Art for Gorillas

Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Oct 29 2009 | By: Julie

AoC’s Parents as Partners Open House at Rushubi Primary School.
All photos courtesy of Molly Feltner.

Wow, oh wow, we had a great turn out at our second open house! We didn’t even offer (nor will we ever) banana beer or per diems!

A future student? We are hopeful that this young child’s brother or sister–who was an AoC student, now a ‘graduate’–is handing down lessons to her such as the basic habits of personal hygiene, respect for oneself and others, and a sense of wonderment about the world they live in.

Gifts were given to students who received top marks on the final exam, who had perfect class attendance, and for putting forth exemplary effort throughout the school year. The woman pictured above, on the far right, stands proud after her daughter receives an award in all three categories.

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After Dative’s poignant letter she read aloud, I gave her a huge hug.

The teamwork of Eric, Innocent, Molly, Valerie, Phocas, Amahoro Tours driver Emmanuel and assistant Hassan, teachers, and students was remarkable. We simply can’t do what we’ve been trying to do if not for the commitment of this dedicated group of people.

Tags: children, conservation, education, environment, parents, rwanda

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Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Oct 21 2009 | By: Julie

2009’s conservation classes are wrapping up. January 2010, we’ll begin with a new group of children and their classroom teachers. But until then, the AoC team and I are determinedly revving up for one last effort to bring home what we have taught and involved our students, their teachers, their fellow classmates, and their families in - at our forthcoming Parents as Partners Open Houses.

In retrospect, I wish we had started with a parents open house in addition to finishing our year with another. I see all too clearly a lack of communication between parent and child, an absence of responsibility and compassion, a complacency and waiting for the next hand out. It was suggested more than once to us that parents would be more likely to attend the open house which begins at 9:00 am if we were to serve beer… I responded with something like there is NOT a chance in …., but we will offer fruit juice!

Change does begin with an individual and it does take time, but in a place like Rwanda with its relatively recent draconian history and the human population so high and such little land space, I feel we must do all we can to get our messages about health and conservation to our students and their families.

Each student writes his or her name on the invitation seen above - with the invitation in both English and Kinyarwanda - and takes it home.

Below, our invitation to park officials, district leaders, teachers, and more.

Eric and Innocent are working on their five minute speeches they will present to parents and invited guests which will stress the need to work together, as a team, if we want to make real change.

Wish us luck!

Tags: , children, communication, conservation, education, health, mountain gorillas

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Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Sep 02 2009 | By: Julie

Kicking off our section called Animals Living in Volcanoes National Park, we begin with MOUNTAIN GORILLAS.

To begin the lesson, visuals are passed around the classroom.

What forests do mountain gorillas inhabit?

AoC teachers, Fahad and Innocent, share mountain gorilla information.

AoC art teacher Eric is busy at the chalkboard with the drawing lesson of an anatomically correct mountain gorilla in relation to the average height of a human being.

Bristol paper, watercolor paper, pencil and watercolors used in today’s lesson.

Students turn in their mountain gorilla pictures and put away their materials.

Tags: children, conservation, education, mountain gorillas

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Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Aug 31 2009 | By: Julie

Hello friends! I just returned from a much needed 20-day break and oh how nice the respite was. Since January until the day I left, I think I took perhaps two days off to simply do nothing - so catching up with family and friends in the US for a few weeks was rejuvenating.

Now, back in Rwanda, I am pleased to be at work, with the team, with the kids at school, and with my dogs!

Eric, Innocent, and Fahad carried on brilliantly with AoC classes while I was away. Let’s get going by showing you some of the delightful drawings from exercises with the theme of Animals Living in Volcanoes National Park. We start out with none other than the MOUNTAIN GORILLA.

Draw a mountain gorilla anatomically correct!

Once you’ve finished the study, use any of the materials available, such as watercolors and oil crayons.

Students ranging from 10 to 14 years of age are fully engaged in the exercises.

Since working with the Rwandan kids for the past few years, I am completely assured that they thrive on hands-on, interactive, and creative learning exercises.

More soon.

Tags: art, children, conservation, education, mountain gorillas, rwanda, The Year of the Gorilla

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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

5 responses so far

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

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Category: Art of Conservation (AoC) | Date: Jun 10 2009 | By: Julie

Thank you Nicole for the June 7th donation. We appreciate your interest and financial support. Please keep tuning in.

Today, children are studying how to draw the male and female human head in front and side view. AoC teacher, Eric, demonstrates how to draw properly proportioned faces and the kids put forth a great deal of concentration to make their own drawings accurate.

Following Eric’s directions and demonstrations on the chalkboard, our
students focus on drawing the human head in proper proportions.

Pencils and then later conte crayons are today’s medium.

Richard Reckmeyer, DDS, is visiting Rwanda from the U.S. in hopes of establishing an oral health training program to teach locals how to perform basic teeth cleanings and extractions. His program is modeled on similar successful initiatives in Kenya and Tanzania. He is interested in AoC’s lessons about basic oral health care and wanted to see how many children were following through with AoC’s recommendations for teeth cleaning. (Please click here for AoC’s post on Keeping our Teeth Healthy) Photo by Molly Feltner.

Students enjoy Richard’s kind and engaging attitude even when the doctor asks the tough questions such as, “How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?”

Richard puts on his best silverback imitation during practice of Mu Birunga. Photo by Molly Feltner.

Tags: art, conservation, gorillas, kids, public health

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Category: Art of Conservation (AoC), Rwanda's Park & Tourism | Date: May 05 2009 | By: Julie

As part of AoC’s efforts to teach the children living around Parc National des Volcans about conservation, each of our 150 students planted a seedling in groves around their schools. The seedlings aren’t meant to be food for wild animals that live in the park. Instead, they’ll be used primarily for soil conservation. Soil erosion is a big problem in hilly Rwanda, where nearly every available slope has been cultivated for agriculture. Once the students’ trees mature - which won’t take long in this wet, equatorial climate - their roots will act to hold the soil in place. They’ll also provide habitat for birds and insects like bees, which provide honey the communities can harvest to feed their families.

Below is a video made during our tree planting week set to the tune of “Sow A Little,” by New York-based musicians KaiserCartel. This is a commissioned piece made for our project. Enjoy!

Photograph by Molly Feltner 2009.

The beginning of a little forest. Photograph by Molly Feltner 2009.

Celebrating the hard work. Photograph by Molly Feltner 2009.

Tags: children, conservation, gorillas, local community, planting trees

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Category: Art of Conservation (AoC), Ministry of Education - Rwanda, Ministry of Health - Rwanda | Date: Apr 12 2009 | By: Julie

AoC works with populations located next to Volcanoes National Park where research shows there is strong evidence suggesting that many primate species are susceptible to many of the infections that people are afflicted with and that the transmission of infection can occur in both directions.

Hence, Valerie, Eric, Vince, and I stress these Staying Healthy Tips (below) to our 150 students over and over again. Then we ask them to stress these Staying Healthy Tips to their mom, dad, and siblings over and over again!

Staying Healthy Tips banner hanging prominently in classrooms where Art of Conservation works.

Tags: children, conservation, genetic similarities, gorillas, prevention

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