Ho Chi Minh City, March 2012 –Wildlife At Risk (WAR) has successfully operated the “SOS Travelling Exhibition – Education on wildlife consumption” in 20 secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City. Approximately 10,000 secondary school students and teachers participated in this exhibition, under the supervision of 20 young and enthusiastic volunteer students.
Visiting the SOS Travelling Exhibition, students are taught all about the illegal wildlife consumption throughout Vietnam. The students are able to watch interesting video clips about wildlife product consumption, touch and interact with the exhibits, listen to endangered wildlife calls, and participate in exciting games to win gifts from WAR.
Many students were moved when interacting with exhibits on how endangered animals were killed for meat, alcoholic drinks or traditional medicines, or how they were kept illegally as pets. Many others were saddened to learn that the Javan Rhino is now extinct in Vietnam. To show their commitment in protesting against the illegal wildlife consumption, the students demonstrated loudly WAR’s campaign exhibition slogan “Say no to illegal wildlife products” and promised to help Vietnams’ endangered wildlife.
“I love the SOS Travelling Exhibition very much. I would like to thank WAR for giving me this opportunity to participate in such an exciting and useful programme. I promise that I will not use illegal wildlife products in order to conserve our precious wildlife. I wish that the SOS travelling exhibition would travel to more secondary schools so that many children like me could visit this interesting and impressive exhibition”, said Hoang Long, a 13 year old boy from Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School, District 1.
The SOS Travelling Exhibition is an initiative of WAR to educate the younger generation of Vietnam and urge them to save wildlife from the brink of extinction such as the Javan Rhino. The SOS exhibition is strongly supported by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training and Ho Chi Minh City Forest Protection Department.
Launched in the beginning of December 2011, the SOS Travelling Exhibition has been operating throughout 20 secondary schools in District 1 and Binh Thanh District. From now to May 2012, the exhibition will target more than 8,000 secondary school students and teachers in District 3 and Phu Nhuan District.
WAR would like to thank the organisations and individuals who have sponsored the SOS Travelling Exhibition. WAR is currently looking for further support in order to travel to other secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City, and thus contributing to stopping the illegal consumption wildlife products and in turn save Vietnam’s endangered wildlife.
If you would like to support this exhibition, please contact Ms.Huyen Do Thi Thanh – Wildlife Education Manager at Huyen.dtt@wildlifeatrisk.org.
Please see more photos of the SOS Travelling Exhibition here.
Do Huyen – Ho Thi Kim Lan