The Great Primate Handshake – Volunteer in Africa, working to conserve monkeys and apes through film and educational content production

Yebo, an organisation supporting disadvantaged children through the provision of experiences with wildlife in both the UK and Africa has started a number of “primate days” at UK-based children’s hospices.

Supported by the Little Bridge House children’s hospice,  Yebo’s Primate Day focused on communication and feelings, using a specially crafted primate communication board and creative activities. The day started with a look at primates from all over the world so the children could understand how primates behave and communicate, as well as understanding the problems they face in the wild. Activities also focused upon play and interaction in primate societies, especially chimpanzees, but also exploring disabilities shared by monkeys and apes  and learning about how primates in the wild such as chimpanzees can have family members that die.

Supported by Yebo volunteers Katja Festuel and Helen Benwell the communication board contained drawings of chimpanzees, bonobos and vervet monkeys in different situations with blank faces. On another board were velcro primate faces with different feelings and expressions drawn on 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.

The end of the day was rounded off with computer games involving animal wildlife computer puzzles and an interactive computer game originally produced for the Zoological Society of London by Alasdair Davies from the Great Primate Handshake.  The children went away with primate monkey calendars given to them by Yebo.