Art for Gorillas

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Mar 16 2009 | By: Julie

Shingiro Health Center, located in the Northern Province of Rwanda next to Volcanoes National Park, welcomes a much needed face-lift.

AoC receives a commission for a mural from CCHIPS Director Heidi Reukauf. The mural, not yet finished in the photo above, gives a much improved ambience for patients waiting to be seen by the doctor or nurse.

Art of Conservation’s art teacher, Eric Mutabazi, creates a design by incorporating former AoC adult student’s work.

Expressions of our Student’s Achievements...
The Art of Conservation project held an adult class at Shingiro’s Sector Office during the months of February through May 2008. (please click here to view earlier blog) Fifty students voluntarily attended this free course.

I must admit it is tough working with the Rwandan adult population. People are poor and are living a challenging life.

We call upon former students who may want to help with the mural. Talented and dedicated artists are excited to be involved. Eric, at the far left of the photo, directs three students.

From the first class meeting back in 2008 to the very last, participants were still asking, “But what are we getting at the end of the course?” And, “She (being me) is going to give us money, right?” And, “We’re going to get a job after this, right?” Eric even received a phone call at 3 in the morning from one of the students demanding him to tell him what he was going to get after completing FREE conservation learning classes! Needless to say, the team and I felt liberated on our last day with this group. As we were pulling away from their village, Valerie quietly said she thought our car may be hit with rocks.

Lesson learned…conservation is grueling work!

But as it always happens when we hit a low, new challenges are met and positive energy floods in again.

Marie Louise Imanizabayo is an integral member of the mural team. All of the volunteers receive a payment for their time.

Heidi Reukauf of Comprehensive Community Health Initiatives and Programs, (CCHIPS), directs her team, the clinic’s staff, community members and together they have immeasurably improved the standards at Shingiro Health Center. Good work Heidi! The photo above shows Heidi assessing Eric’s work.

I remember Pierre Damien Sendugu very well from our 2008 class. He was always extremely kind and worked hard. Here Pierre paints a forest elephant.

Despite the rough time we experienced with this group of adults during our 2008 classes, the opportunity to work with them again - in the area of art and conservation - was a reminder to us and to them that our time together was well spent.

Embracing the natural world doesn’t always provide immediate and tangible rewards, but those who pay close attention, eventually feel a gratifying culmination to their sensitivities.