Last night we went into the community and presented an evening on conservation to the local children of Malapascua. We estimate a turnout of over 500 kids of all ages.
Project Aware sticker giveaway
We started the evening by giving out Project Aware information cards and stickers to the children – Carly was mobbed and eventually had to just throw everything into the crowd!
Next we showed a documentary about thresher sharks and Malapascua. Although the kids all have some inkling that the economy of their island depend on the elusive creature called the thresher shark, it is perhaps the first time they have seen what they actually look like underwater. The documentary highlights the beauty of the sharks but it also talks about the problems of dynamite fishing and destructive fishing methods that are prevalent all over Asia.
Because they probably did not understand most of what was said in the English documentary, next off was a talk in Cebuano, the local language. The talk reiterated some of the key points of the documentary, and tried to get across the importance of conservation and preservation of Malapascuan waters for their future.
Many of these kids are sons and daughters of the island fisherman who will become fishermen themselves one day. Our hope is that in educating these children, we can find a way to a) help them practice more sustainable forms of fishing and b) move into other areas to make a living, more specifically we emphasized tourism, which depends on preserving their environment.
The evening was rounded off with a showing of the Will Smith cartoon movie “Shark Tale,” which was received with huge cheers. This is particularly appropriate given that its main characters and sharks and cleaner wrasse! It was possibly the first time these children had ever seen a movie on a big screen and the looks of joy on their faces was something to behold.
Many thanks to Hippocampus for providing the kids with cakes and drinks and to Sunsplash for the projection facilities.
The evening was judged by all to be a big success and we hope to make this a regular event.
Stickers!