Most Bonobo Lovers are doubtless familiar with the outstanding work by Sue
Savage-Rumbaugh with a group of bonobos, the most famous member being Kanzi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzi.
I have had the privilege of getting to know Sue, and a few months ago had
the amazing experience of visiting her and the bonobo group at the Great Ape
Trust of Iowa in Des Moines http://www.greatapetrust.org/. I was allowed to
go inside the glass enclosure such that there was only a chicken-wire-type
separation between me and them, so there I was, experiencing their reality
after many years of being a fan in the bleachers. Kind of like it must have
been in the ’60s if you got to be in the front row of a Beatles concert!
I had cool interactions with Kanzi’s foster mother Matata (his birth mother
is Lorel, Lucy’s mom in I’m Lucy) and with his sister Panbanisha http://www.greatapetrust.org/bonobo/meet/panbanisha.php, but most of the
time Kanzi and I sat, face-to-face, as close to one another as we could get
given the chicken wire, staring into each other’s eyes and hanging out.
Occasionally he’d indicate something on his keyboard, but mostly it was me
telling him how wonderful I thought he was and his apparently taking it in
with deep pleasure.
While it’s obvious in the photographs in I’m Lucy, it was only after looking
into Kanzi’s eyes that I took in the fact that bonobo irises go across the
whole eye rather than being a central circles surrounded by white like our
eyes. This has the amazing consequence that it feels like gazing into dark
pools of, well, wisdom. I sometimes have trouble making prolonged eye
contact with another human — there’s this tendency to look away — but with
Kanzi I think we could have done it all day.
The facilities at the Great Ape Trust are splendid — lots of uncultivated
land where they can wander about and set up their own activities. I’ll be
reporting on all this in future posts. Meanwhile, here’s to Sue and the many
others at Great Ape Trust who are caring so kindly for these bonobos and
helping us understand their extraordinary capabilities.
Don’t forget about our awesome contest! Click Here for Details.
The Bonobo Conservation Initiave and the Kokolopori-Falls Church Sister City Partnership are participating in the 2008 Global Giving Project Challenge. Their project is to make college possible for 70 Congolese students. They have until November 20th to get donations of $10 or more from 75 different people in order to win a permanent spot on the Global Giving website that raises awareness about their cause and helps get them more donations.
These donations will support the Djolu Technical College of rural sciences in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the only college in a 40,000 square mile area. The school offers 70 bright, motivated young people in this impoverished area their only chance of getting a college degree.
$10 pays a professor to teach a two-hour class for 30 students
$20 buys enough textbooks for one student per year
$35 covers one year of room and board for one student
$100 pays one year’s tuition for one student
To donate visit the Global Giving website and make a difference for these 70 students today!
I know that kids can’t vote…but I’d like you all to know something: the youth vote (voters 18-29 years old) made a huge difference in this election – coming out to vote in record numbers and voting for change. This proves to us that our children are our future – and President-elect Barack Obama is urging you to be active in this role.
President Obama has asked us all to participate in the change we seek for our country and our world. Here are some important things he’s asking us to help with:
1. The environment. Basically this encompasses everything that we talk about on this blog: turning off lights, recycling, using eco-friendly products, reducing waste, conserving energy and working towards alternative energy solutions.
2. Community service. This piece is so important to Obama that he is offering help with college tuition in exchange. There are always many opportunities for community volunteering – check with your school, church, temple or with any cause-based non-profit organization for suggestions.
3. Being a good person. President Obama led by example throughout his historic campaign. In the face of lies and insulting attacks, he stayed positive, he presented the facts, but did not also become negative and he stayed on message. At the end of the day, he ran a respectful campaign and earned magnificent respect – and the top job in the United States. How can you follow his lead in your own life?
Many of you followed this election in school…is there another request from President Obama that we didn’t mention but that really got your attention? How will you join our country in making the world a better place?
Our favorite 11-year-old, James Brooks, in cooperation with the Canadian Ape Alliance, has started a project called 1000 Classrooms. James hopes to get 1000 western classrooms to donate $3 each to buy a dozen eggs from the widows of Park Rangers killed protecting the apes. The eggs will be given to the children at the Kahuzi-Biega Environmental School in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Because of this purchase, the widows earn an income, the children and teachers are given nutritious food and the apes are safer because there is less demand for food!
The Eggs for Kids Program makes sure every kid and every teacher gets an egg per day!
So how can you help? Any classroom can get involved from preschool to University. All you have to do is talk to your teachers and ask them to visit www.1000classrooms.org.
