Mission Madagascar with Helpsimus : raising awareness to better protect the lemurs (Part II)
"At the end of 2022, Helpsimus’ education program passed an important milestone: the association built a building entirely dedicated to environmental education.
The Simus School located in the village of Sahofika welcomes groups of children from Helpsimus’ partner schools to participate in awareness-raising activities on the preservation of biodiversity.
I am in Madagascar to help starting up the Simus School and assisting the environmental educator Laurent in getting acquainted with the various teaching aids and materials made available to him. This also an opportunity to meet Ruva, a teacher of natural sciences based in Antananarivo who’s is also Laurent's supervisor: appointed by Helpsimus and its local partner IMPACT Madagascar, Ruva goes on-site regularly to help Laurent organize and lead the various educational activities. He is a major back-up for Laurent who still lacks a bit of experience and also serves as an important link throughout the year because he translates into Malagasy the teaching materials that I create and can then explain to Laurent how to use them.
Helpsimus and I did not come empty-handed. We brought in our luggage educational materials as well as various equipment financed by different donors, including Palmyre Conservation, which will be used by Ruva and Laurent at the Simus School during their activities: a computer, a video projector with its screen, a photo printer, a new series of illustrated books telling the stories of lemurs protected by Helpsimus, educational sheets allowing to carry out workshops, binoculars to observe the animals on school trips as well as pencils, paint and marker pens so that the children can make beautiful drawings!
Our work sessions allow me to explain how to use the educational tools that I have specifically created for Helpsimus: they are divided into entertaining-educational activities (collage, drawing or reading workshops...) and awareness-raising workshops on Greater Bamboo lemurs, the lemurs of Madagascar, the role of the forest…
We also work on the organization of the schedule for the coming months. Laurent shares with me his ideas for new workshops as well as his needs. For example, he would like to design a workshop about fruit tree planting around the schools in order to explain the role of Helpsimus’ tree nurseries and forest restoration work to the children.
I am delighted to see that despite his young experience, Laurent is already showing initiative. He seems very motivated and seeks to improve his knowledge. Laurent was born in the village of Vohitrarivo, one of the 5 partner villages of Helpsimus. He’s a young man passionate about nature and teaching, and after completing a training as a guide in the Ranomafana National Park, he volunteered to work as an environmental educator within the program. Thanks to him, the schoolchildren of the 5 partner villages of Helpsimus can now benefit from an education program for the preservation of the environment and biodiversity. With a clear objective: to better know the different species of lemurs present on Helpsimus’ site and the wealth of the Malagasy fauna to better protect them!"
F. Perroux
