Changing the future begins with altering young mindsets.
One child at a time, Grant Fowlds and the team from Rhino Art are ‘planting an indispensable seed of custodianship’ in the next generation.
This year alone, 80 000 school pupils have benefited from this knowledge. “Together with our talismanic founder, Kingsley Holgate, we have so far driven 10 000 kilometres to 200 schools, speaking and performing at each, and collecting 250 000 children’s ‘Rhino Art voices’, in the process.”
The Rhino Art team believes it can alter the predicted destiny of wild rhinos, estimated to likely be extinct in just 15 years.
However, it also extends the struggle to other animals facing eradication in our lifetime. “By showcasing the grave plight of rhinos and teaching children about the long-term costs of losing them, we create local communities of young and passionate custodians, who understand the benefits of sustaining these and other species.”
Last Friday, Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI) hosted a special function at Blackrock Casino to cap off the year, also presenting certificates to participants in the KwaZulu- Natal School Recycling Competition.
ABI invited Mr Fowlds and Richard Mabanga to announce the Rhino Art competition winner.
“We have judged entries on unique ideas to save the rhino. It could be three sentences or a message on a board.”
Mr Fowlds explained Rhino Art was not only about art, but spread across areas like tourism and the economy, much like ABI had delivered a message about recycling.
He called it ‘periphery education’. “We educated 17 500 children in the Newcastle area, and hope to come back next year and continue the efforts.” All are invited to contribute towards the aims of Rhino Art, sponsorships equating to petrol for the next trip, a bed for the night or coloured pencils for pupils to express their creativity.
After all, isn’t our greatest responsibility to convey the urgency of conversation to the youth? “Rhino Art is a proactive rather than reactive response to the rhino crisis, as well as to the broader crisis facing conservation.”
To learn more, visit https://www.facebook. com/RhinoartAfrica, follow the hashtag
#RhinoShoutOutChallenge or visit www.projectrhino.org or www.rhinoart.co.za
