Archive for the ‘distribution partners’ Category
It occurred to me, as I was posting my previous entries here, how easy it is to enjoy the pretty pictures of all the incredible wildlife that surrounds the AEFF headquarters, and our home, here in the Tsavo region of Kenya. It struck me that it might be easy to forget sometimes that our work here has a very serious and critical mission, for the natural wonders which surround us are every day are being threatened across the continent – indeed across the world. Everything we enjoy today, could be gone tomorrow… For example, while the river below our house is a daily delight to behold with all its wildlife dramas unfolding before our eyes (and yours through this blog), take a look at these images taken from AEFF’s films which show what is happening to the environment not so far away from here, and in many other parts of Africa…
Here’s what’s happening in many of the great forests around the world. It begs the question: What happens when all our natural resources are stretched beyond all endurance?
What happens to the people when all the trees are cut down?
What happens to cattle and other domestic livestock when there’s no grass left to eat?
What happens to the wildlife when there’s no water left? This is why AEFF makes films: to show people what is happening to their environment (both positively and negatively) and, through showing successful working examples and highlighting role models in the environmental field, illustrating how people really can improve their livelihoods by adopting environmentally sustainable ventures. And does education through film really work?To answer that question, I’d like to quote from a report sent to us by one of our key distribution partners, Amara Conservation (a US non profit working alongside AEFF in Kenya, who using their mobile cinemas show our films to over 100,000 children and adults each year). It’s quite a long account, but please do read it if you can, for I think it clearly demonstrates the very real effects our films are having in the rural areas of East Africa, as well as highlighting the important role played by our distribution partners in disseminating our films far and wide: “…We have shown films all over Kenya but mostly focused our work on the borders of the Tsavo National Parks. We focus here for several reasons including the remoteness of the populated areas and therefore the need for the information, the significance of the habitat for wildlife, and the infrastructure that is in place in the communities whereby most people belong to groups of various kinds and therefore have the ability to come together to institute changes. These changes can only occur if people want to make them, and through your educational films, we have clearly seen changes in the minds of many. These are manifested in many different ways. Indeed, if we didn’t see these changes occurring, we would not show the films! What has happened in our areas of key focus in the Taita Hills region (an area of highest human wildlife conflict in Kenya according to the Kenya Wildlife Service) is that people are now asking to be helped to make the changes that they now see as important. They are living rather marginal lives eking a living growing traditional crops of maize, cowpeas and holding minimal livestock, mostly goats and sheep. The area is very arid and the soil is not conducive to farming – the people have only moved into the area in the last 60 years due to population growth. They are now seeing that the agricultural practices they are maintaining are actually causing damage to the land, that the bushmeat they consume is destructive and not sustainable, and they want to make changes. This has come to be because we have shown films repeatedly, in several communities/schools/churches/market centres around the area. Over time, people have come to know that when the Amara Land Rover arrives it means “CINEMA” and they all come. They are taking in the information in the films in a very real way. In some key areas, specifically the Group Ranches of Mbulia, Kishushe, Maungu, Sagalla, and Mugeno – the people are now looking to form wildlife sanctuaries on their land. For Mbulia and Kishushe this is very critical – as each ranch is in a key elephant migration route/seasonal feeding ground, and outsiders before have approached each to lease land and make sanctuaries/put up camps or lodges - yet they have always refused. NOW, they are actively seeking to make these sanctuaries a reality as they know the benefits to them in terms of financial gain and more importantly – they now want to stop the destructive practices they have been engaging in for years. The fact that these communities who live on the border of the biggest Park in East Africa, with the highest level of human elephant conflict – have formed committees, lobbied amongst their members, made trips to view their areas for tourism, attended workshops to learn about running sustainable group projects – this has come to be because of what was learned in the AEFF films, combined with the meetings and discussions that we have held in conjunction with those films. There are innumerable instances when I have seen eyes wide opened, people from 5 to 80 years of age really beginning to understand the role that humans play in the larger environment, even beyond the village boundaries where they may not ever have traveled, and the evidence of which can only be shown through the medium of film. Once they learn about how the animals live, how the trees and water are intertwined, once they SEE THIS – it’s not just ‘film’, but the AEFF films in particular…” Lori Bergemann Executive Director - Amara Conservation
The Amara Conservation mobile cinema screen is erected on the side of their specially adapted Land Rover, ready for the screening of one of AEFF’s educational films.
