Through with my design work, I am working toward raising support for my philanthropic projects in Gabon. Since 2003, I have worked as a volunteer, directing an environmental and health education outreach project in 8 remote villages and one town near Mayumba National Park. We work with over 2200 children and 1000 adults. Most of these isolated villages do not have access to clean water or adequate medical care, and many of the elementary schools are extremely run-down and do not have basics like electricity, school supplies, or toilets for their students. Teacher housing is inadequate and often results in a lack of qualified educators to provide a good education for the village children. My project brings much needed school supplies and engaging environmental education lessons that present important conservation messages through theatre, puppetry, multimedia presentations and art projects. We also focus on health and wellness education, giving demonstrations on topics like mother and infant health, how to treat water for safe drinking, safe food preparation, basic first aid, and malaria prevention. In December 2007, I helped Nothing But Nets organize a mosquito net distribution and vaccination campaign for our area that reached thousands of children.

 

You can help our efforts by supporting our newest and most exciting project: the construction of a permanent Education Center in Mayumba that will serve as a center for environmental education and an interpretive center for the National Park. Please contact us if you are interested in supporting this project.

If you would prefer a more hands-on approach to supporting this project, I can help you organize a custom-designed, three- to six-week "voluntourism" expedition to the villages we work in. During the expedition, you or your group can take on a project like painting an educational mural, installing solar electricity or a sanitary pit latrine for a village school, building a rainwater harvesting tank with village women, or fixing up a village teacher's home. When the hard work is done, your efforts will be rewarded with activities like rainforest discovery walks, participation in adventure sports like surfing or kayaking, and participation in cultural events in the villages. Depending on seasonal migrations, you could also go on a special whale-watching excursion or to see the nocturnal nesting of leatherback sea turtles. If you have special expertise such as carpentry, dentistry, artistic or musical talent, we can incorporate your gifts into the expedition to make it one-of-a-kind. Please contact Aimee if you'd like to know more about organizing or fundraising for activities like these, or if you are interested in longer term (6 months to 1 year) volunteerships in Mayumba.