Kids for Tigers Meet- an awareness activity for school kids

The Corbett Foundation (TCF), organized a Kids for Tigers Meet for school kids as part of its awareness campaign with Sanctuary Asia. The Meet was supported by WWF-India. and held at the Infinity Resorts, Conference Hall Thirteen local schools were invited to partake in the event. These are the schools with whom TCF works closely for raising nature awareness by organizing different events under Sanctuary Asia's "Kids For Tiger campaign". In all 8 Children from each participating school were invited along with a teacher. As the tiger was the theme of the meet its presence was visible in displays, face painting competition and green elections. The run - up to the "Kids for Tigers" "Meet was a series of slide shows and a signature campaign in the schools of Ramnagar and in village schools on the periphery of the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

	OBJECTIVES
	› To create awareness amongst school children about the Tiger, its ecological importance    and threats faced by it. › To make children aware of the immediate need for conservation and how important their    role in the conservation effort could be. › To introduce the 'Kids For Tigers Campaign' to the children of Corbett.

	PARTICIPANTS
	› School children and teachers from Ramnagar and nearby village schools. › Evergreen 'Youth for a Living Plane › Members of village level Institutions from Mohan and Kunkhet.

	INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS WHO ATTENDED THE MEETS
	› World-Wide Fund For Nature-India › Invitees - local and out station › TCE staff › WWE-India (Ramnagar Field Office)Staff › Ms. Jennifer Scarlott, Assistant Editor—Sanctuary Asia

	MATERIAL AND ACTIVITIES USED FOR AWARENESS GENERATION
	› Display material included drawings by children from the schools of Ramnagar and a    special set of drawings by school children from New- York City expressing their solidarity    for the children of Ramnagar in their efforts to protect tigers and the Corbett Tiger    Reserve › Competitions included the green Elections and Face Painting Competition › Skits and jingles › A Wildlife Film

DETAILS OF ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN
About 113 students of 7th and 8th standard from schools in Ramnagar and nearby villages participated in the meet along with their teachers and members of schools and village level institutions from Mohan and Kunkhet.

The meet began at 10:00 am. A reception counter was set-up near the entry of the TCF Office for registration of the schools. The schools arrived in batches and were oriented about the work that The Corbett Foundation is doing along with the history of the Corbett Tiger Reserve and its ecological significance at the TCF Field Office. The students were also shown the Interpretation centre. The various batches were then taken to the Mahseer Pool at the Infinity Resorts and were introduced to the conservation of the mahseer and the value of community based conservation.

The children assembled at the Conference Hall, Infinity Resorts for various competitions. The first competition to be held was the green Elections which saw the children canvass as green Candidates with the audience polling for the best green politician who was declared as the "Tiger Champion". The honour of being the "Tiger Champion" went to M. Dominic Savior of gyanprakash Junior High School, Dhamola.

The meet was then adjourned for lunch which was hosted at Infinity Resorts and the children also visited the Mahseer pool during their lunch break where they fed the fish and were treated to 'Laxmi' the resident elephant of Infinity Resorts bathing in the Kosi.

After lunch the children assembled for the Face painting competition at the Conference Hall Those not participating in the competition were treated to a Wildlife Film.

The Face painting competition was-judged by Mrs. Jennifer Scarlott, Mrs. Rina Khatau and Mrs.A. Chaudhari Ms. Tabassum of Welfare Public School was declared the winner of the face painting competion.

The cultural programme consisted of a song and dance, performance a skit and a song. VSR Indu, Basai put up a wonderful performance depicting the origin of the Chipko Movement and the cultural troupe from Mohan regaled the audience with a song specially written for the occasion.

The teachers were felicitated and the winners of the competitions were presented with various prizes. Ms. Jennifer Scarlott (Asst. Editor -Sanctuary Asia) from New York presented a cheque of USD 4000 to The Corbett Foundation. This money was made available by Mr. Patrick McDonnell a U.S- citizen who had together with other individuals contributed the money. This donation was met with equal contributions in Indian Rupees by Mr. Ravi Singh, CEO (WWE-India) and Mr. Dilip D. Khatau, Founder and Chairman, The Corbett Foundation. The fund would be utilized to organize Nature Camps for children to protected areas in and around Corbett Tiger Reserve.