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The first student tries out the bicycle, working to get it up to the right speed to generate electricity.

By Martijn Meijer, Field Operations Manager

After the arrival and testing of our brand-new Pedal-Powered Cinema (PPC), it was time to put the cinema up for the real thing: the screening of a gorilla movie at Rumangabo School.

Together with Jean-Bosco, one of the park’s community liaison officers or CoCo’s as we call them, and LuAnne we headed out to meet the 672 (!) children of this school. After a warm welcome by the school’s headmaster we made the PPC ready for action under the very close scrutiny of the slightly astonished kids. We could hear them think: “why are these people setting up a bicycle in our class room?!”

The kids were fascinated by the movie, even though the room was so bright you could barely see it.

This astonishment soon gave way to excitement when Jean Bosco explained the purpose of our visit: watching a movie about the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga National Park. “Unfortunately for you,” we added with a smile, “you have to create the very sustainable energy that drives the cinema yourselves!”

I point to the digital red number on the speaker that indicates whether there is enough electricity for the projector to run.

Naturally, this only increased the levels of excitement and soon we had half of the class lining up before the bicycle while the other half of the class followed the adventurous search for the pride of the Virungas with glowing eyes.

All the students watched intensely from their seats at first, and then began to crowd around the bike to see if it was working.

The kids instantaneously understood the working of the PPC and my job wasn’t more than to support them, shouting, “Allez, allez!” (go, go!) or to prevent the system from overheating, “Pole, Pole!” (slow!). The smooth way in which the kids took the cycling job over from each other, revealed some true Congolese ‘relay’ talent and was wonderful to see.

The students loved the movie, watching intensely, often reacting to the animals they were seeing on the screen.

During and after the screening we talked with the kids about the life of the gorillas, living so close to them. The kids showed a great interest and love for these animals and it reminded us how important it is to have these youngsters involved in our work to protect the park. These boys and girls truly can become the future guardians of Virunga if only we can involve them properly.

The first room was too bright, so we moved into a larger room with twice the number of kids and pitch black. The screen could easily be seen then.

The next step therefore is to set up an outreach program where we will use the PPC at the schools that surround the park. We will set up this program in close cooperation with Linda Nunn, the chair of Gearing up 4 Gorillas (G4G), who so kindly provided the park with this cinema system.

The students seemed mesmerized watching a movie about animals of the forest.

In addition to this outreach program, we aim to open up an Environmental Education Centre by the start of the next school year in September 2012. The Centre will provide the kids a more in-depth curriculum on the link between the park and their own lives, and at the park headquarters, most of them will have a chance to see gorillas for the first time at our Senkwekwe Orphan Gorilla Sanctuary. If properly protected and managed, Virunga could be the engine driving the development of this part of Congo and that’s a message well-worth spreading.

At least 50 kids had crowded into the small dark room to watch the film.

As we walked back after this great morning, Jean Bosco asked me: “Martijn could we also organize a movie night for the people of Rumangabo? They too want to learn about the park and the Mountain Gorillas.” O, yes we can!

Jean Bosco is our community liaison officer and joined us at the school to explain to the kids what we were doing.

Two weeks ago, Virunga National Park received a Pedal-Powered Cinema (PPC) – a brilliantly-designed contraption that generators power to a speaker and projector system via a bicycle. This PPC will offer a facility for screening conservation films to schools and local communities without power, helping to educate both children and adults on the value of the park’s mountain gorillas and other animals. We are very excited about this and can’t wait to start using it.

Getting this awesome machine was a joint effort by several people and organizations. The Pedal-Powered Cinema was the ‘brainchild’ of the Great Apes Film Initiative. The first one is currently in use in Uganda with great success. This is the second to make its way to Africa.

Two of our rangers, Bertin and Jean Bosco, test the pedal-powered cinema at Virunga National Park.

