Services, Marco was destined for travelling and growing up in multiple countries.
From age 8-18, Marco lived in Caracas, Venezuela where he encountered his first life changing moment. Young Marco struggled from asthma, but a Jewish doctor recommended him to swim in the ocean. Soon after Marco began swimming and surfing, his asthma outbreaks drastically decreased. Gradually, his body became immune to certain asthmatic triggers and his asthma disappeared. Marco was captivated by the power of the ocean and the words of his wise doctor who told him how the sea water contained elements that would help his body fight asthma. It was only natural for him to pursue his studies in oceanography when he entered university.
Life in Baja California
Marco spent 8 years in Baja California, home to the lagoons where whales give birth to and nurse their babies. He studied and researched in Ensenada about the ecology of the water, land, and animals. There, he fondly recalls meeting many bright researchers, including female scientists, who worked to uncover aspects of science that would be useful for improving civil engineering, raw construction, agriculture, and the ecosystem.
A difficult decision
Marco’s second life changing moment came when he was 24 in Mexico, involving a relationship and a job offer. Marco had fallen in love with a colleague in his university but was invited to join a research project involving seaweed in another city. Not knowing how to manage a distant relationship, Marco took the job and relocated to join the research team with his two university friends.
His research began in a marine lagoon where he spent a year and 3 months harvesting and cultivating seaweed and researching on their quality level. In the end, Marco and his other friend dropped the project due to their disappointment in the low quality of seaweed. Looking back now, Marco realizes that he jumped to conclusions too quickly. He thinks that if he had stayed onwards, there may have been ways to find success. The first propagator of the project did persist, and founded a company that processes and sells seaweed as pet food.
Europe – A whole new world of languages, cultures, and encounters
From late 1980s to early 1990s, Marco moved to Europe. To Marco, whose previous world mostly evolved around his studies in science, Europe was a foreign destination rich in cultures, languages, and encounters. Marco completed a masters in chemical and environmental engineering in Spain and then moved to Germany after meeting a German woman studying translations. The couple got married, and Marco lived in Germany for 3 years while studying geology. However, because of his “lack of experience in relationships,” they parted ways and Marco went back to Mexico.
Marco admits that growing up in an all-boys school during his childhood and youth affected his relationships. If he were to advice his 20 year old self, he wishes he grew up in a co-educational environment that would have better prepared him for the real world. But Marco cheerfully recognizes that we all learn the best from our mistakes. His worldly experience in Europe improved his relationships not only with women, but with people of diverse backgrounds.
Back to Mexico and then Canada
When talking about Earth and Ocean sciences, Marco describes how it is the only way to learn about where we live and the way we use our supplies, and decide how we want to continue doing so. His studies and career in the discipline has taken him all over the world from Mexico, Europe, the United States, and Canada.
After coming back from Europe, Marco worked with the Mexican government on projects to reduce carbon emission alongside a brilliant English researcher who implemented the air care program in Mexico and India.
Marco’s move all the way from Mexico to Canada began with his grandfather who was a railroad engineer in Colombia, and a long way radio. Marco’s grandfather used the radio to communicate with his wife when working on the mountain. One day, one of his family members using the radio connected with someone in Canada. Amazingly, a single connection from two radios in two separate countries eventually led to marriage. This led Marco’s 3 aunts to go to Toronto, prompting Marco and his family to visit them.
One thing led to another and soon after, Marco became a landed immigrant, and in 2003, he started working in construction in BC. He eventually moved on to work in a lab studying soil analysis, then came to New Westminster to work in exploration and mining. Currently, Marco focuses on land development in hopes of improving BC’s rocky terrain and difficult transportation system.
The convenience of New Westminster is what attracts Marco to the city. Due to the nature of his work, he prefers to be closer to farm lands like Richmond, Surrey, or Pitt Meadows, but the well-linked transportation system – its Sea-to-Sky highway connecting West Vancouver to Whistler – improved roads to Pemberton, Portman Bridge, and the sky train, have held Marco back.
Becoming Canadian in a “broken society” of multiculturalism
Living in Canada for over 10 years, Marco shows no hesitation in identifying himself as a Canadian. But he has had his share of challenges starting fresh in a foreign country with a mosaic of cultures and a “precarious social and employment system.” Although Marco lived in several places during his childhood and youth, he admits that from his viewpoint, Mexico and Venezuela mostly had a single, unified identity. His life in Germany and Canada was a steep learning curve as he learned how to communicate with diverse groups of people.
Nevertheless, Marco points out that an integrated culture leads to better solutions. He is grateful for Canada’s strong education system and technological infrastructure. Marco hopes to continue contributing to the country through his expertise in Earth and Ocean studies, which has been a life-long passion since his childhood in Venezuela.
The following is Marco’s additional story.
Marco’s spiritual belief
“A winter snowfall in early 2009 set Marco to be a “solidarian neighbor” and inspired him to shovel snow around his block in New Westminster. He was helping others to find a way through the cold streets on that Sunday morning but little did he know that the Lord was also opening a way for him to be saved and “Born Again” in Christianity.
He met his revival in Christianity through a lady named Nancy, from Manitoba, who was evangelizing on the streets, recruiting more Christians in her campaign for the salvation of lost souls. Nancy McMillan, the pianist of the Apostolic Faith Church was on that morning not aware that she might have found a good friend when she convinced Marco to enroll in the church’s Biblical Studies through Sunday school. Marco accepted Nancy’s challenge to revive his spiritual life by learning the Bible, Jesus and the Christian faith through her church. Ever since that day, Marco has not only been a faithful follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit but also of the School Lessons where he is finally studying parts of the Bible he never read before.”
Becoming a founding member and director of the North American Legacy
The North American Legacy Foundation (or NALF) has been Marcos’ volunteering experience while living and working with Canadians in British Columbia. He plans to make the NALF a leading Canadian non-for-profit organization capable of introducing educational programs in basic agriculture and ranching to everyone interested across the country and the United States. There is still lots to do before the foundation takes-off but Marco is sure to make it happen.
It was in 2006 when he and Lisa Brooke, a social worker from MOSAIC, her brother Paul, Marco’s sister and one of Lisa’s sons got together as a team to incorporate a non-profit that could help our communities in North America through education and skills development. In those days, they noticed that the number of people in Canada who were not learning English as part of their integration process was growing. The team thought of doing something that could invite them to learn English and develop more skills. They also noticed that basic skills for horticulture, farming, and ranching needed to be reinforced with basic training programs adequate for youth and adults.
It took him and his team four years to clear the vision, conceive the mission, and define the programs of the foundation. After a close look at the government’s resources for learning English, Marco and the other founders realized that there was very little left to do. Education in horticulture, on the other hand, was an open ended road with opportunities to create programs in urban farming, animal husbandry and some other aspects of biology and ecology that apply to sustainable living. The challenge of how to interpret the name correctly became an opportunity when Marco created the program titled “Recycling Seeds” – a program that envisions rescuing seeds from going into composting bins from every home that adopts the program. The goal of “Recycling Seeds” is to build seed stocks that are able to germinate and supply viable seedlings for home-grown gardens, urban farms, and nurseries.
He invites all to find out more about the foundation by visiting: