\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
Primate behaviour and conservation: Alasdair Davies, London Zoo, Great Primate Handshake Working with children with disabilities: Veronica Baily, Children’s nurse, CHASE Working with children who have been victims of crime. : Hayley Green, Child protection officer, Surrey police<\/strong><\/p>\n Veronica Etherington talking about play therapy<\/p><\/div>\n The speakers spoke about the work that they do, the scenarios that the volunteers may come across in their roles and some examples of activities that they could partcipate in with the children they will be working with.<\/p>\n The play therapy was aimed at developing different activities for children, and the volunteers were asked to draw and play with toys that they were given on the day.\u00a0 Everyone looked anxious when they were asked to get into pairs and play with some toys.\u00a0 But when asked to put them away there was some laughter when Veronica said that they looked like they were having fun now.\u00a0 The aim of this was to allow the volunteers to be relaxed when playing around children, and were told that there was no need to feel silly, and that this would all be part of their time with the children.<\/p>\n Volunteers use 'play' to communicate<\/p><\/div>\n Working with children with diabilities highlighted the work that a childrens hospice does, with an aim of allowing UK volunteers to understand life inside a children’s hospice, which is often thought of as ‘difficult’ or ‘very sad’.\u00a0 It aimed at showing the positive and rewarding examples of the work that children’s hospices do.\u00a0 South African and UK volunteers will be working around children with disabilties so this subject was also spoken about.<\/p>\n Working with victims of crime looked at scenarios that the volunteers may come across in the UK and Africa.\u00a0 Hayley Green from Surrey Police spoke about different aspects of child abuse in the UK, and how this may be related to the work they may do in Africa.\u00a0 Many of the children abroad have been through severe traumas such as abuse and this was something that was spoken about openely by Hayley to give volunteers examples of abuse in the UK, and how children that they may work with in Africa, have had similar experiences.<\/p>\n Primate behaviour and conservation was looked at and Alasdair Davies from London zoo spoke about primates that are found in the world, and the similarities between us and them.\u00a0 Conservation was also talked about to allow volunteers to learn about the support that they will also be learning about when they visit and work with various primate sanctuaries on the trips abroad.\u00a0 As primates are used to front Yebo’s projects it was a good chance for volunteers to understand the link between the behaviour and life expeirences of some of the children they may be working with, to the primates they will also be learning and working with.<\/p>\n We hope that the volunteers enjoyed themselves and many got out of their beds at the crack of dawn travelling from various places around the country such as Birmingham and York.\u00a0 We were very grateful to all of the volunteers that came and appreciated their feedback on the day. <\/em><\/p>\n UK volunteers will be contacted soon regarding UK projects we are looking at expanding. <\/strong><\/p>\n Veronica Bailey, children's nurse <\/p><\/div>\n Training days will be held 3-4 times a year. To get involved in the next one email info@yeboyes.org. <\/strong><\/p>\n 14th November 2009<\/p>\n Siblings supported by Little Bridge House children’s hospice took part in a Yebo primate day this month.\u00a0 The day was supported by Adele Simms and Nicky Jones, siblings support workers at the hospice in Barnstable which is pa The children focused on work with communication and feelings where they took part in various creative activities.\u00a0 The day started with a look at primates from all over the world so the children could understand how primates behave and communicate, and the problems they face in the wild.\u00a0 This ranged from seeing how bonobos play and get happy around eachother, how some monkeys can have disabilities like children, and learning about how primates in the wild such as chimpanzees can have family members that die.<\/p>\n The children then took part in various activities. Supported by Yebo volunteers Katja Festuel and Helen Benwell they used a\u00a0 communication board which contained drawings of chimpanzees, Bonobos and Vervet monkeys in different situations with blank faces.\u00a0 On another board were velcro primate faces with different feelings and expressions drawn on\u00a0 such as confused, happy, sad, angry etc. The children thought about different situations the primates may be in such as ‘having no friends’ where they then matched up the faces to the drawings on the board.<\/p>\n The next activities involved creating primate puppets where the children chose a primate to make.\u00a0 This was great fun and lots of glue, paint and furry material came out to create the primate faces which were made up of gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees. The communication boards and colouring in pictures were created by Yebo artist Hellen Bersacola.<\/p>\n The end of the day was rounded off with computer games involving animal wildlife computer puzzles and a cheetah game which was supported by Alasdair Davies from the Great Primate Handshake<\/a>.\u00a0 The children went away with Primate monkey calenders given to them by Yebo.