The effects of education are difficult to measure in specific terms, for in many ways the results of education are intangible - and yet we all know of its importance. So where do we find proof that our educational films about diverse wildlife and environmental issues really do have resonance with our audiences, really do touch adults and children alike, really do make a lasting impression? Yes, there are surveys that confirm this statistically… But you really get a palpable sense of this when you watch our audiences as they watch our films. You can see it in their eyes and faces as they sit mesmerized by the images on screen, you can feel it in their excited discussions, based on their newfound knowledge, as the final shot fades into darkness…this is living proof of what our films can do. Recently, we sent two sets of films to southern Tanzania; one set to the Iringa International School, the other to a conservation organization called Friends of Ruaha (FORS), who do an amazing job in and around the Ruaha ecosystem. FORS use our films as educational tools which complement their own work. This is a good example of how our films can help other conservation organizations, by laying a foundation of knowledge and understanding amongst a wide range of people (both children and adults), which by enabling greater understanding of the issues and illustrating how people can benefit by adopting conservation initiatives, garners greater support for conservation projects. But, enough from me - I would like to direct you to an account written by Alexander Klose in his blog. Alexander is a teacher at the Iringa International School, and his wife Anette works with Friends of Ruaha. Alexander’s account paints a vivid picture of the scene during a film showing to 300 people in a very remote rural corner of Tanzania, where there is no electricity, no TV, and where many of the people, though living close to the Ruaha National Park, have never seen a lion or an elephant…
| If you don’t have time to read the whole account, please just take a look at these few paragraphs, quoted from Alexander’s blog, which I think, speak for themselves: The projector, laptop and speakers were hooked up to the battery of the FORS Land Rover, and the screen was the side of a whitewashed, thatch-roofed building. Three hundred or so people encircled the screen, children sitting on the ground in front, an elderly man in a white robe and white kofia [hat] given a chair of honor at the front of the crowd, the rest standing. Our Tanzanian colleague stood up in front of the crowd to say “karibuni” [welcome] and to explain that the film shows are a part of FORS’ environmental education program - more than just an evening of entertainment. We showed two films in Kiswahili produced by the African Environmental Film Foundation, the first about the elephants of Kenya’s Tsavo National Park and the second about the recent drying of the Great Ruaha River. For people who’ve grown up without electricity, TV and movies, it was a spellbinding two hours, and for us, it was a joy to stand there with them and share in their reactions to the films. “EEH, EEH, EEH!” uttered the villagers each time they saw a lion, hyena, buffalo, hippo or crocodile. “TSSSCH” a collective sucking of teeth signaled their disapproval whenever slain elephants appeared on the screen. “EEEEEEH!” a cry of amazement upon seeing the thousands of tusks collected by park rangers. One of our teacher friends asked me, “Is there still poaching in Ruaha National Park?” Another asked me, “Do you have elephants in America?” A little girl in front of us exclaimed, “All the fish are DEAD…no good.” A man to our left saw the river sweep away earth and grass from the banks and said, “Erosion. Hmm.” Contagious bursts of laughter accompanied scenes of a baby elephant being covered with a blanket by its keeper, an orange-headed agama lizard hopping bravely across rocks in the river, storks and herons stealing fish from the crocodiles. In such moments, the power of these film shows was evident. Although these people live on the border of Ruaha, many of them have never had a chance to visit the park and see these animals. Whenever the smallest children saw a lion on the screen, they grabbed each other and pointed at the screen while saying excitedly, “Simba, Simba!”
AEFF’s 12 completed films to date The African Environmental Film Foundation produces broadcast quality educational films about conservation issues in African languages. Our films are available free of charge to conservation organizations who wish to use them as educational tools. For the past 10 years, our films have proved extremely useful to conservation organizations which are initiating new projects by “winning hearts and minds”: the films can pave the way for the implementation of new conservation projects by informing local communities and policy makers alike, and showing them the importance of conservation, from an ecological and an economic perspective - showcasing working examples of successful alternative livelihood methods whereby people have improved their standard of living while protecting their wildlife and natural environment. The films also assist ongoing conservation projects by spreading awareness and garnering community support for conservation projects. The films can also show how conservation projects in one area can have much wider, positive repercussions not just in that particular area, but much further afield. You can read testimonials from organizations that use our films here. If you represent a conservation organization (or indeed an educational institution) in Africa, please email us to request a set of our films. We currently have 12 one-hour films available, and several more currently in production, covering a variety of conservation issues. All the films are narrated in both English and Kiswahili, and several are also available in Maa and Kikamba. (The DVDs are multi-language, so you can select whichever language is most suitable for your audience as you show them). Films currently available are:
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me personally.
Today AEFF signed an agreement with Kenyan television channel, K24, to broadcast our films in both English and Swahili. K24 is a 24-hour news and features channel. The channel falls under the parent company Regional Reach, also founders of the first independent radio station in Kenya, Kameme FM, whose aim is to “educate, inform and entertain while pursuing a spirit of creativity and the highest level of professionalism” - the same goal as espoused by K24. Although the agreement with this television company is a new step forward for us, our relationship with K24’s parent company goes back several years. Regional Reach used to show AEFF’s films on public screens strategically placed in meeting places in market towns around the country. However, as more and more of the urban population came to own their own televisions (including wind-up TV sets), Regional Reach made the executive decision to close down their market towns initiative and launch a terrestrial TV channel. While K24, whose buy-line is “All Kenyan All of the Time”, is a relatively new channel, its proprietors are old hands in the media business, and already K24 is making waves across the country. For us, to be working alongside such a proactive company, is very exciting in terms of what it means for our audience numbers and the impact our films can have across a broader spectrum of people. The agreement with K24 in no way prevents us from distributing our films through our other outlets, and we are working hard to expand our distribution network on many different levels, and in many different countries. |
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