Hi Sonja - Glad you liked the previous post with all the colors!

My holiday in Madagascar is coming to a close - soon work will resume in Rwanda. Before we leave this great land of lemurs here is another figure behind conservation, Mbola Manarivo Jean, describing his work protecting Berenty Nature Reserve in the southern region of Madagascar.

To visit Berenty Nature Reserve, we first arrive by plane at Fort Dauphin and then travel on an extremely potholed road for 3 hours. Above are people we meet along the way.

Big tamarind trees compose part of Berenty’s dry gallery forest which is located on the banks of the Mandrare River. It is such a beautiful forest.

Madagascar flying fox bats hanging out near the Mandrare River in the dry gallery forest.
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Verreaux’s sifaka hanging out there too.
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A forest guard.
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A close-up of Didiereacaea in the spiny forest.
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A towering baobab tree.

Sisal fiber drying in the sun.

Oooooommmmmm, Ring-tailed lemurs basking in the glorious sun, appear as if they are reciting this sacred mantra.

I recommend everyone MOVES IT to Madagascar to witness its beauties and treasures.

The country’s flora and fauna face grave consequences due to rampant deforestation and other environmental degradation. Supporting people like Vy and Jean - featured in the videos - helps with protecting the lemurs.

Lords & Lemurs - Mad Scientists, Kings with Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar a book written by Alison Jolly, gives terrific information about Berenty and the island’s history as well as details of her research.

Next post from Rwanda,
Julie

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Thanks for viewing the previous Madagascar blog which included my first video! The next video is not quite as shaky! We heard from Mike who shares with us information about the new exhibit at the Bronx Zoo in New York called Madagascar and the New York Academy of Sciences recently released Podcast which features the director of the program. I’ll tune in.

Hi Paula. Thanks for your comments. I will continue sharing what I experienced in Madagascar with my Rwandan park staff colleagues. By the way, do you know when you are traveling to Rwanda and/or DRC next?

I recently spent time with my mom, siblings, nieces, nephew, and friends in Des Moines, Iowa USA. Fortunately, my immediate family and friends did not experience horrific damage from this summers torrential rains and flooding. I offer my sympathy to those who lost their homes, fields and animals. I also want to express a BIG thank you to my mom, Jo Ghrist, for her continued support to Art of Conservation. She knows better than anyone that is is not easy for me shlepping duffles stuffed with art supplies, books, computer equipment and everything else from Des Moines to Rwanda! She also knows I am determined in trying to make a difference for a few Rwandan children and a few mountain gorillas. So, MOM, thanks again for your love and support.

Madagascar - a herpetologist’s and entomologist’s paradise - has around 340 known reptile species. Below are photographs a fellow traveler and I snapped during our 2 week Madagascar ecotour.

The watercolors interspered between the photos were made in Rwanda during our art classes last year, 2007.

Chameleons are solitary creatures and spend most of their time in trees.

Pretty watercolors painted be Art of Conservation students in Rwanda, 2007.

The eyes of a chameleon move independent of each other.

Team AoC invited a visiting herpetologist to its three classes. After our discussion about chameleons, snakes, and frogs, we headed outside to get up-close and personal with these reptiles. The students easily located them in the nearby bushes. When finished, we carefully placed them back.

A chameleon takes hold of branches with its toes and fingers which are fused together in two opposing groups. Its tail is used as a fifth hand.

More artful Reptilia from AoC’s students.

Who doesn’t love a hissing cockroach? Sara, my sister, does.

Many other invertebrates abound here in Madagascar: the Giraffe-necked weevil, the Giant katydid, the Lubber grasshopper, scorpions, millipedes, brightly colored butterflies and moths, to name a few.

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And finally, photographs from Al Padilla, a fellow traveler who never ceased to teach and amuse me with his brilliant and humorous views on life.

A gorgeous gecko.

Noses that just won’t stop - actually referred to as rostral protuberances - are used to impress females and in combat.

A painted mantella is pictured above. There are between 220 and 300 frogs species living on Madagascar.

I’ve read that there are currently 67 species of chameleons in Madagascar and new ones are being discovered.

A beautiful smile from this White Nile Croc.

Julie

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Movin’ It on Holiday to Madagascar.

I’d like to share with you short videos of the people I work with here in Rwanda and people I meet along the way who are contributing to conservation.

Please bare with me - videos, editing, YouTube are all new to me!

We’ll start with words from an ecotour guide in Madagascar, Vy RAHARINOSY, as he shares a little about what he does, what is his favorite animal, and the art he likes the most in Madagascar and conclude the video with a taste of Malagasy culture. If you’ve been following Art for Gorillas, perhaps you are familiar with our approach to conservation - my team and I believe in promoting symbiotic relationships between people, animals, and nature. What so impressed me and my fellow travel companions about Vy during our tour of Madagascar is how he brought these aspects together for us and we left the island feeling we knew a lot more - not just about lemurs, but about the people, their culture, their needs, the environmental and economic challenges they face. Vy holds so much knowledge about the many national parks and reserves - each with its own unique ecosystems. And get this, he studied philosophy in India and sings Elvis and Nat King Cole beautifully and loves dogs.