<\/p>\n For more information on primate days please email lisa.davies@yeboyes.org<\/p>\n Art materials generously\u00a0 donated by PDA Crafts <\/a><\/p>\n 24th October 2009<\/p>\n It is available to buy at \u00a312.99 only through Yebo and is now not on any online bookshops due to the need for them to raise the price for profit.. Any profits raised from the sales of this book have gone to CHASE hospice care for children in guildford, surrey who support children and their families who are not expected to reach their 19th birthday.<\/p>\n If you would like to order a copy of this book please email;<\/p>\n 2nd October 2009<\/p>\n Yebo today worked with Fernhurst pre-school in Fernhurst, Surrey to do another primate day.\u00a0 The children put on their monkey tails for a morning where they learned all about different primates in the world, the feelings they have and how they are similar to us.\u00a0 The aim of the day was to support them in their education with communication and feelings, and also to give them exposure to African conservation and culture.<\/p>\n The children worked well with activities such as monkey masks and followed that by learning about primates communication, feelings and behaviour.\u00a0 The second part of the day the children planted a tree to represent a link between them and Letaba special needs school in South Africa where they also planted a tree two weeks before.\u00a0 The children had pre painted their tree pot with handprints a few days before.\u00a0 The day ended with some dancing to traditional African music.<\/p>\n The day went well and Yebo are now expanding their days across the country in the next year.<\/p>\n If you are interested in Yebo coming to your organisation or school to do a primate day please email info@yeboyes.org<\/p>\n 21st September 2009<\/p>\n written by Lisa Davies, project coordinator<\/p>\n Last friday Yebo had the delight of working with Letaba special needs school to mark the beginning of it’s future support with them.\u00a0 Teachers, children and school governors all took part in the tree planting which was a great sucess and very enjoyable.\u00a0 Yebo is proud to be able to work with this school and the children in their care.<\/p>\n After a meeting with teachers it has now become apparent that apart from the physical disabilities these children are facing, there is a common high amount of trauma experienced in some family homes. Although a lot of children board at the school, past events have left many of the children traumatised from issues such as murders in the family home, death and illness of family members and physical, sexual and emotional abuse.\u00a0\u00a0 The support that we give to the school is now a vital part of what Yebo exists to do, plans will now be made to look\u00a0 for emotional support for many of the children in the future. Play therapists, bereavement counsillors and support workers will now also be playing a key role in Yebo’s aims and objectives.<\/p>\n For more information on volunteering your much needed skills email info@yeboyes.org<\/strong><\/p>\n 17th September 2009<\/p>\n by Lisa Davies, project coordinator<\/p>\n Yesterday we took 11 of the children of Letaba special needs school to Daktari animal orphange.\u00a0 Supported by the 14th September 2009<\/p>\n By Lucy Garnett Co project coordinator.<\/p>\n Today we again visited Letaba special needs school, to give a talk to the children about feelings and emotions and how people can express their feelings. 8th September 2009<\/p>\n written by Lucy Garnett and Lisa Davies, Co project coordinators.<\/p>\n Today we had a meeting at Letaba special needs school, where we did a presentation with the 23 teachers working at the school to tell them our ideas, and\u00a0 to see if they would be interested in working with us to achieve many of the Several of the issues they asked for help on were;<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That they needed a great amount of support in how to encourage children to express their feelings about things that were making them happy or sad.\u00a0 One of the teachers told of\u00a0 a young girl who had been at school for a week, not giving away any idea that something was wrong, until she expressed that her father had died in the school holidays just one week before she returned to school.\u00a0\u00a0 This is one of the things we will be supporting the teachers to work with the children in through activities and communication aids.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The teachers asked for help on sensory stimulation guidelines when working with children with disabilities.\u00a0 They say as they have had no formal training with working with children with special needs that this would be of great benefit to them. Again this is something that Yebo will support them with through the use of sensory activities using touch, smell, sound and visual activities, which can incorporate the use of conservation activities to help educate the children about nature and wildlife conservation, which is one of Yebo\u2019s main aims.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nature and conservation education is something the teachers are extremely keen for us to help them achieve.\u00a0 At present they have none, and the children at the school have little or no awareness of the wildlife that live around them, how to act around them when they do see them and how they need to care for them to benefit their environment.\u00a0 Many of the children do not go out of the school and have never seen animals such as giraffes, monkeys and reptiles that live around them.\u00a0 When they are at home in the holidays then they may never go out of their village to have the opportunity to see the animals.