Danielle’s First Day of Teaching - The World, Africa, Rainforests, Mountain Gorilla Habitat
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 28 2009 | By: Julie
Hi, this is Danielle. School is back in session…
Students return this week after a three week break. Now I get the opportunity to teach with AoC.
Fahad, Innocent, Eric, and I plan the class agenda. Photo Michael Young 2009.
Everyday is a new day and the team of Art of Conservation tries to plan for everything. This not only includes the lesson plans but also how a lesson will be translated, the visual aids we can use, and most importantly an art project. This helps the children express what they have learned through a different method besides writing and speaking. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with all the team members because without them our lessons would not go as smooth as they do. It has been a challenging and great learning experience for me to coordinate with a translator. This experience has taught me to listen carefully and most importantly to be patient.
This photo is of the students working with a map of Africa.
For today’s lesson we emphasized the difference between countries and continents. We also went over relative location and how to use a compass. The goal of the lesson was for the children to walk out of the classroom having a greater understanding of where in the world they live and why Africa and Rwanda are unique places in the world.
Art projects are always fun for children.
Being able to express yourself through art not only gives the child a sense of comfort but also gives them a freedom they can not have through other types of expression. We gave a broad theme for them to decorate their envelopes with: What do you think is unique about Africa and/or Rwanda. The theme tied into the lesson so we could inspire the children to think of geography as not only maps and text but as a piece of art work.
Volunteer Danielle Stays Busy in Rwanda
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 27 2009 | By: Julie
Another post from Volunteer Danielle.
Fahad and I spend the morning watering the plants that the children have planted just outside of their school. I love being able to help the children take care of their new seedlings which are sprouting very beautifully. Photo Michael Young 2009.
What is wonderful about this school being in a rural community, is it gives us many opportunities to use the environment to teach them about living organisms and how to protect and make their wildlife survive and thrive.
Two mornings a week we worked on painting the mural on the rainwater tank outside of the school. I have never painted a mural before which enabled me to learn along with the children as we began our masterpiece! Photo Michael Young 2009.
With a couple hours of prep work such as scrapping the chipping paint away to make the surface even, we were on our way to painting. We had a great time but what impressed me the most was the level of concentration the children put into their art work. I have never seen children as focused and driven as I saw these children that morning. Two staff members of AoC even took the opportunity to throw in some art lessons about proportions and lines.
The mural is finished! Photo Michael Young 2009.
After two mornings of hard work from staff and the students we were able to finish the mural. This mural does not only add color to the school but it reminds the children and the community about the message AoC has been promoting: Staying Healthy. They painted pictures about the different ways they can be healthy such as keeping the classroom and toilets clean, washing their hands, brushing their teeth, and eating a well balanced meal.
I have also been given a wonderful opportunity to teach English in my spare time to a shop keeper down the street. Photo Michael Young 2009.
She has been one of the best students I have ever had. Never have I seen such determination from anyone to learn a new language. Her bright welcoming smile reminded me of why I decided to become a teacher when entering college. At times communication barriers were a problem for us since I did not have a translator. However, as they say pictures say a thousand words and through pictures, acting, and real life objects we broke the communication boundaries. In two days we covered basic vocabulary and simple conversation starters.
Alberto is another wonderful person living in Rwanda. All the way from Italy, Alberto came to Rwanda with an organization to work with orphaned children whose parents were victims of AIDS. Meeting him through Julie Ghrist, founder of AoC gave me another opportunity to work with a group of fantastic children. Photo Michael Young 2009.
Three days a week in the morning Alberto’s staff and I set out to run a camp for children while they were on school holiday. This would provide them with social opportunities and a learning experience. We began each day with a couple hours of games and songs. All of these games taught children to work together and to be respectful through out the activities. The last quarter of the morning was spent teaching the children the topic of the day. Day one was to love each other and your family. By teaching them love we hoped to decrease violence on the streets, at school, and at home.
More again tomorrow.
Danielle
Tags: children, conservation, education, environment, rwanda
From Volunteer Danielle
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 18 2009 | By: Julie
Hi! My name is Danielle Boyd. I am from Sugar Land, Texas. I attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas where I will be finishing up my last year as an Early Childhood Education major.
This is me at Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge in Kinigi last night. This is the area where the schools with Art of Conservation are located. I am here for three weeks.
My prior experience to this volunteer job has been at home teaching K-5th grade. I also volunteered in Thailand for a month planting trees and teaching a third grade class English. Every project is different and I always learn something new from every experience.
This is me working with some of the students from Rushubi Primary School on the foundation of the rain water tank. This effort is to promote healthy living to the children and the community. Muhawenimana took a strong interest in what I was doing, so we decided to pair up and work together to finish my part. I thoroughly enjoyed working with all of the students. Their concentration during this activity amazed me. Not one child left their mural until they had perfected every detail. They each took pride in their art work which to me reflected a lot about their drive in another aspects of their lives.
Here I am helping Innocent (one of the staff members at Art of Conservation) learn different computer skills. Since he does all of the assistant work, he has taken a special interest in improving his computer skills.
Taking a break from the project work visiting Group 13 in the Volcanoes National Park. This was a very new and eye opening experience for me. After working with Art of Conservation for the last few days I had learned a wealth of information about the gorillas and other animals. However, being able to see these amazing creatures in the natural habitat really struck me deeper than I had expected. No one can really describe what it is like seeing these fantastic creatures interacting with each other. It is something that I feel everyone must try to experience for themselves.
Here is Group 13 playing, resting, and eating during my one hour viewing time. After watching them for a few minutes they moved up towards the top of the mountain. It was quite a challenge viewing them but it made the experience even more memorable.
