Some of the supplies we purchased for the education kits.

Earlier this year, we asked for your support to help us bring conservation education supplies to Madagascar.

Thanks to your donations, this project was a success!

Our volunteers Lynne and Coral delivered lemur education kits to four areas of Madagascar, and held lemur education days with two communities!

Celebrating Lemurs and World Lemur Day with Children in Mariarano, Northwest Madagascar

Coral, the VOI team, and children share their masks and coloring sheets

This summer, Lemur Conservation Network volunteer and PhD researcher Coral Chell travelled to a community managed forest site, called the Mariarano Forest Complex to conduct her PhD research. With the help of Lemur Conservation Network donors, Coral provided the Mariarano VOI (the community association who manages the forest) with LCN lemur education kits, and supported a lemur themed educational day with the primary school located in the Mariarano village.

About Mariarano

The commune of Mariarano is located approximately 40 km from the city of Mahajanga, and the primary school in the village is one of the only schools in the region, so children come from across the commune to study there. With lemurs found practically on the doorstep of the school, the Mariarano primary school offered the perfect opportunity to spread lemur love and celebrate World Lemur Day!

About the Activities

Various lemur themed activities were carried out with over 30 children in one afternoon. First, Coral held an information session on the 9 lemur species found in the Mariarano region where children got to learn about what the lemurs eat, when they are active, and what habitat type they live in. Then, the children made lemur face masks, enjoyed lemur coloring sheets, and played lemur card games using the lemur cards created by LCN!

Coral shares:

The day was a massive success with everyone involved learning all about lemurs and spreading the lemur love!

Two Days of Fun and Learning with Children in Masoala, Northeast Madagascar

Pascal Eliason discusses the lemur masks with a student.

With help from Masoala Forest Lodge, lodge manager Jessie Jordan, and wildlife guide Pascal Eliason, LCN’s Director Lynne Venart brought education supplies to the village of Ambodiforaha just outside Masoala National Park. The school here is where Jessie is creating a mural about lemurs, using the small projector funded by your donations.

Celebrating Lemurs on Independence Day

Upon visiting the village, we met with the school’s teacher to coordinate two days of activities. Then on Madagascar’s Independence Day, we brought art supplies and lemur masks to the village. Kids of all ages were delighted to color and assemble the lemur masks with tape and popsicle sticks. We danced to music in the village for the Independence celebrations, donning our lemur masks!

Playing Lemur Card Games

The next day, we returned with our lemur card games, and taught the children how to play Memory! We shared a box of card games with the teacher, including game instructions in Malagasy, and showed him how to play some of the games. After playing Memory, each child chose a lemur coloring sheet and used the lemur cards for inspiration to create their masterpiece.

Lynne shares:

We had so much fun learning about lemurs and playing games with the kids in Ambodiforaha! I will always remember seeing their faces light up when they wore their masks and watching their minds at work playing the games. These memories will inspire me to keep working with the Lemur Conservation Network. I am so thankful to Jessie, Pascal, the Masoala Forest Lodge, and all of LCN’s donors for helping to create this experience for all of us!

Delivering Education Kits to Andasibe in East Madagascar and Fort Dauphin and Tsitongambarika in Southeast Madagascar

Lynne shares an education kit and lemur books with Asity Madagascar.

During her trip, Lynne also met with Toutine, the Education Director for Association Mitsinjo, and Marie of the Andasibe Guides Association in eastern Madagascar. Both women were thrilled to receive the lemur card games and the other supplies in the education kits.

And in the southeast during her visit to Fort Dauphin, Lynne met with SEED Madagascar to deliver the card game and education supplies. Then, she spent 2 days with Asity Madagascar in Tsitongambarika. Here, the Asity team is creating a new ecotourism site and conducting outreach with local villages. The education supplies and card games will be a tremendous asset for this work.