Vy Raharinosy, my Malagasy Hero

Vy hires superb local forest guides who offer excellent details about the animals, reptiles, birds and trees. Above is ‘le petit frere’, the little brother, who along with his big brother, sister, and father is a guide in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park - a rainforest situated in the east of the island.

I stood entranced when this Indri indri began its calls to the other lemurs - I’ve never heard anything like it. Still in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.

Mama Indri indri with her baby’s head poking out from the comfort and safety of her belly!

Above, a Diademed Sifaka in the same montane forest - about 4 hours by car from the capital, Antananarivo. Madagascar’s rainforests were once in a band extending from the north to the south. Now only fragments remain due to deforestation caused by the timber industry, slash-and-burn agriculture practices, and the production of charcoal for cooking.

Here, Vy’s favorite lemur, the bamboo lemur. Hiking through forests, I was comparing the plight of the mountain gorilla whose habitat is a chain of volcanoes extending through DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda to that of the lemur found only in Madagascar - both primate species are endangered. ORTPN, Rwanda’s park and tourism service and a partner of Art of Conservation is protecting the gorillas primarily through tourism, empowering park staff, and trying to set in motion sustainable income generation and good health for the communities surrounding the park.

Do those of you who have traveled to Rwanda think that ORTPN is perhaps a model for Madagascar? Can increased tourism help the Malagasy?

I booked my ecotour with Ged at Terra Incognita Ecotours. Ged brings clients to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas and this is how I got to know him. Click here to visit Ged’s wonderful ecotour offerings.

More on Madagascar coming up.
Julie

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One group coming in - one group going out. This is how it was with groups of Kigali school children on their field trips to Kandt House Natural History Museum.
Art from our last 3-month course from local communities surrounding Parc National des Volcans (PNV) is on display along with the museum’s permanent exhibits.

Green Hills Academy gave their visiting children a long list of questions:
1. Name of the museum…
2. Location of the museum…
3. Whose home is now the national history museum?
4. Mention any two parts of Rwanda that were explored by Richard Kandt.
5. How did he die?
6. What is a rock?
7. Name the examples of rocks on display…
8. Name five national parks found in Rwanda…
9. Name five main volcanos…
10. When did Nyamulagira volcano erupt?
11. Where do the volcanic bombs come from?
12. State the influence of volcanic mountains on man’s activities…
13. What is unusual about how river Mukungwa flows?
14. What type of vegetation is on display?
15. Name three of each of the following from Rwanda
a) Reptiles
b) Birds
c) Mammals
16. What skills are required to protect the environment?
17. What attitude is being developed in our society toward the environment?
18. What is your responsibility in trying to keep/conserve the environment?

After viewing Art of Conservation’s exhibit as well as the museum’s permanent collection, students ponder questions and draw gorillas on the patio of the Kandt House.

I always loved taking field trips while I was in school.

APACOPE Secondary School students with Eric concentrating on the interactive sheet.
Photo by Sophia Milosevic Bijleveld - 2008.

Three boys on the patio of the museum.
Photo by Sophia Milosevic Bijleveld - 2008.

Valerie, Eric, Fahad, and I wish to thank Sophia and the rest of the Kandt House Natural History Museum staff for the wonderful opportunity to exhibit art at the museum and the chance to interact with Kigali school children and their teachers. It was such a positive experience for us all.

For those of you coming to Kigali, the museum is open everyday 9:00 - 5:00 except 1 January, 7 April, 1 May, and 4 July. Art of Conservation’s temporary exhibit is up for the next few months. Hope you can visit!

Julie

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Do kids from the city like mountain gorillas?
Have they visited the park where golden monkeys live?
Do they ever see forest elephants in their back yard?

A few months ago, I received an email from Sophia Milosevic Bijleveld - she and her husband live in Kigali, Rwanda’s captial city which is approximately a 2 hour drive from where I live in the Northern Province and Parc National des Volcans where the mountain gorillas live. I was thrilled to learn more about her work at the Kandt House Museum of Natural History in Kigali and pleased that she was interested in learning more about our project.

Click here to see a photo of Richard Kandt’s house that is now the Natural History Museum and more information provided by the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda.

Conversations with Sophia were refreshing and we started planning for art from Art of Conservation students in the north to be brought down to the city for an exhibition. Sophia received final approval from the director of the Institute of National Museums, Professor KANIMBA and a date was set.

Team AoC loaded the trucks with art - art made from students from the classes we just finished - and once we arrived in Kigali we got busy hanging the work at the museum.

