PRESS RELEASE
SunChild Regional Environmental Festival
Foundation for the Preservation of
Wildlife and Cultural Assets of Armenia
#5 Byron St., 375 009,
Yerevan, ARMENIA
Contact: Eva Martirosyan
Tel: + 374 10 529 340
Tel/Fax: +374 10 564 484
Mob: +374 93 206 248
E-mail: eva@sunchild.org
>From July 29th to August 10th in the framework of Sunchild First Regional
Environmental Festival under the financial support from GTZ organization
and VivaCell company `Sunchild Summer Camp’ was realized. Selected
children-participants of `VivaCell and Children for Nature’
educational program from Gyumri, Urcadzor, Garni, Goght, Yerevan during
12 days in Tsaghkadzor took express courses of ecology, film cutting,
first aid, english&internet, ecological law and journalism.
Lessons of ecology were accompanied by eco-tours, which taught children
not only to use their knowledge in practice, study birds, plants and
insects, but also to realize the importance and vital necessity of
overcoming obstacles together, helping a friend and displaying will-power
in hard situations.
The course of environmental law held by a lawyer from EPAC NGO
(Environmental Advocacy Protection Centre), was accepted by children with
great enthusiasm. Moreover, we had to make some changes in the program –
instead of planned 7 days, the course, upon the children’s request was
prolonged up to the very last day of their stay in Tsaghkadzor. Thanks to
the simple program, specially worked out for the `sunchildren’, they
learnt fundamental human rights, laws concerning ecology, studied the
system of local governance bodies.
At the hours of film cutting the children were revealing errors and
omissions made during shootings through active debates, offering possible
variants of the end of the film, going into the technical part of film
cutting.
A specialist from «Spitak» Rescue Centre acquainted the children with
methods of rendering first aid. Through the combined course of English and
Internet the children learnt terms characteristic to Computer English,
right and simple ways of getting necessary information and finding sites.
The theoretical part of the journalism course was followed by the
practical ` with the help of TV-journalist tutor the campers prepared a
video-material on ecological problems of Tsaghkadzor.
The children’s rest was partly passing in educational games, which
brought up in them the ability of working in pairs and team, finding
creative solutions for the given situations.
The day before the children’s departure a grand ceremony took place `
the campers sang the SunChild hymn, which they had written themselves and
took the SunChild oath, thus becoming the pioneers of `SunChild’
Environmental Movement. At the end of the ceremony certificates and
insignia were presented to the children.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress