2009 September | Tacugama

Back to School

Category: Education, TKP, Tacugama | Date: Sep 25 2009 | By: tacugama

Now that the rainy season is starting to recede (though there’s a huge thunderstorm happening as I write this blog!) it’s time for the schools to reopen and children to step back into the classroom. We’ve mentioned a bit about the Tacugama Kids Programme in previous blogs and we’re busy getting everything in place for this year’s environmental education programme to start. We’re pleased to welcome a new volunteer, Stephanie Brown, who’s helping to co-ordinate the programme over the next few months. She’ll also be posting a few blogs during her stay to keep you in touch with this important part of Tacugama’s work.

One of the schools that we’re pleased to be welcoming to the programme this year is Hope School which was started by Mr Bundu, a qualified teacher from the local area. He found several children who were unable to go to school but were willing to learn, so he decided to do something about it. Most of the children are girls from very poor homes, where only the boy gets to go to school. Others include orphans and those living in displacement camps. Originally starting as occasional reading classes for a few enthusiastic pupils, the project began to grow with the help of voluntary teachers, and many more children ranging from 3 to 15 years old joined. The project, housed in a large semi-constructed house quickly became overcrowded. The makeshift rooms held several classes at once, some were so full that the children spilled out of the building, attending their classes through open windows.

Overspilling classroom at Hope School…
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Tags: sanctuary, school, Sierra Leone, Tacugama. chimpanzee, wildlife

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Gaura’s group make new friends!

Category: Introduction, Tacugama | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: tacugama

Over the last few weeks we’ve been gradually introducing Gaura and his group to the small infant enclosure that is being used by another seven small chimpanzees. The older babies were brought inside each day for a couple of hours to allow Gaura’s team to get used to the new space on their own and the end of last week finally saw both groups being introduced together and sharing the enclosure.

Tess Wiggans - a volunteer who has been at Tacugama since May - writes more about their introduction below, she’s taken some great photos for you! Tess will help us to stay in touch with you and will write some more of our blogs over the coming months:

The youngest group of chimps, consisting of Gaura, Tombo, Jessica, Mac, Banyaii, Bruno and Yoyema are finally having more freedom. The babies were first introduced to the two youngest in the group, Chica and Joyce along with Nita, a very gentle female. The first meeting couldn’t have gone smoother, with Joyce making friends with Jessica right from the start, and Nita acting as foster mother to the youngest ones!

Nita gives Tombo a hug
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Tags: Africa, Chimpanzee, sanctuary, Sierra Leone, Tacugama, wildlife

5 responses so far

Names and rains

Category: Quarantine, Tacugama | Date: Sep 13 2009 | By: tacugama

Hello all, apologies for the lack of a blog over the last couple of weeks but a hectic schedule and an erratic internet connection (prbably because of the rain) have kept us off line for longer than planned.

As you can see from looking at the Wildlife Direct blogs, East Africa is suffering a bad drought yet in West Africa we’re getting almost too much rain. It has been more than two weeks since we have had the pleasure of seeing the sun…. rain, rain and yet more rain has filled the skies. Good for water reserves but so many grey days can bring down even the most optimistic! Yesterday the sun made an appearance giving us a splendid sunny day. The locals (both man and animal!) took advantage of the heat, putting things out to dry…. See for yourself!

Tarmac (on one of the best roads in Sierra Leone!) makes a great place to dry clothes when washing lines are scarce
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