Sophia contacted schools in Kigali and arranged for field trips to the museum. Here, Valerie and Sophia with a group of school children discussing the lesson Nzeli and the Flying Dart: Dr. Lucy Tells a Story.

Fahad, at the far right, speaks with students visiting the museum from APACOPE (Association des Parents pour la Contribution a la Promotion de l’Education).

Above, Eric and students look at watercolors - Animals of the Virunga Forest: gorilla, golden monkey, forest elephant, and forest buffalo.

Sophia, Valerie, Eric and Fahad received many interesting questions from the children.
Here are a few:
1. Do gorillas eat bananas?
2. How do gorillas form their families?
3. How do they get to know each other?
4. Do they breast-feed?
5. Does HIV/AIDS come from gorillas?
6. Do gorillas have boundaries? Aren’t there gorillas in Congo and Uganda?
7. People say we come from gorillas? Why do gorillas still exist?
8. Between humans and gorillas, who appeared on the planet before the other?
9. What would happen if these animals no longer existed?

Some of the kids laughed when they learned that some of the drawings were made by adults and insisted they could draw better. Well, with the interactive sheets below, students soon had a chance to try for themselves.

After viewing and discussing the art, students drew gorillas, answered questions in their own words about conservation, and drew a sad and happy expression. Interactive sheet #1 in English and Kinyarwanda.

Here, we draw the body of a forest buffalo. Interactive sheet #2 in French.

Thank you Sophia, for giving us the opportunity to help bridge a gap between city streets and forests where the last remaining mountain gorillas inhabit.

Coming up next, more scenes from the Kigali.
Julie

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More scenes from Art of Conservation’s art show.

Two of Shingiro’s art students pose in front of their art on display.

Above, another student from Shingiro.

Team AoC is pleased to hear lots of talking between students, families, and friends.

Watercolors of animals in the Virunga Forest capture these children’s attention.

Do you remember when everyone received hankys? Quite a fashion statement!

Ester, at l’hotel Muhabura, here with Where Do Gorillas Come From? and 5 Great Apes art.

Art to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, next!

Julie

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It’s show time in the Northern Province of Rwanda for the children of Nyabigoma Primary School and the adults at Shingiro.

Arriving at the school early to hang the art, Valerie, Eric, Fahad and I are happy it isn’t raining - this traveling art show can easily get damaged from the rains common here in Kinigi.

Eraster and Eliab, two brothers from the Sunday class, quickly search for their art to show their mother.

Fahad describes the Protection / Destruction lesson with three mothers as he points to the resulting artwork.

Eric and a student’s father share comments about the FACIAL EXPRESSION exercise.

Valerie communicates with teachers and parents about the art.

While we were outside with students and families, Gabby from Clinics Rising, has been busy inside the classroom rigging up the laptop and projector to car batteries for the slideshow! Here, Gabby and Valerie are ready to push play.

Laughing and reflecting as we view all of the photographs taken from our three months together.

More scenes from the art show in the next post.
Julie

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The children go home with this art show invitation. We hope mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, teachers, and friends will attend.

Julie

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Art of Conservation’s three-month courses are coming to an end - a time of bittersweetness for Valerie, Eric, Fahad and me. Did we cover all that we intended to in such a short period? Did we move too quickly or at a nice pace in order for lessons to seep in? There are endless things we wish to introduce and encourage with each individual that discerning an appropriate time to stop teaching can be difficult to find. But on the other hand, we know we will soon begin working with another group of students and we’ve done our best to provide stimulus and courage to our current group of students. But we’ll still miss the people we’ve come to know.

T-Shirt painting and preparing invitations for next week’s art show is what we want to achieve today.
First…T-Shirts with a Virunga Forest animal painted on the front.

Simeon wears the T-Shirt he painted which has a forest elephant face!

Six students at a time paint their own design on a shirt using textile paints. They’ll have to wait until the art show to receive their shirt.

This young boy uses his golden monkey picture from a previous lesson for his T-Shirt design.

Eric assists a student with her design of a gorilla and name.

Here, a sneak peek of what’s to come…. the ART SHOW.

Julie

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LESSON IN ART CAPTURING FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, Part 2.
Paint a forest elephant’s face showing a HAPPY expression. Have fun!

Tapping into our imaginations, we conclude our series of facial expression drawings with the FOREST ELEPHANT. Living next to the protected area of Parc National des Volcans, the Virunga Forest, many of the students have witnessed forest elephants disregard the wall surrounding the park and move to fields near their own houses.

Any of you drink Tusker Beer in Kenya? Watching the children paint these great pictures I was reminded of the Tusker T-shirt design.

Perhaps some of you are getting a sense of joy seeing this work of facial expressions. Let me know if you do. Feel free to send me your drawing of an animal’s expression. I can post it here.

Julie

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