Linda Nunn from Gearing Up 4 Gorillas (G4G) has been wanting to provide a PPC for Virunga for some time. The opportunity arose with a generous sponsor, Animal Friends Insurance of the UK, who offered to buy the Pedal-Powered Cinema for G4G to bring out for the children of Virunga. At the end of March, Linda was finally able deliver the PPC to us. Everything but the bike can pack into a suitcase.

The pedal-powered cinema at work in Uganda.

Although it will take us some time to get organized for regular use, we know from Uganda’s experience that it will be a massive hit. Many children and their teachers have never seen a film before, so it will be quite a novelty and a perfect vehicle for talking about conservation.

We would like to thank Linda Nunn, G4G, Animal Friends Insurance, and the Great Apes Film Initiative for their generous support for this environmental education project.

Linda Nunn tests out the PPC before bringing it out to Congo.

Children are delighted by the cinema. Some have never seen a film before.

Children want to show their works through how they play here in their regions, and would express the desire to want to correspond with other children around the world through the channel of the ICCN says Bertin, Assistant Warden at Rumangabo.

Houses: some students say they have seen new construction in the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, others say they want to live in the same conditions of shelter.

Weapon: children always say they see armed men in their area including men and order, military and park rangers to protect Virunga National Park. But some states have experienced armed conflicts of other men would become as either guards or police, or as military.

Mixer: Kitchen utensil used in their region to knead (sorghum, cassava, maize, etc.)

Vehicle: some believe will become a driver (also to help move people and goods), others by cons are the vehicles that circulate in the region.

Phone: this new technology, a means of communication he also wants to use.

Hat: the girl still sees the old men wear it.

Mat: instrument used in the area for drying grain and other agricultural products, but also used by mothers for a rest after a heavy work.

Lance, Bow + Arrow: weapon used by some in the region to hunt.

Guitar: she only wants to become a musician.

They are students of Primary School Rumangabo, a school built by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation for the people surrounding the Virunga National Park. They are levels between second and fifth primary.

New Kabaya Health Center

In the Warden’s Log post yesterday, Emmanuel mentioned the completion of two schools and a health centers. I thought you might like to see more photos. The construction is high quality and built with care. We are proud of them. Thirty percent from gorilla and volcano trek permits goes directly to community projects such as these.

Tongo School – Tongo is on the western border of the park where a new tourist attraction will soon be opening up – chimpanzee treks. The school has 8 classrooms and will service 612 students.

Read the full story »

It has been a good week with few security incidents, the completion of some community projects, and the launch of a new project for the welfare of our staff.

The school building construction at Tongo on the border of the park has been completed. The hill behind the school is where the Tongo chimpanzees reside, which will be open for visitor treks soon.

Community

• Two new school buildings in Tongo and Kibumba have completed construction. The policy of the park is to use quality and durable materials, and build to a standard that will last. The schools clearly represent some of the finest construction in the area. The Tongo School has 8 classrooms and will service 612 students, while the Kibumba School will have 834 students.
• The Health Center at Kabaya has also reached full completion, and will be able to provide service to about 30,000 people from 5 communities once it is fully operational. Read the full story »

So much activity happens in the park every week that it would be impossible to write about each event on the blog. We thought you might be interested in a brief summary, however, as it will give you a good idea of what we deal with on a regular basis.

Security

· Found two new FDLR rebel positions in the park.

· Consolidated the recovery of over 100 sq km of parkland SW of Lake Edward that was invaded by illegal agriculture over the past 15 years. This area is an important elephant habitat.

· Working on the preparation of training 90 new rangers in Lulimbi, south of Lake Edward.

· Sent a section (10 rangers) to Lubiliha, north of Lake Edwards, to prevent some local businessmen from carrying out land grabs in the park.

· In the north of the park, a team of rangers tried to prevent illegal logging but were blocked by logs on the road and forced to withdraw.

· A parks truck delivering rations to Rwindi was attacked, leaving a passenger on board lightly wounded and a bullet through the window.

· Arrested a poacher in the gorilla sector who had killed 3 antelopes.

A poacher is caught with the remains of three antelope illegally killed in the park.

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