\u00a0 Yebo will begin to support the teachers with educational programmes and activities such as visiting wildlife conservation organisations and sanctuaries in the area, and by also encouraging the sanctuaries to start working with the school.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Classroom assistants are something that the teachers are also really keen to have working with them at the school.\u00a0 At present they have none, and with class sizes reaching above 20 to one teacher, many of the children with high learning needs are missing out on education and attention that they deserve and need.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sports was another topic that the teachers were asking for help with.<\/p>\n below, Evans the elephant from the Yebo comic colouring conservation books<\/strong><\/p>\n 6th September 2009<\/p>\n Written by Lucy Garnett, Co project coordinator.<\/p>\n During Yebo S.A. as well as visits to schools, and animal sanctuaries we have seen the importance of seeing animals There were three sitting in the tree, so we sat on the road side and watched the them jumping around while they fed off the trees, they then gave out a warning call which was an exciting and rare sight. It was amazing to see. As we will be going to Letaba special needs school, we wanted to go spend some time with the children and get to know them and their different abilities. 5th September 2009<\/p>\n Written by Lucy Garnett, Co project coordinator.<\/p>\n During the first few days of Yebo South Africa we have visited several schools, animal sancturies and we have met and talked to many useful contacts. We are also keen on keeping a close link with the school as we feel both our aims are very similar and we can both benefit each other in the future. April 2009<\/p>\n Children supported by\u00a0 CHASE Hospice Care for Children put on their monkey tails this month to take part in our Yebo Primate On 26th April 2009 Yebo ran a primate day for siblings supported by CHASE Hospice Care for Children near Guildford in Surrey.\u00a0 The day took place at Losley Park and was supported by The Great Primate Handshake.<\/p>\n CHASE supports families with life-limited children and teenagers.\u00a0 We were lucky enough to spend a day with their siblings in April this year where we showed them pictures and videos of primates from around the world which included Bonobos, Gorillas, Vervets, Chimpanzees and Orangutans.\u00a0 The aim of the day was to relate primate feelings, behaviour and family dynamics to that of humans.\u00a0 Later in the day the children made puppets belonging to each primate group and made up a story about their group of primates which they performed to everyone. The Great Primate Handshake helped to create animated primates on the computer where the older children were able to make animated Bonobos. The day was a great success and lots of fun was had.\u00a0 Yebo is looking to run similar days like this in the future.<\/p>\n (Below) Animating primates<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Veronica](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_0220-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Veronica")
![\"Volunteers](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_training-248x300.jpg\" "\\"Volunteers")
![\"Veronica](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_0204-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Veronica")
Children’s hospice primate day<\/h2>\n
![\"communication](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_99751-300x194.jpg\" "\\"communication")
rt of the charity ‘Children’s hospice South West.’<\/p>\n![\"primate](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_9994-300x225.jpg\" "\\"primate")
<\/p>\n![\"childrens](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/picture-2.png\" "\\"childrens")
<\/a><\/p>\n‘When Caterpillars fly’<\/h1>\n
Poems written for families who have experienced the death of a child<\/h2>\n
![\"when](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_99701-225x300.jpg\" "\\"when")
Published in 2004 ‘ When Caterpillars fly’ is a book of bereavement poems written for families and friends who have experienced the death of a child. This book was written with an aim to support families who have children and young people that are not expected to reach their 19th birthday. It was written with a light hearted approach to bereavement poems with a child like reflection. The book also contains family stories, written by families who have experienced the loss and grief of having a child that has died.<\/p>\ncaterpillar@yeboyes.org<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nUK\u00a0 primate day for children
![\"making](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/monkey-child-186x300.jpg\" "\\"making")
<\/h2>\n![\"children](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_9930-300x225.jpg\" "\\"children")
<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/fernhurstpreschool.org.uk\/<\/a><\/h2>\n
Tree planting and trauma support<\/h2>\n
![\"Tree](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0718-300x199.jpg\" "\\"Tree")
<\/p>\nInteracting with wildlife for the first time in their lives<\/h2>\n
![\"child](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0569-300x199.jpg\" "\\"child")
teachers this outing was to give just a few of the children from the school an opportunity to see animals they had never seen or did not know existed before.
\nMany of the children have never been out of their school like this as it is a boarding school, and many of them are orphans or have families that struggle to cope with their high physical and behavioural needs.