Each and every kid can make a big difference with only a small donation!
Just before our ‘Yo Kids! Clean up the Beach’ Event, Mathea, author of I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobowas interviewed on Plum TV about the book, bonobos and Bonobo Kids…Check it out!
EcoMV and their Bio Store is revolutionizing the world of products. They have filled their store with carefully researched items that are safe, non-toxic and completely good for the environment.
But, don’t listen to us talk about it, watch this cool video and hear from Mark Martin, the owner, himself! He has some cool ideas about getting kids involved. Enjoy!
Senator Barack Obama and the Democratic Party are doing their best to walk the walk at the National Convention in Denver this week. In terms of the environment, they are showing their dedication to protect our planet by using green products, services and companies in all aspects of the Convention.
They are also holding an event to feature green technologies and jobs, to get national leaders, businesses owners, scientists and 25,000 graduate students from around the country on the same page concerning sustainable technologies and products. This event is incredibly inspiring because education and information sharing are two of the best ways to build the green movement and create real change for the environment.
One of the green companies asked to contribute to the Convention with products and the green event as a speaker and leader in the field is Martha’s Vineyard’s own Mark Martin. Mark’s company, Eco MV, built an innovative store on our island called The Bio Store and it is filled with sustainable, green and eco-safe products – for the kitchen, cleaning products, bath products, toys, clothes (even wedding dresses made of bamboo silk), take-out food containers and the best children’s book in the world – I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo.
We are so thrilled to have Mark, his team and his company on the Vineyard – and we send him a hearty congratulations for being chosen to be part of the Democratic National Convention.
Dagny McKinley found our blog and contacted us about the great work that we were doing, and we jumped at the chance to feature her company, Onno Textiles. We LOVE to hear about people, business and KIDS that are doing good things for our environment. Here’s what she had to say:
Bonobo Kids: Tell us about your company? Dagny McKinley: Onno was founded about 2 years ago, and it was set up to be an environmentally friendly company. Previously, the president had a t-shirt company, and he was upset by the amount of chemicals and the amount of water usage involved with the growing and production of non-organic, or conventional, cotton. Water usage is a big deal right now with droughts happening and a general need to preserve clean water. So Onno started working with organic cotton, hemp and bamboo.
And, while organic cotton uses less water for growing than conventional cotton, it still uses quite a bit, so we use organic cotton that has been grown as a rainfed crop. Hemp is basically a weed, so it is completely rainfed and never needs to be watered by a farmer; it’s the same with bamboo.
BK: Why does organic cotton use less water than conventional cotton? DM: Because with organic cotton, farmers usually rotate crops and use natural fertilizers and beneficial insects to keep the damaging insects away – this makes the soil healthier and therefore, it requires less water.
BK: Tell us what is special about bamboo? DM: Here are some cool bamboo facts:
Bamboo cloth feels silky.
Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world – it can grow up to 3 feet in one day!
You can actually sit and watch it grow!
It can grow in almost any climate.
Bamboo is naturally anti-microbial which means when you wear it, it wicks away sweat and smell just like many human-made fabrics available today.
BK: How about Hemp? DM: Here are some cool hemp facts:
Hemp is a nubbier, soft material.
You used to be able to pay your taxes with hemp in the United States.
Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were hemp farmers.
Hemp acts like wool by keeping you warmer in cool weather and cooler in warm weather.
Hemp naturally filters harmful UV rays.
Hemp and marijuana plants are completely different – we’re talking apples and oranges, maybe apples and pears.
BK: What are the goals of Onno Textiles? DM: There are three:
To make organic and sustainable more hip and easily accessible for people.
To offer our clothes at similar prices to conventional clothing.
To do something good for the environment.
Check out Onno Textiles for organic cotton, bamboo and hemp t-shirts and tote bags. Shirts come in mens, womens and kids sizes and a variety of beautiful colors! BUY GREEN TODAY.
Upon returning from his whirlwind tour of the bonobo hotspots around the States, James Brooks, the #1 Bonobo Fan, took time out from his incredible fundraising activities to talk to Bonobo Kids.
Bonobo Kids: Hi James! First things first, rumor has it that you raised $4,300 for the Great Ape Trust of Iowa’s Bowling for Apes fundraiser! Congratulations!!! James: Thank you!
