Friday, January 17, 2014

Interviews and Educational Outreach

Gopal Khanal, preparing for lecture to school children
Morning Interview
We started this morning with another interview of Gopal.  This time at the lodge where we are staying. Our focus for this interview was about his personal history. A big part of what makes Gopal’s story interesting is his past, where he came from, and what he has done to bring himself to where he is now. Gopal grew up in the area of Nepal where we are currently (western), on a farm with his parents and three siblings. He spent a great deal of time in the wild areas of this region and watched the changes occurring across his lifetime, inspiring him to continue his education and to do all he could to preserve the wildlife remaining. He is now a student at Nepal’s Forestry College located in Pokhara, which we will visit later during this Asia trip.

Educational Outreach
Today is another day of outreach to the local community.  Gopal has arranged to give a lecture to local school children about the river dolphin and why it is important to conserve. Many people in the countries we visited for this documentary, were not aware that dolphins existed within their country. This included people that sometimes lived along the river where the Ganges dolphin is found. The same went for outside Asia. Many people in the U.S. I told about what I was going to do, were amazed that there were dolphins that lived within rivers. Obviously there is a big information gap, which we hope to fill to some degree with this documentary.
School children in SW Nepal
At this time there is a strike in Nepal. When this happens, no vehicles are allowed on the roads with the exception of motorcycles or bicycles, and also military and ambulances. This can be problematic…well….for everyone, but additionally school kids who might not be able to get to school. The school we visited however was fairly remote and most likely these children walked from their homes. Because we are using a motorcycle Gopal borrowed from his brother, we can still move around freely in this area of Nepal.

Gopal Khanal teaches school children about the Ganges river dolphin

Gopal spent maybe 2 hours lecturing to the children. We then selected two of them to interview. Our goal was to get the perspective of the children on the dolphin and what they learned from Gopal's visit. And to see if that motivated them to want to learn more or do more.

Educating young people across this region is critical to the long term success of the river dolphin. If an appreciation and love of the animal can be instilled early, these kids may be more likely to carry this appreciation with them into their adulthood and want to do what they can to preserve the species in their country. So education efforts like this are very important. Many children may first find a love of nature or interest in nature, thanks to educational outreach events like this one.

Outreach like this is not easy. To get to these communities, one has to travel fairly good distances on unpaved roads and on the berms that separate the rice fields in this part of the country. It takes us about 2 hrs to get to this particular site.

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