From The Forest

Note to reader: This article was published July 11, 2018 and was re-posted on this online platform October 11, 2022.

Lovasoa Razafindravony, project manager of My Rainforest My World (MRMW), explains that the people in the National Park of Ranomafana area in Madagascar are called Tangala which means from the forest. “People from the forest live very close to the forest so their identity and history is linked to it,” said Razafindravony. Because of this linkage, there is a dependence which is affecting the biodiversity of the forest by deforestation through agricultural practices and ultimately directly affecting the individual’s life, Razafindravony added.

This is the third year MRMW, an after school program for 4th graders to learn about their environment and its protection, is running. On May 29th, 2018 Center Valbio’s (CVB) education team, who this project, visited three first year collaborating villages: Ambohimisafikely, Fotsialanana and Anosy.

“I will teach my children and motivate them to learn about this and they will be like me,” said Permin, 11 year-old boy in the blue jacket, as he explained that his favorite part of the term was learning about the lemurs but also the insects and reptiles. “The people don’t know about these animals and I want to make people aware of them.”

It takes approximately four hours to walk from the main road to get to the farthest of the three remote villages but it is a hike worth making, as these visits consist of the education team evaluating and monitoring the process of MRMW. And through it, observe the learning development of the students participating in the program.

During this recent expedition, the team witnessed the final term presentations. In these presentations, parents, intern teachers, elders, and community leaders gathered to see the children’s progress.

Parent participation and entire community engagement is one of the most important elements of the project said project assistant, Tonjona Randriamboavonjy. The purpose is to show key members such as the kids, parents, other community leaders that everyone is an integral part of the project. However, student attendance and community participation has decreased recently because Madagascar has been experiencing teacher strikes.

Geremi, an intern teacher for Ambohimisafikely since September of 2017 introducing the class, parents, elders, other community leaders, and CVB members.

Randriamboavonjy highlights that meeting together at the same time, allows for accountability and increases a sense of responsibility for all members: “The leaders of the community transmit CVB MRMW project message to parents, while the parents follow MRMW project activities and help their children.”

MRMW incorporates five themes in their curriculum: “Grow your own Lunch”, “Echoes of the Forest” (which consist of lemur stories), biodiversity, Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH), and environmental storytelling. Through these themes, students learn about the value of animals and plants in the forests. They also learn about the importance of health and their well-being, as well as the responsibility of taking care of their vegetable garden and tree nurseries.

“Learning about the environment is interesting and useful,” said Rahita, a 12 year-old girl going to school in Ambohimisafikely. “My favorite part was about the lemur and compost making because they are fantastic. I also like planting trees [because] that way we can bring back the forest that was lost in my village.”

So far all of the 20 villages MRMW has ties with, have vegetable gardens and tree nurseries. The goal is to plant 1000 trees per school. Currently, Ambohimisafikely has 621 seedlings in the tree nurseries, Anosy has 606, while Fotsialanana has already planted 139 and 225 trees will be planted in February 22nd.

President of Fokontany Fotsialanava since 2005, Paul Zafy said, “In the village there was forest before and now there is not, that is why it is important to protect our forests. Students can now tell their parents to participate [in] planting trees and reforestation activities…such as waiting for trees to be ready in the nurseries and learning about vegetable gardening through the school. The students can also tell parents about the animals that need to be protected.”

The president of the fokontany thanking CVB for their arrival to the village. He is happy with the collaboration and wishes it will continue.

President of Fokontany Fotsialanava since 2005, Paul Zafy said, “In the village there was forest before and now there is not, that is why it is important to protect our forests. Students can now tell their parents to participate [in] planting trees and reforestation activities…such as waiting for trees to be ready in the nurseries and learning about vegetable gardening through the school. The students can also tell parents about the animals that need to be protected.”

There were many components that made up the presentations and varied between villages. Some incorporated English introductions, others sang about conservation and protecting the rain forest. Many performed skits about possible scenarios they would encounter regarding burning and growing their vegetable garden. While other presented their learning through creative mediums and authentic materials like compasses used to map out one of the villages. Peripheral posters and sketches in the classroom where also shown and explained to the audience.

Students performing skits about possible scenarios they would encounter regarding burning and growing their vegetable garden.

The students also brought out props to teach about the measurements and trimming techniques for planting the vegetable garden and fruit trees. Meanwhile there was also a big involvement of parents and elders through a final question and answer session to clarify any misunderstandings of the content presented by the children.

These programs are facilitated by trained intern teacher staying in the villages. Geremi, an intern teacher for Ambohimisafikely since September of 2017 said that through different activities, he has been able to teach his students to keep the environment safe: “In the beginning children would kill [animals] like snakes and birds, I have seen a change in their behavior to protect these animals.” Geremi added, “The problem here is also burning because burning is a disposition and habits of the parents are hard to change but children are not, they understand why the snake must not be killed…[they understand] they eat the rat.”

In order to evaluate the impact of the program, the education team does monitoring and evaluation efforts like pre and post evaluation test, final term presentations and teacher evaluations to collect information on effect of the activities. Based on the pre and post evaluation tests, there was a 25% increase of knowledge from 42% to 67%.

Data was collected by MRMW pre and post evaluation tests indicate there is a 25% growth in knowledge.

“I’m positive about this project, first because kids will [be able] to educate and pay more attention to the implications of killing animals and burning, now that they are more aware,” said Randriamboavonjy. “People are changing their behavior about the environment here. If we pay attention to MRMW follow ups on the project it will result in a success.”