BK: You had over 280 sponsors for the event, who did you ask? James: Well, lots of friends and family! Also my dad is a professor at a University and I went to work with him one day, talked to a lot of people and asked them to sponsor me. Then my mom took me to the hospital where she works and I gained some more sponsors. Also, my website got a lot of people interested, and I put a bunch of fliers in mailboxes in my neighborhood.
BK: Have you participated in Bowling for Apes before? James: The first year, I didn’t. Last year, I raised $1,050, but couldn’t attend. So this was the first year that I raised money and got to go to the event.
BK: Tell us about the event! James: A bunch of people fundraised like I did, but most of them live in Iowa and it was easier for them to get to the event than it was for me. I had to drive from Canada! At the event, there is a bowling area where you sign in so that the people at the Great Ape Trust can contact you and let you know how they will use the money. Then we bowled and got to meet a lot of other people who are into apes. And we got to see a lot of scientists and people involved in the Great Ape Trust. Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh bowled in our lane with us!
BK: How did you first hear about bonobos? James: I’ve always been interested in primates, but I didn’t like how violent they could be. Then I found out about bonobos in a great ape documentary, and how they were more peaceful. I really liked that so I just kept learning more.
BK: Have you ever met a bonobo? James: I’ve been to many zoos to see them San Diego, Columbus, Cincinnatti and Twycross, and of course, the Great Ape Trust of Iowa. On a previous visit to the Great Ape Trust, I got to go behind the scenes because of my donations and the work that I’ve done. I fed Kanzi, and Panbanisha and Kanzi’s nephew, Nyota.
BK: What was that like! That is amazing! James: I put the salad in a box that moved from the room I was in to Kanzi’s room. I gave him a lot of carrots in his salad one time, and he said that he liked having a lot of carrots in his salad. He used his lexigram to talk to me, but he could understand me when I spoke to him.
BK: Was there anything that surprised you about the bonobos when you saw them up close? James: I couldn’t believe how much they are like humans – that they do the same things that kids do…I didn’t expect that! They even played chase with me. Kanzi asked me to play with them using the lexigram – I understood him because I had learned what many of the symbols meant. And from opposite sides of the glass, we chased each other all over.
BK: What are your plans for the future? James: Now that this event is done, I will be doing a few more things to try to help apes:
I am writing a letter to kids in Africa for the Bonobo Conservation Initiative
I am going to update my website and my blog
I am going to raise money for KidsSaveApes to donate to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
I am going to stay involved with all the apes groups I belong to and work for them
I am going to write to politicians and others who can help ensure that apes are protected and that the people of Africa and Borneo and Sumatra who live near them are looked after.
I am going to get a Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots group active in my community.
BK: James, we can not thank you enough for all of your efforts…and for telling so many people about I’m Lucy. You are an inspiration and the great apes and this world are lucky to have you!
This is the story of our gifted photographer, Marian Brickner’s, journey to Lucy – the star of our book, I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo, and it is the second part of our interview – read part 1 here.
After I read, The Forgotten Ape, I started to look for bonobos in United States zoos. I found out that there is a whole family tree of bonobos starting with Linda, who arrived in 1962. I began to take my idea about using photography to change people’s perceptions about hurting other beings and transform it again. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if I could do something photographically to show kids that bonobos have families, how much they are like us.’ I hoped that would help them be interested in wanting to help bonobos.
I went to the Milwaukee Zoo first to see Linda and take her picture. I wanted to take pictures of her whole family, so then I went to Fort Worth, Texas to take pictures of Linda’s son, Kevin. When I arrived back at the Milwaukee Zoo with Kevin’s picture, Linda’s keepers couldn’t believe it. “He looks just like his mom!”
Next, I went to San Diego to try to take pictures, and tried to talk to the keepers and take more pictures, but it was very difficult. They were so busy and kept asking, ‘Who are you?’
Then, I had a thought, no one wants to hear doomsday information about the environment. People, myself included want to be inspired and motivated. We want fun and happy. I realized, what could be more fun and happy than children of any kind – so I started looking for bonobo kids to photograph.
So, I tried another zoo that had bonobos – the Jacksonville Zoo. I called ahead of time and talked to a wonderful man named Craig. He was so welcoming and told me to come on down. He said he couldn’t wait to meet me.
When I arrived, the first thing I noticed about the bonobo exhibit was that there is no glass so taking pictures is easier and the photos are better. And, then I saw Lucy…and then Kaleb…and the whole family. It was perfect.
This is the very first picture I took of Lucy at the Jacksonville Zoo. The family portrait. She melted my heart, and I hope she melts yours too.
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