Robertsport Community Works showcased at UNESCO Africa Week

We had the good fortune to have our community conservation and microenterprise projects featured recently at UNESCO's Africa Week in Paris. I designed two posters for the Liberia booth, both attached. If anyone wants the full files to use these at similar events, just let me know by email: elie(at)robersportcommunityworks(dot)org. 

The RCW Sea Turtle Rescue Project

Design courtesy of Tamar Losleben.

Last September, before our first beach cleanup, Alfred and I were surfing Inners and he noticed a massive pile of sand right under the big almond tree.

"Turtle!" he shouted, and started digging.

Rather naively, I asked what he was doing.

"Turtle eggs are too sweet," was his reply.

I paused for a minute, reluctant to be the white woman in Africa who pushes conservation just for the sake of it, going crazy with zeal for, say, saving turtles while the community around me was also in need. I waited, weighed my options--Alfred thinking I was insufferable versus being indirectly responsible for a hundred dead turtle eggs--and told him not to dig them up.

"But why, Elie? If I don't, someone else will." He had a point. Without a plan, and a good one at that, what was I doing trying to change the behavior of one person when clearly it wouldn't affect the outcome?

Still.

"Do it for me, okay Alfred?"

Alfred gave me a look like I was exactly the crazy white woman stereotype I was trying to avoid, then grabbed his board and we surfed a few little Inner Cottons stomach waves before starting the cleanup. We joked about the turtles for weeks.

We still joke about the turtles. Only now we've run a 3-month pilot Sea Turtle Rescue project modeled on the one in Ghana and we're a little further along from where we started. Just a little.

What we've learned from Project Leader Abraham (AB) Fanbulleh is that it's not easy for people to trust the project's motives. They think we're working with the police, who arrest people in possession of either sea turtles or their eggs and imprison them until they pay a hefty fine.

We also have teaching to do about the importance of sea turtles in maintaining species balance in the ocean ecosystem, although AB has been explaining slowly their connection to keeping jellyfish populations--that ruin fishing nets and spoil entire catches--at bay.

There's obviously more, but that the main stuff. We have a lot to work on in the future!

We save sea turtles.

Last weekend, Nate and I were surfing Shipwrecks with a visiting Aussie when we saw a large fishing net drifting towards the rocks. We focused on it and a lone flipper waved. We waited a moment, and it waved again.

"Turtle!" announced the Aussie.

"Let's rescue it!" I said, starting to paddle towards the rocks and hoping that a giant set wasn't just beyond the horizon and about to smash me to pieces.

The sea turtle was impossibly tangled, and while the men slowly paddled against the current to get it to the beach, I ran back to the campsite to get our knife so that we could cut it free. A kilometer later, I was back and we got started.

The turtle was freaked out to be pulled out of the water, but the Aussie kept it calm by sitting next to it and rubbing its neck, humming softly to console it. Nate started cutting the net, which was chaffing tight around the turtle's neck and flippers, right to the muscle in some places. It must've been frighteningly uncomfortable, but the turtle didn't try to bite us like I expected. Instead, it stayed pretty calm as we cut it free.


It only took a second for the turtle, once released from the 20 kg net it had been lugging along, to lumber itself towards the water and disappear. I wanted to take more photos, but got kind of caught up in the moment.

"We saved a turtle! That's great karma. I feel fantastic," said the Aussie, ever enthusiastic.

I think we just started our turtle conservation project. More details on what it will look like when we talk to our new Project Leaders next week.

Monrovia geniuses win quiz night for conservation

I have some very exceptional friends, so when Dina--who supports our beach cleanup and helps organize my yoga class--said she was competing in a new monthly quiz night, I was not surprised. Our surfer friend who often comes to Robertsport on the weekends was leading Dina's team and had decided to give the winnings--if they won, of course--to Robertsport Community Works. And you know what? They won!

Special thanks to the team leader and his team (you know who you are), who raised $250 for the NGO!

What are we using the money for? Well, Benjamin and other young men from the village have been working informally with us to create a rainforest walk through the Robertsport old-growth coastal rainforest. It's a protected area, an Important Bird Area (not my capitals) and a RAMSAR site (important wetlands--not my acronym), so there's plenty to see.

