Art for Gorillas

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC), Community Based Tourism, Gerb-0-Matic | Date: Oct 31 2008 | By: Julie

THANKS, my dear friends, for your recent comments and donations! Mary B, Silvia & Sara, and Paula - so happy to hear from you all. Mary G., Sara G., and DM - how nice it is of you for donating to Art for Gorillas. Valerie, Eric, Vince, and I appreciate each of you taking the time to reach out to us with your encouragement and support. Love to you all.

Positive energy continues for my team and I during these busy days - both in the office as well as showing our student’s work in a series of art shows to groups of tourists visiting the Northern Province of Rwanda. What fun we had meeting these wonderful visitors!

I enjoy the opportunity to speak with groups of visitors at a lodge nestled in the foothills of the volcanoes.

Valerie, Eric, Vince, and I park the truck at the bottom of the ‘hills’ and begin hauling the art and displays up to the lodge. Our trek makes it all the more interesting and fun.

A view from the community lodge - not so bad - especially after a day of trekking and visiting the mountain gorillas! Life can’t get much better than this!

Occasionally I get frustrated about the limited availability of art supplies in Rwanda but then I’m reminded of my friend and artist Steve Gerberich and I stop feeling sorry for myself. Click here for Steve’s Gerb - O - Matic website and you’ll see what one can do with found objects! And while you’re at it, please tell Steve to jump on the next plane to help Valerie, Eric, Vince, and me. He would unquestionably be a HUGE hit with the kids in our classes! Thanks!

Tags: Art of Conservation, gerbomatic

2 responses so far

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC), ISAE, Ministry of Agriculture-Rwanda | Date: Oct 27 2008 | By: Julie

Vince (pictured above at left) joins Valerie and Eric - building a strong and more diversified Art of Conservation team!

Please join me in welcoming a new member to our team - Vincent de Paul RUKUNDO. Vince is in his final year of university level studies at the Higher Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, (ISAE BUSOGO). He brings valuable knowledge and experience in rural development and agribusiness - his special interests are in modern agricultural techniques, soil protection, and water management.

Click here for the website of Higher Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

In 2004, Vince performed a role as an agronomist technician at a cooperative in developmental agriculture with focus on farming and forestry. The cooperative is known as COODAF, Cooperative de Developpement Agricole, Elevage et Forestier.

After completing this work experience, Vince performed duties as an agricultural monitor in a project aimed at mobilizing rural people in finding the value of agricultural activities, (PARVA, Programme d’Animation Rurale pour la Valorisation des Activites Agricoles).

Please click here if you would like more information on Rwanda’s Ministry of Agriculture, MINAGRI.

We continue adding to our existing conservation learning curricula and with Vince’s input, we are set to include lots more practical knowledge of every day living as well as introducing progressive techniques and ideas. Very exciting!

Tags: Art of Conservation (AoC)

3 responses so far

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Oct 22 2008 | By: Julie

“You received HOW MUCH at market for our goat?” the woman screams out at her husband.

So the story goes and it doesn’t look good for the husband who sold the family’s goat at market for an incredibly low price and the family is hungry and needs to buy food.

Rushubi Primary Schoolchildren vote this story to be the one they’ll illustrate in today’s exercise Lesson Where Art Tells A Story.

Illustration by HAKIZIMANA Innocent.
…every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end…

Illustration by MUHAWENIMANA Christine.
Inzara, Hunger by Rushubi Primary School Art of Conservation Students.
A husband and a wife are home and are very hungry…

Illustration by NIYONSABA Valence.
Together they decide that the husband will take their goat to market to sell…

Illustration by BIZIMANA Pacifique.
When the husband returns home from the market, his wife asks him how much money he received from the sale of the goat…

Illustration by MANISHIMWE.
After hearing the low price, she gets extremely angry at him for selling the goat at the cheapest price…

Illustration by MUNYANSHOZA.
The End

Illustration by NTIREHGANYA Leonard.

Not the happiest story I’ve ever heard, but it was up to the children to decide which story they wanted to concentrate on for the day. Perhaps their bellies were empty and HUNGER was at the top of their lists of concerns.

Another story soon.

Tags: Art of Conservation (AoC)

No responses yet

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Oct 20 2008 | By: Julie

Storytelling is the theme of today’s exercise. I ask the classroom of 50 children to share stories they’ve heard from their families and friends or stories they’ve created themselves.

A boy, 10-years of age, stands up and tells a really long and convoluted story - Valerie is whispering her interpretations of the story in my ear. The storyteller’s captive audience listens intently. I must admit I didn’t actually understand the story! Together, we listen to more stories and the kids get plenty of laughs both out of the stories themselves as well as the funny antics the storytellers send out.

Next, the class votes on one story they wish to focus on - they choose Cat and Chameleon.
The story goes something like this….
A cat and a chameleon challenge each other to see who is the fastest runner to reach a chair and sit on the chair before the other one does. Both the cat and chameleon claim to be very fast. 1, 2, 3 and they’re off! The cat speeds ahead but the chameleon grabs onto the cat’s tail without the cat knowing. When the cat reaches the chair and is about to sit down, the chameleon yells, “STOP! You’re going to sit on me!” Hence, the chameleon sits down on the chair before the cat and becomes the winner. The End

Watercolors and watercolor paper are distributed to each student and they begin illustrating a beginning, a middle, and an end to their story.

Lesson Where Art Tells A Story

Student HABIMANA Leonard’s illustration.

Student MUKESHIMANA Angelique’s illustration.

Student SEBASHYITSI Pierre Celestin’s illustration.

Student MUKASHYAKA’s illustration.

Student BIMENYIMANA Fidele’s illustration.

Student NYIRABUNANE Floride’s illustration.

Student TURACYAYISENGA Claudine’s illustration.

Student NSHIMIYIMANA Claude’s illustration.

And finally, student ABIJURU Marie’s illustration.

Today’s class involving watching and listening to the children tell their stories, sensing their minds to be full of thought and creativity, witnessing a few of the more timid students muster confidence to share with everyone, and finally seeing the illustrations they arrive with for Cat and Chameleon was a unique pleasure.

Another story coming up.

Tags: Art of Conservation (AoC)

4 responses so far

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Oct 16 2008 | By: Julie

Help Protect the Mountain Gorillas - Sponsor One Child in AoC’s Conservation Learning Classes!

Valerie, Eric, and I are getting closer to finishing up lots of action planning and budgeting for the project - fortunately it’s not quite as difficult as I had first imagined it to be - but we do look forward to returning to the classroom and working with the kids. I apologize for not posting regularly - I miss hearing from you and sharing pictures and stories with you of life here in Rwanda - so I will get cracking on it and write more often!

Soon a new donation button will be active here at Art for Gorillas allowing donors to sponsor one child at $150.00. This allows a child to participate in what I think will be extended to a 6 month course, as opposed to just 3 months - in our project’s Conservation Learning through Art program. Your donation goes toward materials the child would never have the opportunity to use as well as help with Eric and Valerie’s salaries. Please consider this option! Your support is greatly appreciated!

Speak with you all again soon,

Julie

Tags: Art of Conservation (AoC)

2 responses so far