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

Today as usual we woke up early to tackle all our projects. After breakfast we did an integration activity that blows many people’s mind and it was great fun.

“I found the game interesting, at the beginning it seemed very easy but it was actually more complicated that what I thought” Ben

We were divided in groups and we were given 4 Spaghetti, a piece of string, tape and marshmallow. The objective of the game was to build the highest possible tower that stands free in 18 minutes. On our first intent we all fail, it was hilarious to see the design of them, all of them aimed to be tall, but not strong. In our second attempt we all went for more stable base to make sure that it will stand free than the high of it.

The web team went to the office of the UWEC and meet with the director Lilly. For the web team, this was an important meeting as Lilly was due to feedback on how she believes the Handshake can not only support Ngamba, but also a number of other sanctuaries too. It was soon apparent that the Handshake was about to step into a new era, as Lilly’s ideas were towards producing a resource centre in which each and every primate sanctuary can draw inspiration, guidance and advice from to help them create tools, websites and online programmes in which to support and raise awareness of the work. We were all very excited about the prospects ahead and have started to develop our initial plans, of which we will share with you during this expedition of Uganda.

In the afternoon, we had a talk about bushmeat, treats and statistics about primates and also Peace a local Ugandan lady that works in conservation gave us some induction about Ugandan culture.

Alisdair perspective

Today we visited the offices of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust to discuss how the Great Primate Handshake can support their work.

The meeting proved a great success as Lilly, the Director of CSWCT, identified a number of benefits provided by the Handshake but also noted the need for a resource centre, of a hub of knowledge, to aid other sanctuaries across Africa and indeed the world rather than concentrating on a particular sanctuary. Since the Handshake’s maiden expedition (2008) we have spent over 5 months on-site in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa supporting primate sanctuaries in the field.  Lilly’s vision was to:

- Provide a resource centre so each and every sanctuary across Africa can access website production tutorials, content, tools, tips and advice.

- Provide tutorials and supporting documents to show technically un-skilled volunteers how to manipulate website content, post blogs, videos and link to social networking sites.

- Create a donation system, or best practice advice package, to support sanctuaries wishing to collect online donations that are currently unable to do so.

Each of Lilly’s objectives (above)  has been discussed within the web team, and plans have been put in place to create the resource centre she mentioned. Supporting volunteers around the globe, currently updating primate sanctuary websites is of a priority for the Handshake. CSWCT currently have a long-term volunteer producing a website for the organisation, and it is here that the Handshake’s advice and guidance can be of assistance.

The tutorials we now plan to create will include

- How to blog
- How to create a simple website
- How to collection donations online
- A beginners guide to photography ( with a wildlife perspective)
- Using video online
- Social networking
- Using online campaign tools & widgets

To name but a few…

The website development team on the expedition are excited about the plans ahead, and we’ll update you with you progress in developing a resource centre tailored to the needs of primate sanctuaries in Africa.