I've recently started running workshops remotely online - Teaching Children Conservation Through Art - for children of staff at ZEWACT, Zambezi Elephant Welfare And Conservation Trust, in Zimbabwe. These kids have not been in school for seven months now and won't be returning until at least January 2021.
'Hey Diana, that was fantastic! The children loved it despite the connection not being that great. Thank you so much. The kids are still talking about your workshops, and are very proud of their artwork.' Jake Rendle-Worthington, Project Director and Animal Psychologist at We Are All Mammals.
I'm working with Jake on the ground to design Conservation Art workshops that are relevant to both local and global environmental concerns so that the information the children are learning resonates with them.
Plastic pollution in our oceans is something we hear about most days in the west. Still, this information is not so readily available to the children in Africa, especially in a landlocked country like Zimbabwe. The kid's drawings on the subject were beautiful, and they now have a much clearer idea of the detrimental effects of plastic pollution to all life forms in our oceans, as well as animals on land, and how we can help change this.
As you can see from the photos - which I have permission to use from ZEWACT - the children and staff have so happily received my workshops that I'll be leading more. The main thing we need to work on is the internet connection. But, as they say, where there's a will, there's a way!
Thank you very much for having me ZEWACT - https://www.zewact.org/. I'm looking forward to seeing you all again soon.
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