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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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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Thanks, Paula, Sheryl, Wanda, and Antonio, for your recent comments! It’s great to hear from you all.

Does a country at PEACE help MOUNTAIN GORILLAS? I would say so. The children at Nyabigoma Primary School who are participating in Art of Conservation classes illustrate people caring for people in their drawings as a way of depicting people’s positive impact on the environment.

Recently, at Nyabigoma Primary School, Team AoC had the pleasure of speaking with the governor of the Northern Province of Rwanda, Boniface RUCAGU, as well as the mayor of Musanze District, Celestin KARABAYINGA and Director General of ORTPN, Rosette Chantal RUGAMBA. The governor points to a drawing on display made by one of the children and asks me what it means. I happily share with him that the drawing is a result from our discussions on conservation. And with this particular drawing, the student is expressing his view of a POSITIVE impact people may have on the environment - living in peace and caring for our family and friends. Needless to say, all agreed!

We are standing in front of art made by Art of Conservation students at Nyabigoma Primary School, a school built by means of Rwanda’s tourism revenue sharing scheme. Pictured from left to right: Mayor Celestin KARABAYINGA, ORTPN’s Director General Rosette Chantal RUGAMBA, Governor Boniface RUCAGU, and School Master Cyprien NTABARESHYA.

Bebe NAHAYO’s picture of peace.

Elvis Costello asks, “(What’s so funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?”

AoC student BIZIMANA’s picture.

Special guests and speakers at ORTPN’s function in Kinigi continue on to more locations in which community based programs are operating. School children dance and sing.

Julie

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And we’re off!

Team AoC, Eric, Valerie, Fahad, and I, occasionally go for a run after AoC’s children’s classes which are held on the weekends. After leaving Nyabigoma Primary School, we usually park the truck nearby at a point where many of the tour operators drop off their clients for the commencement of their mountain gorilla or golden monkey visit. The visitors will walk along cultivated fields and pass by family compounds and perhaps a goat or two before reaching the buffalo wall - a dry stone wall which is about one meter high and one meter thick. Once one climbs over the wall, one has entered the protected forest of Parc National des Volcans. The setting is beautiful here in Kinigi District, the Northern Province of Rwanda, but certainly not void of problems facing the local human and animal population.

Look who’s coming….Eric and Valerie!

It may not appear to be a very steep incline, but once Eric, Valerie and I turn around and head ‘up hill’ the breathing gets a lot more difficult! Ah, but it feels so good!

Counting to ten in Kinyrwanda while doing pushups is…FUN?

During the weekends while we are running around up in Kinigi, tennis is going on down in Ruhengeri/Musanze Town.
(Please see Sports for Gorillas)
We have a new tennis coach, Tony. I will introduce you to him in an upcoming post.

Cooling down, balancing, breathing and stretching.

Team AoC’s work is done for the day so we travel down the ‘hill’ to Ruhengeri/Musanze Town and collapse!

More again soon,
Julie

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Our small but mighty Art of Conservation team is preparing its second year of art classes and exhibitions in the Northern Province of Rwanda. Soon, we will be speaking with ORTPN’s Chief Park Warden, Justin RURANGIRWA, district secretaries, local leaders, and school headmasters to hear from them where in Kinigi District they would like us to hold the three classes, and whether they wish us to focus on adults or kids. Our weekly schedule last year consisted of one adult class during the week and one for primary school-age children on Saturday and Sunday mornings - so we wouldn’t interfere with their school program. It will be interesting to hear from the chief park warden. For instance, the last class AoC held for adults was located in an area that is notorious for poachers.

But… before we move on, I would like to introduce you to…
Team AoC: Eric, Valerie and Fahad.

Team AoC: Fahad, Valerie and Eric.

Eric MUTABAZI
Artist and Instructor

Eric is standing in front of the sign he made for Gorillas Nest Hotel in Kinigi.

Eric grew up in Musanze District, Northern Province, Rwanda. He attended secondary school at the School of Art Nyundo in Gisenyi, Rubavu District, Rwanda. He has worked mostly as a graphic artist producing logos and signage for a variety of clients and is AoC’s lead art instructor.

Here Eric is asking a student to show an expression on his face for the class to draw.

Eric is one of few well-established, working artists in Rwanda despite the many challenges of life and work in one of the world’s most highly populated and poor countries.

Eric is giving a lesson on how to draw a gorilla.

Eric enjoys working with all types of media - especially paints - and hopes one day to have his own well-supplied studio. He lives in Musanze District with his wife and two children.

With the guitar I found in Goma, DRC, and Eric strums away.

It is wonderful working with Eric. He is always giving the most he can offer to the students and is extremely kind. He also defies the rule that most Rwandans dislike and fear dogs. He loves my two dogs and they love him.

Valerie AKUREDUSENGE
Translator, Intepreter, and Assistant to Director

Valerie knows Kinyarwanda, English, French, and Kiswahili.

Valerie grew up in the Gakenke District in the Northern Province of Rwanda. Like many Rwandans, she lost her family members during the 1994-1998 war, but persevered. She is in her last year of university level training at INES-Ruhengeri, Institute d’Enseignement Superieur de Ruhengeri, in the Department of Translation and Interpreting.

Valerie is helping hang AoC banners with art students of Kabeza community. Tourists and community members view the student’s artwork printed on the banners that in turn leads to communication about art, conservation, and health.

Valerie has worked as a translator and guide for Amahoro Tours, a community-based tourism company based in Ruhengeri. She completed a two-month internship with the Rwandan Parliament, translating and interpreting speeches as well as written text. Her independent study is about the importance of proper training for guides who work in community-based tourism

After returning from a day of singing and dancing with Ninda community, Valerie and visiting artist, soprano and animal lover, Virginia Croskery, sit in MGVP’s library transcribing the music we were listening to.

Chief Park Warden, Justin RURANGIRWA, and Valerie at Ninda’s Expose discuss how the participants of Ninda community benefit from AoC’s three-month art classes. Justin then speaks with the students, reinforcing that small steps taken in areas of personal hygiene, family planning, among others, can lead to better health.

Valerie and I have worked closely together for almost two years. Counterbalancing the hard work we are doing, we end up laughing while driving home after classes so much that our faces hurt from grinning.

Fahad NDANGIZA
Assistant to Eric in Art Instruction

Fahad is just now starting to work with AoC.

Fahad is joining Team AoC this year and we are pleased to be working with him. He grew up in Kisoro District in western Uganda. After completing primary and secondary level education, Fahad attended Kakungulu Memorial School in Kampala for two years of advanced level arts. Fahad says he returned to Rwanda, his home country, to share his knowledge with his people.

And then there is me, Julie Ghrist
Director

I am enjoying the singing and dancing. Nice hat.

In closing, I would like to share a big thank you to Natasha and Ron, from San Francisco, USA who are here trekking and visiting mountain gorillas. Referred by former MGVP vet, Dr. Felicia Nutter, Natasha and Ron contacted me before leaving the United States for their journey and kindly asked what art materials they could bring and donate to the project. Eric, Valerie, Fahad, and I went to
Virunga Volcaones Lodge where they are staying and had a wonderful two-hour long conversation. Both of their careers are in the financial world, but Ron has a passion for photography and ceramics. He shared with us the art scene in San Francisco and I cannot tell you what buzz there was between Eric and Fahad in the back of my truck as we headed home after our time with Natasha and Ron. Thanks, again, for the art materials, which are nearly impossible to purchase in Rwanda, and for igniting lots of positive energy.

Trekkers from San Francisco, Natasha and Ron, generously share their time and donate much needed art materials to AoC.

Until the next posting,
Julie

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