I will be blogging more during my last two weeks in Rwanda.
Danielle
Tags: children, conservation, gorillas, mural, one-health, painting, rwanda
“You Live in a Very Unique Part of the World”
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 14 2009 | By: Julie
And so here we are at the end of our second semester of conservation education classes. The children are on three-week break before resuming their third and final semester of the 2009 school year. With approximately 63 hours of conservation learning classes already completed and about 42 more hours to go, these 150 kids are truly growing into ambassadors for Rwanda’s mountain gorillas.
On the last day of the semester, following a 20-point exam, we put together pieces of a puzzle of a world map. We hope that this exercise helped to enlighten and reinforce to our students that they do indeed live in a most unique and vital ecosystem that deserves protection and further understanding.
Our students knew the word ‘puzzle’ as a type of game, but never as a ‘tangible’ game.
Kids take turns putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
The puzzle is complete and now it’s time to really examine our world!
Teaching the Importance of a Well-Balanced Diet
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 07 2009 | By: Julie
As part of our series of lessons on staying healthy, AoC is teaching students about the importance of eating a varied diet that balances starchy carbohydrates, protein, and vitamin-rich vegetables like spinach and broccoli. In Rwanda, most people’s diets are very heavy in starchy carbohydrates like potatoes and cassava, foods which provide energy and are cheap and easy to grow but are nutritionally poor. Unlike other African countries, we rarely see starving children in Rwanda but we do see a lot of undersized and weak kids who have most likely suffered from nutritionally-poor diets most of their lives.
While AoC can’t change the habits of our students’ parents, who are ultimately responsible for their diets, we still feel it’s important to educate the children about good nutrition so that the kids can make smart decisions when given a choice about food. We also encourage students to share the lessons with their parents in hopes that the whole family may develop healthier eating habits.
A selection of watercolors showing children eating a variety of foods, especially fresh vegetables.
A second collage of watercolors.
One student’s art work showing healthy foods including leafy vegetables, beans, fruit, meat, and milk.
Students view each other’s paintings, which are laid out on a table to dry.
Tags: one-health, staying healthy
Staying Healthy Where There is No Running Water, Part 3
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 04 2009 | By: Julie
Brush Teeth at Least Twice Daily
For the third and final blog in this series, here are photos and art work by the children depicting how they use the water from their rainwater tanks to brush their teeth at least twice per day.
A collage of watercolors illustrating tooth brushing.
This painting clearly shows the use of water in tooth brushing to rinse the mouth.
Another watercolor collage. See how some drawings try to show that the act of tooth brushing should be done at least twice per day, once in the morning and once at night.
Students work on their paintings in class.
Tags: one-health, staying healthy
Staying Healthy Where There Is No Running Water, Part 2
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 03 2009 | By: Julie
Cleaning Classrooms, Toilets, and the Rainwater Tank
For the second blog in my Staying Healthy Where There Is No Running Water series, here are photos and art work by the children depicting how they use the water from their rainwater tanks to clean the school facilities.
School teacher Michel hauls an arm full of brooms with red bristles donated by AoC. These and other supplies will be used to clean the school facilities.
It is customary in Rwandan government run schools for the students, as opposed to the teachers, to clean the classrooms and toilets. The illustrations above show everyone joining in the cleaning.
Illustration of cleaning toilet stalls with a mop and a broom. AoC has suggested that the schools also drop ash down the toilets to reduce the odor and help in decomposing fecal matter.
I paint numbers on all brooms and other supplies to indicate which classroom or toilet stall each belongs. After doing an initial inspection to see if teachers are following through with the numbering system it’s clear it will be a challenge. Unfortunately, I think in situations where people are used to receiving a lot of aid, the ethic of shared responsibility is weak.
We ask students to illustrate their acts of good hygiene to stress that these simple habit forming activities for staying healthy are not just folly. The students creating these paintings must surely be grasping this reality better.
Beautiful buckets, jerry cans, and locally made soap are marked with the schools name and classroom number. I go out of my mind with how some school supplies simply ‘walk off’ and disappear. We are definitely trying to discourage that!
Tags: one-health, staying healthy
Staying Healthy Where There is No Running Water, Part 1
Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jul 02 2009 | By: Julie
This blog is the first in a three-part series showing how the children and teachers at AoC’s schools are using their newly installed rainwater tanks to stay healthy. The past few weeks AoC has been working with the schools to teach the students and staff proper maintenance and use of the tanks so that the water collected stays clean and fresh and is used only for the purposes of maintaining good hygiene and cleaning the school facilities.
To emphasize these lessons, we asked the children to paint watercolors illustrating how they use the rainwater tanks to stay healthy. Here is a selection of art and photographs from our lesson about hand-washing.
Illustration of a student using the locally made handwashing stations.
Where there is no running water or electricity, one must make do with what is available and affordable and also sustainable and ecologically friendly. At the two schools we work with, locally made hand-washing stations that use water collected from the rainwater tanks made the most sense.
Hand-washing stations are placed outside of each classroom so students can wash their hands before entering.
A mosaic of some of the children’s hand-washing paintings.
After receiving months of instructions about staying healthy and foundational art lessons taught by AoC instructor Eric, the children were ready to put together their new skills. When asked to illustrate hand washing, two girls went outside of the classroom to sketch the water tanks on their drawing boards. I was thrilled to see them taking this initiative and observing each other using the station so that they could make their depictions more lifelike.
More pictures done on small pieces of watercolor paper.
Tags: one-health, staying healthy
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