ABOUT THE PROJECT
Photo: Conservation Fusion
In a nutshell, after working and living in the rural southwest of Madagascar for two years, I was shocked by the lack of environmental material available to schools. I am therefore writing & illustrating a series of six educational, environmental conservation story books for the young generation and teachers of Madagascar.
Madagascar is a country painted in colour, pattern, culture and beauty, and hence, inspired the name of this project - Zara Loko. ‘Zara’ means sharing and ‘Loko’ means colour. And that’s exactly my aim with this project - to share colour. Not only are the books full of colour, but I want the conservation lessons within these stories to help conserve the vibrancy of this island - for all the shades of green to remain in the forests and the mosaic of colours to stay in the coral reef.
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The books are to be published by the Malagasy publishing company 'Vakoka Vakiteny'. 'Vakoka' means something precious and worthy of protection and ‘Vakiteny’ means reading. They are a small, passionate and dedicated team of 3, whose values align with those of Zara Loko - providing quality education materials in the name of sustainable development, conservation and cultural preservation.
ZARA LOKO
THE BOOKS
The books are focussing on the major environmental challenges faced by the country, including coral reef degradation, overfishing, deforestation, soil erosion, mangrove loss and pollution. Not only do they describe why each of these ecosystems are so important to humans, wildlife and the climate, but they also provide sustainable and uplifting solutions to reverse the degradation. The main characters promote the qualities of patience, determination, bravery and good will, as no conservation efforts are easy and immediate.
The books will be created for the primary school age range. Because of the high illiteracy rates, 64.7% nationwide, the books will be friendly for all levels of literacy. This will be achieved by the 20 double page spreads of colourful and detailed illustrations. They are designed to tell the whole story, with the text being additional.
Conservation and environmental studies are rarely taught in the curriculum, and many teachers in rural areas aren’t formerly trained. These books will serve as an easy school resource for teachers, with tailored questions and activities at the end of each one.
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Although there are already conservation story books in Madagascar, it is rare to find them written in the Malagasy language. Instead of translating pre-existing books to Malagasy, the aim of Zara Loko is to create country-specific story books that children can relate to. The stories revolve around their everyday life, culture and wildlife. This way, I believe a greater connection will be made and the pressing environmental challenges will be better understood. To begin with, all the books will be in the official Malagasy language, however with time, we plan to cover as many of the Malagasy dialects as possible.
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WE AIM TO EDUCATE, ENGAGE AND INSPIRE FUTURE GENERATIONS IN CONSERVATION
REFORESTATION AND CARBON POSITIVITY
I am very passionate about making sure the production of the Zara Loko books are as sustainable as the message they are promoting. For me, this means making sure the project is carbon positive - sequestering more carbon emissions than we emit.. For this, I am partnering up with One Tree Planted, where for every serval books printed, a tree will be planted. In the future, I look forward to working with a Malagasy reforestation or blue carbon initiative instead.
I am also experimenting with printing the books onto recycled paper, testing how well they can withstand the wear and tear of of a Malagasy classroom.
Luckily, transport emissions are very low, since all printing is done in Tana.
HAND UP,
NOT A HAND OUT
The history of humanitarian aid has often been characterised by the giving of 'hand outs'. While this can certainly have immediate, essential benefits, it is not necessarily sustainable in the long term. For this, people must be empowered and have the capacity to make to change that they want to see. These books serve as a 'hand up' for children, with the aim of igniting that curiosity, pride and stewardship for the nature around them, and maybe, one day, inspiring the future generation of Malagasy environmental leaders.