To celebrate World Animal Day on 4 October IAR Goa hosted an event for children at the Government High School Guirim on Sunday 30 September. Children from local schools were invited to participate in a drawing and an essay competition all under the theme “Sharing the Planet”. They were asked to draw or write about people, animals and plant life and how all share the same world. The Head Mistress of the school had kindly allowed us to use the premises even though exams were taking place on the same day.
38 children joined in the fun and whilst waiting to be divided into age groups and seated in the class rooms they were given the Animal Tracks magazine - IAR’s newsletter - and an animal quiz to answer whilst waiting.
28 children participated in the drawing competition and 3 in the essay competition. They were given 1 ½ hours to complete their work and upon submitting it they were given the answers to the quiz and prizes were handed out according to the number of correct answers.
The winners of the competitions are:
Essay:1st Prize - Rohit Ghosarwadkar, Govt. High School Guirim
Drawing (10-12 years):1st Prize - Pratik Joshi, Saraswat Vidhyalaya High School
Drawing (13-17 years):1st Prize - Vedant Sawant, Saraswat Vidhyalaya High School
Animal welfare is not just about saving and rehabilitating animals, it is also a question of educating people and changing their perception of how we treat our planet and the creatures that share it with us. The judges were impressed by the children’s level of insight into the importance of respecting all forms of life and of protecting our planet for future generations. Their passion and enthusiasm gives hope for the future of Goa that the next generation will work to repair the damage done by previous generations.