Art for Gorillas

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC), Ministry of Education - Rwanda | Date: Dec 29 2008 | By: Julie

As you know, this time of year many people take some time off from their work to observe the holidays, but such is not the case for a few dedicated primary and secondary schoolteachers working in Rwanda’s Northern Province.

The government of Rwanda is requiring classroom instruction to be conducted in English. This is great news for me as English is my native language and I have Valerie as my trusty translator, but it poses a challenge to many teachers who want to keep their jobs and presently speak only the country’s bantu-based Kinyarwanda and French.

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Valerie and Vince step outside of a Musanze District school with primary and secondary schoolteachers after their English lesson and AoC’s planning meeting.

Team Art of Conservation caught up with some of these dedicated teachers after their English language tutoring. The team and I are extremely pleased to be forming a working relationship with Rwanda’s Ministry of Education and its staff in our joint effort toward conservation education and we have plenty to discuss before we begin teaching again in January 2009.

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As a token of our appreciation, Valerie presents Donat, the Rushubi Primary School headmaster, an AoC T-Shirt.

Recently, Donat visited Art of Conservation’s office, garden, and art studio.

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Standing next to the project’s sample garden, Vince and Donat discuss what types of tree species we are planting and what purposes in conservation do the trees serve.

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Continuing to the art studio, Eric shows Donat how he prepares the papier mache he uses for making primate masks - Valerie listens in.

Speaking of taking some time off… I am writing today from the Yucatan Peninsula at Tulum, Mexico. Tomorrow I am exploring Mayan ruins and visiting local communities. I’ll try to post some photos of time spent in beautiful Mexico. Back to Rwanda in January!