\nThe children expressed so much excitement when getting onto the bus and when we arrived their faces said it all.\u00a0\u00a0 When being told they could stroke a squirrel, a bush deer and even a dog, their faces lit up with amazement.\u00a0 Some of them have never even seen these animals before.\u00a0\u00a0 Several of the children just wanted to look as they found it a bit daunting and looked a bit unsure when a dog approached them, having never met one before, but they soon seemed to relax.
\n![\"child](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0664-300x199.jpg\" "\\"child")
They were lucky enough to also see a giraffe, a baby orynx, ostridges, mongoose and many more rescued wild animals, which if possible will eventually be released back into the wild. Some of the children got to hold a tortoise, which they were fascinated by.\u00a0 They were taught all about the animals, how they live, where they live, what they eat, how long they live and what care they need while they are in the animal orphanage.\u00a0 The children got told about several of the animals that have disabilities such as the blind donkey and eagles who have lost their legs which the children appeared to relate to due to their disabilities.\u00a0 They asked questions about how the animals became disabled like this.
\nThe children went home to their school with some birds feathers given to them by Daktari.\u00a0 The staff of Da![\"holding](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0598-300x199.jpg\" "\\"holding")
ktari were very welcoming and kind. The teachers were very appreciative of the day and expressed that this is a once in a life time opportunity for these children.\u00a0 They also said they were going to be stopping off at a shop on the way back as none of the children know what a shop is.
\nThe aim of the future of Yebo will be to give as many children as possible opportunities like this, to learn about wildlife, understand they are not alone with their feelings and disabilities and to give them a therapeutic and educational experience.<\/p>\n![\"wildlife](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0644-300x199.jpg\" "\\"wildlife")
<\/h2>\nPrimate feelings and communication activities<\/h2>\n
\nWe made a communication board for children whom find it hard to communicate feelings.\u00a0 This was created by our activities team, as the teachers has expressed the need for more communication with feelings.\u00a0 It was a simple ![\"child](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0532-300x199.jpg\" "\\"child")
jungle scene with three vervet monkeys that have no faces, and on a separate sheet there was 14 vervet monkey faces with 7 different expressions on, the aim of the board is to match their feelings with a face of one of the monkeys, where they stick the face onto the board.\u00a0 This seemed very effective and the children took to the board very well, they recognised the monkeys In the picture as the school has vervet monkeys around the grounds.
\nThe children expressed times when they may feel sad, for example one girl said she would feel sad if someone in her family had died\u00a0 Another girl said she would feel excited when she passed her exam, another said she would feel worried if one of her family members was sick.\u00a0 The children appeared to relate well to this and were interacting well with the communication boards.
\n![\"child](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0544-300x199.jpg\" "\\"child")
We then showed the children a short primate video, and explained how the monkeys behave, how they feel and that it is the same for humans sometimes.\u00a0 A lot of the children hadn\u2019t heard of or seen some of the animals we were talking about, they appeared very interested when watching the video. They related to the emotions that we feel and how we all express feelings, they asked us questions about primates and how they feel.\u00a0 They also asked us lots of questions about the different primates they had seen in the video.
\nThe talk appeared to go really well and all the children learnt that expressing feelings is a good thing, and that humans aren\u2019t the only primate who does that.\u00a0 They were also encouraged to use the communication board with their teachers. They seemed happy and pleased to do this.\u00a0 The teachers said that this would help a lot with the children whom couldn\u2019t communicate by words to express their feelings, worries, and emotions.
\nThe day was rounded off by a game of football with the Yebo volunteers and the children, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.<\/p>\n![\"volunteer](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_9683-300x225.jpg\" "\\"volunteer")
<\/p>\nWildlife and conservation education with children with disabilities<\/h2>\n
![\"Yebo](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0489-300x199.jpg\" "\\"Yebo")
activities that they need support with.
\nThey have currently 201 children with special needs at the school and also a special classroom for children who are blind.\u00a0 They have 23 teachers and no classroom assistants in the week.\u00a0 The teachers are not teachers who have had any special training in working with children with disabilities and they learn how to work with the children as they go along.
\nThe meeting was very successful and all the teachers were very keen on our ideas and us coming in to the school to help them with the classes and support the work that they do, they are in desperate need of extra help and classroom assistance, so they were excited for us coming along to help them.<\/p>\n![\"Students](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_9488-225x300.jpg\" "\\"Students")
Yebo will be meeting again with the teachers and students next week to discuss more ideas about how we can begin to start supporting them.
