Archive for May, 2008
Team AoC, Eric, Valerie, Fahad, and I, occasionally go for a run after AoC’s children’s classes which are held on the weekends. After leaving Nyabigoma Primary School, we usually park the truck nearby at a point where many of the tour operators drop off their clients for the commencement of their mountain gorilla or golden monkey visit. The visitors will walk along cultivated fields and pass by family compounds and perhaps a goat or two before reaching the buffalo wall - a dry stone wall which is about one meter high and one meter thick. Once one climbs over the wall, one has entered the protected forest of Parc National des Volcans. The setting is beautiful here in Kinigi District, the Northern Province of Rwanda, but certainly not void of problems facing the local human and animal population.
It may not appear to be a very steep incline, but once Eric, Valerie and I turn around and head ‘up hill’ the breathing gets a lot more difficult! Ah, but it feels so good!
During the weekends while we are running around up in Kinigi, tennis is going on down in Ruhengeri/Musanze Town.
Team AoC’s work is done for the day so we travel down the ‘hill’ to Ruhengeri/Musanze Town and collapse! More again soon,
In the previous post, we make the hankies and now Team AoC is ready to distribute them to our Art of Conservation students along with a discussion on how and why we want to stop the spread of germs and a lesson on more daily healthy habits as part of our ongoing One-Health education. Also, I wish to send my appreciation to Mary, Sara, Lucia Cristiana, Theresa, Nancy, Sherri, and Lisa for your recent comments of support and encouragement. Thanks, gals.
I begin by asking the kids what we do when we sneeze or cough or have a cold. They suggest turning away or grabbing leaves. They also give a suggestion equivalent to what I know as the ‘farmer’s sneeze’ which receives lots of laughs. Being from Iowa and spending time in the country, I know this method and only hope not to be down wind from the guy sneezing or blowing his nose.
So out with the hankies and we offer more guidance on how to stop the direct transmission of ‘germs’ such as coughing into one’s elbow and/or their new hanky, washing hands after the toilet and before taking meals.
In addition to addressing the health risks of transmission of germs, we promote dental care with toothbrushes and paste for everyone. Our hope is that this sets in motion daily habit forming, but it’s definitely questionable. Can parents afford to replace tooth paste when this runs out? Will someone opt to sell these new things at the market to get a little bit of money? Will a mother use the hanky as a diaper for a baby? Will someone steal the new things? All the aforementioned are highly probable. I know the project’s work is hardly finished. It will takes lots of time and energy to bring about changes.
And now down to the business of drawing.
I receive many comments from you, readers, about how cute the kids are and I totally and completely agree. Please help WildlifeDirect plan the next five years. Please take the user survey. The link is on the home page and it is short. Thanks. Until next time,
I just received notice of two donations from anonymous contributors, one on 1 May and the other on 9 May. Thank you very much! I truly appreciate your generosity. sniffle, SNEEZE, cough, sniffle, sneeze, COUGH, sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough, SNIFFLE…. Our project, Art of Conservation, works directly with the people who are living next to a protected area, in this case, Parc National des Volcans. Our students practically live side by side with the endangered mountain gorilla. Recently, Team AoC incorporated lessons emphasizing the importance of personal hygiene by encouraging students to form healthy daily habits. We know research shows there is strong evidence suggesting that many primate species are susceptible to many of the infections that people are afflicted with and that the transmission of infection can occur in both directions. We encourage a one-health approach to life and try our best to set examples for the students to follow. Can we motivate our art students to better care for themselves which inevitably spirals to better health for their families, better health for their communities, their land, water, forest, gorillas and other animals and then back again? A hanky may seem an insignificant item toward the efforts of one-health, but small steps can help. STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 (Optional)
Into the classrooms with the hankies - coming up. Help WildlifeDirect plan for the next five years….please take the user survey. Julie
Lesson Where Proportion Helps us Observe More of the World Around Us - DRAWING the HUMAN HEAD Firstly, I wish to begin with a quick response to Paula and Theresa’s comments from the last post Life Without Art and Music? Paula, please visit us here in Rwanda and show us how to make a Podcast of the children singing to share on the blogs. We would love it! And Theresa, I am happy to hear you can find some joy while viewing I grew up in a family that had and continues to have a wonderful combination of creativity and seriousness. I believe if I can’t laugh and play and create in the face of the challenges life presents, then it would be hard to cope and I most certainly wouldn’t be doing any service to the animals and people here in Africa, which is why I’m here in Rwanda. If it appears like our Art of Conservation students are having fun while they are in class learning and creating new ideas, then I am extremely happy as well. Equally important, I think, is what the students are teaching us. Thanks, Paula and Theresa, for your comments and support.
Below, two drawings from Shingiro adult student Pierre Damien SENDUGU.
Below, two drawings by 12 year old student, Fabrice ISHIMWE.
Below, two drawings by Eric HAKIZIMANA - age 14.
More again soon with Putting Things in Proportion: Part 2. Julie
That’s like imagining the Virunga Forest WITHOUT mountain gorillas, forest buffaloes, golden monkeys, and forest elephants (yikes!). ART - Recently, we, Valerie, Eric, Fahad, and I, brought to our Art of Conservation classes a variety of additional artist’s tools. Due to time and financial resource constraints, we will most likely not get to a lesson dedicated to experimenting with acrylics or oils on canvas, for example. This is OK - we cover a lot in our three-month courses - but we still want to briefly expose our students to a few other possibilities and choices for making art.
MUSIC - In addition to art materials, we bring to class any musical instrument we can get our hands on. No one really knows how to play the guitar, but who cares? Sometimes it is just great to make noise.
Life WITHOUT art, music, and mountain gorillas…NO WAY!
Thank you to an anonymous donor for a greatly appreciated contribution. Art of Conservation welcomes Club SIDA spokesperson Odile NYIRAGUHIRWA to this week’s classes. SIDA is an acronym for the disease AIDS in various languages, including French (Syndrome d’Immuno Deficience Acquise).
Odile discusses with Shingiro’s adult students information about HIV/AIDS, living with the disease, measures of prevention and family planning. Topics, such as these, may naturally arouse discomfort and embarrassment, but Odile’s open and sincere approach allows for an effective examination of the seriousness at hand.
Opening a discussion with the kids during our weekend classes, Odile begins by asking the questions. She asks them if they see and feel changes in their bodies, do they want to have children when they get older and if they do, how many children do they want to have. She continues with asking how many brothers and sisters do they have in their family. Sheepishly they respond with numbers as high as eight and ten siblings and add they want to have one or two children. Odile warns of misleading and dangerous situations they may face - one of the most egregious being confronted by an adult who attempts to coerce a child into sexual activities.
After Odile finishes her exchange with everyone, we move to our art lesson of the day which is covered in an upcoming blog, please stay tuned! “We love you, Odile!” holler the children as they press out the door at the end of class. For more information on these topics, please click here, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. Enjoy the day. |
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Welcome to Art for Gorillas.
This is Julie Ghrist, director of Art of Conservation (AoC):
Creating a Healthful Connection between People & Mountain Gorillas.
Team AoC includes Valerie Akuredusenge, Eric Mutabazi, and Fahad Ndangiza.
AoC is a partner of Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, Inc. (MGVP, Inc.).
