CAP Educational
Activities in Brief
Student and Teacher Visits
In November 1999, the project hosted a visit by all 40 Middle and Primary School teachers from Thach Lam commune in the western Buoi and Ngang River Valleys. Thach Lam commune, which includes come of the most inaccessible hamlets in the region, joined the school-based Conservation Clubs in June of 1998. However, difficult road conditions had prevented the project from bringing the school teachers until then to the park.
Eighty-one Conservation Club members from Cuc Phuong's Primary and Middle Schools visited the park during November and December. The project routinely hosts visits for students from local communities, that involve the children in a special day activities, games, discussion, and a visit to some interesting sites within the park.
Counterpart Teacher Workshops
Two workshops were held in December for counterpart teachers participating in the Conservation Clubs. Teachers from three districts attended the workshops to practice lessons with local staff and discuss program development and other issues relating to the Conservation Clubs.
The first workshop involved eleven new counterpart teachers from Yen Thuy District who were attending their first meeting with local staff at the park.
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Local staff return from a Village Program presentation at Sanh hamlet by buffalo cart. Difficult road conditions forced staff to abandon attempts to reach the village by motorbike.
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The second workshop hosted 14 teachers from Nho Quan and Lac Son Districts. During the workshop, teachers raised a number of important issues including how to increase their role in CAP sessions, and their need to meet with project staff in advance of each lesson so that they can be better prepared. The teacher workshops have provided a meaningful forum through which counterpart teachers have contributed to the program's development and improvement.
While counterpart teachers involved in the Conservation Clubs early on tend to have a lower level of participation in club sessions, teachers in newer districts have been brought into the program as full partners, and have demonstrated their eagerness and commitment to becoming actively involved in leading the Conservation Clubs.
Village Program
In January, the adult-focused Village Program (VP) proceeded with plans to carry out the second of its two programs (VP2) in Thach Lam commune. The plan called for three evening meetings at hamlets situated in the Buoi and Ngang River Valleys at the extreme western end of the park.
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The distant nature of these villages required the staff to remain in the commune for three days to complete the program. However, after meetings were held in three hamlets, local leaders asked that the staff to remain for a fourth night to carry out a meeting for residents at a fourth hamlet, leaving project staff back at the offices to wonder what had happened to the Village Program team.
Meanwhile, in Thanh Yen commune, south of the park, VP staff were surprised to find an audience of more than 1,200 residents waiting for them in Yen Son hamlet after local leaders organized a meeting of VP2. This marked the largest audience yet for the program which includes a video presentation, discussion amongst residents, and a short performance by staff of the play, "Mr. Man Goes to the Forest". A second presentation in Sanh hamlet was also a bit unusual in that the village could be reached only by a narrow trail. Staff had to carry in a portable generator and television, as well as other materials for the program, and they returned exhausted to the project headquarters after a day-long ride in a buffalo cart!
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