There's also saw grass, which is just like it sounds. Nate pointed it out on an early walk and I scoffed. How sharp could it be? Bleeding ankles and forearms later, I repented being so blithe. Now, the guides have strict instructions to avoid saw grass at all costs. It does not make for a pleasant tourist experience.

Anyway, this $250 will pay for the start-up of the project, which is just what we need. We've advertised for a volunteer to come and help us set the walks up, but we don't have the cash stipend the two highly qualified candidates would've needed to stay for a couple of months. After all, airfare here is a hefty $2,500, more or less.
So, here's what's on our project list as we get started:

• Birds of West Africa and Mammals of West and Central Africa: These classic and rather expensive guide books will help Benjamin and the other guides identify the birds they know and learn their western names, as well as what they eat, where they like to perch and other fun stuff. I'd love a similar book for trees...

• Eco-Tourism Guide t-shirts for the guides to wear when they're leading a walk: This will help them look professional, although I'm sure they'll want ID cards too. All our project staff ask us for ID cards.

• Cash to develop and draft a map and species list of likely will-sees--trees, birds, insects and maybe lizards. We'd like to have the map onto and to add photos to it on Google.

• Guide training: Ben and the others know the forest like the back of their hand, but that doesn't mean their ready to lead inquisitive tourists on a two-hour hike. Guide training will include first-aid, guest relations, when to share information and how to best pace the group.

• Promotional photos and brochures: It would be great to have photos to share with Liberian tourism and conservation sites online, as well as a simple brochure to advertise the walks and encourage people to join on walks.

I'm sure there's more stuff, but I really wanted an excuse to post about how much the quiz night winnings will help put this project together. If you're visiting Robertsport in the near future, email me to schedule a guided walk--unless you see one of our brochures first!

Eco-walks in the Robertsport rainforest - Getting started

Photos courtesy of Tamar Losleben.

We're looking for an ecology and community tourism intern to help Robertsport Community Works set up eco-walks in the coastal rainforest. The job posting on Idealist is here, if you're interested...

Here are some photos of the 'bush walk' we took with Ben and company when our sisters were visiting. It's worth noting that Nate and I have been planning to do this walk for months. It took the insistent presence of both of our sisters to get us out of the water and into the forest--even though the forest is, obviously, pretty awesome. Hence, the need for an intern to help us set up the project. We're realistic in what we expect of ourselves.
You can see, in this clearing, how tall the forest canopy is. Although it was the middle of the day in dry season, characteristically one of the hotter times of the year, we stayed nice and cool in the shade.

Ben is a natural in the forest, just like he is in the water. Here, he and Samuel are collecting kola nuts that fell from the tree. Kola nuts are a natural stimulant and appetite suppressant. You crack them open, take a little bite and chew it while it permeates a bitter dryness throughout your mouth that makes me wince. After, though, a sip of water tastes like sugar dew, so it's kind of worth it.
Here, Sameul--Alfred's little brother--holds kola nuts they way they fall from the tree. Samuel and Emmanuel brought along socks to stuff with kola. I think they planned to sell what they didn't eat to the grownups back in the village.
There were some pretty cool looking trees in the rainforest. this once looked painful. Ben explained that you can chop off the pyramid spikes with a cutlass, remove the thorn and bore a hole in them to make jewelry. Below, a close-up.
Gnarly, right?
Here's Emmanuel, who you may have seem in other campsite pictures because when he's not in school, he brings us fresh coconuts to drink in exchange for notebooks, pens and now a set of watercolors he requested after seeing my sister paint. Emmanuel was a perfect forest guide, stopping to let us catch up with the others, pointing out flowers, mushrooms, trees and all kinds of useful things to know--and eat. Actually, Emmanuel's knowledge of the forest is so thorough that the walk became more of a culinary tour than a nature walk, complete with tastings of 'dog' something-or-other, 'bush ground-pea', just-picked kola, and water that you could drink from the bottom of a freshly-chopped vine. We might not be able, because of sustainability issues, to include all the snacks on the locally-guided walks. When Emmanuel, who just turned 13, gets a little older, he'll be a great guide.

Here are some more shots. I look forward to welcoming our future intern and to announcing the commencement of the walks over the summer. We hope that starting community eco-tourism will increase visitors' appreciation of the rainforest and aid in larger conservation efforts.