Namita Kandel
CAF awarded Namita Kandel, program coordinator for the Roots & Shoots Program at the Jane Good Institute in Nepal, a grant for her work at the Children’s Conservation Theatre. The theatre brings together educators, artists, and secondary-level students to raise awareness about the declining population of vultures in Nepal. The grant sponsored writing and illustration workshops led by professionals who taught students to generate seven stories, along with character designs and illustrations. The grant also enabled a full presentation for two months at a local gallery with students from the theatre group working as curators and facilitators for the tours that the theatre goes on to educate local communities.
The plays emphasize the importance of scavenger birds within the ecosystem, even if local populations have a negative view of them. To see images of the performances, visit @rootsandshoots.np on Instagram. Read an interview with Namita here.
Namita’s efforts to stage theatrical performances to raise awareness about endangered creatures vultures are shared by 2023 grantee Gustavo Sanchez Lopez in Colombia, where his Teatro Tironeta is educating local communities about the importance of conserving opossums. Likewise, the Philippines-based band Kaduma Ni Karol, which received a grant in 2022, is using music, video, and performance to encourage the community to stop and report the shooting of banogs (kites) and other birds.
