Katie's Very Excellent Adventure: Africa 2013: In the Jungle

The villages that Go! Malawi works with are situated at the base of a large mountain that is covered in lush jungle. Although it is not being destroyed at the same rate as in other areas, some people still want to conserve the area. The trees and other resources are often sought out for fire wood or tom make other things and there is a general idea that the jungle is merely a resource. One of the things Go! Malawi wants to do it to work with people to create the idea that, in addition to sustainable harvesting and use, the jungle is a place worth conserving merely because of its natural significance. One of the ways they are doing this is by working with a program called Project NOAH. This is a website that allows anyone with an internet connection to post pictures on the site. Then, scientists can identify plants and animals and others can share in the earth’s beauty. Because there was not really internet on site, they wanted to use this idea, but modify it so it would work for the area. Mike and I brought kids (whoever wanted to come) into the jungle almost everyday. When we got in far enough, we would give kids cameras to share and essentially let them lose. They could take pictures of anything they wanted with the idea that they were witnessing the beauty of the jungle in a fun way. We would do english/chichewa vocabulary tests while we were walking of different things we would see. At the end of the day, we would all go through the pictures and pick the top 2 or 3. These would then get saved and once internet was available posted to the Project NOAH website.

This program was still in its beginning stages. There was still a lot that needed to be worked out in terms of how to make it sustainable and how can environmental education be incorporated more. We talked about getting or creating a guide book so plants and animals that kids saw could be identified and specific names other than “bird” or “flower” could be given. I loved doing this program. Not only did I get to walk in a jungle and see a beautiful environment, but it was amazing to see some of the pictures the kids took. They would see things before we saw them and some of the them were gifted photographers, although they had never really used a camera before. It was also fun to be in the beginning stages of a program, to see how it was working and to figure out how it could be better and more effective.

(Taken by a kid)

Check out the crazy beetle!! One of the kids took this photo!

Our kiddos! We mostly had boys come with us because the girls were often helping their mothers with chores and could not be away from the house for that long.

This spider was about 5 inches from tip to tip. The kids liked getting super close to it and we had to tell them not to touch it. One of the kids took this photo.