\nAs Yebo aims to educate children through conservation in a therapeutic way all of our activities and support will involve wildlife and conservation in some way and will be adapted to suit the needs of the individual organisations that we will be working with.
\nHellen Bersacola, activities coordinator, has also started on a Yebo comic book, which we are going to hand out to schools and local conservation organisations.\u00a0 The book comes with a story written in a fun and exciting way to help the children learn about the importance of conservation and what problems are being faced. The colouring pictures of the characters that are in the book will also allow children to use their art skills.
\nYebo will be visiting other conservation organisations this coming week.<\/p>\n![\"Evans](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/dsc_0494-300x199.jpg\" "\\"Evans")
<\/p>\nSamango monkeys and Letaba school<\/h2>\n
![\"natural](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_9438-300x225.jpg\" "\\"natural")
in their natural habitat. We took\u00a0 a trip to Magoebaskloof, a near by mountain range which is home to a wild troop of Samango monkeys, as we started walking on the trail it took us deep into a forest, where we came across a lot of wildlife and birds, the place was so vast that we had given up the hope of seeing the monkeys but then as we were walking back we spotted something jumping from one tree to another and it was a Samango monkey, which like a few primates is now on the endangered list.\u00a0 To see them is a very rare sight.<\/p>\n
\nNext week we will be hoping to talk to some local farmers and hotels on their opinions and any problems they face with Samango monkeys.<\/p>\n
\nSo whilst we were there we observed the children\u2019s abilities, what they understood and\u00a0 could relate too. We started to do some drawings with the children using sticks and just the dirt on the ground. They took to this really well, drawing people and animals. One boy only had a thumb on each hand but he managed to take a stick and create some really interesting animal drawings, he appeared to enjoy creating new pictures and images.\u00a0 Another girl didn\u2019t talk any English but I managed to communicate to her through movements and drawing, I asked her to draw me a lion but as she couldn\u2019t understand I did a lion impression and she laughed and created a drawing of lion.
\nIt showed to us that the children can relate to pictures, sounds and to art, no matter what the ability of the child. This can help us in the future when we are planning our days with the children not just at Letaba school but to many other similar places we may visit.<\/p>\n![\"yebo](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_9520-300x225.jpg\" "\\"yebo")
<\/p>\nYebo South Africa, the first week<\/h2>\n
\nOne being a sanctuary owner whom listened to our ideas, and was keen for us to contribute to the local area. He also told us of a few local schools and animal sanctuaries around the area.
\nOne of which was Daktari, a bush school and wildlife orphanage. Daktari take school children and children from ![\"Student](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/img_9385-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Student")
local orphanges for 5days at a time and teach them all about conservation, the importance of wildlife and animals, also to see, experience, help to look after and maintain the orphaned animals that they have.\u00a0 During this week they also supplement the education of the children with classes such as English and maths, and social issues such as child abuse and how to make South Africa a better place.
\nWe felt that their goals were very similar to what we also wanted to achieve.
\nThey have been running for 4years and in that time have taught over 1000 children about the importance of conservation. We asked in what ways we could benefit them and how we could help their project.
\nTheir main problem is the money, they rely on volunteers coming to work at the school, we decided to create for them a promotional Dvd that they could put on their website and also can be shown to potential volunteers to help bring people to Daktari.\u00a0 We were lucky enough to be able to spend a day at Daktari which helped us understand more about what great work they were doing.<\/p>\n
\nWe have also visited Letaba special needs school and are planning on setting up a few days in which we teach the children about conservation through art and drama. Getting the children to make their own costumes or puppets to recreate a story about the importance of conservation, the dangers faced to wildlife and what can be done to prevent it .\u00a0 We are also hoping to set this up with other schools in the area too.
\nIn the past week our research has extended to speaking to several local farmers.\u00a0 Our aim is to find out the problems they face as farmers with the different wildlife in the area, and what methods they are taking to control the wildlife in their farms at present.
\nThis has proved very beneficial so far and we are very conscious that we must make good relationships with these local people if we are to combat and help them change their current methods of wildlife control on farms which include shooting and snare traps.\u00a0 This will also coincide with our research into working with local mixed schools.
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\n<\/a><\/p>\nCHASE Children’s Hospice Primate day for children<\/h2>\n
![\"Vervet](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/half-vervetpuppet-174x300.jpg\" "\\"Vervet")
day.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/img_9895-copy-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/chase-logo-with-charity-no-2col-rgb-large-300x144.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yeboyes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/handshake_logobig-300x120.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n