‘Save the Gorilla’s Campaign’

Endeavour Hills secondary School

‘Save the Gorilla’s Campaign’

Endeavour Hills Secondary College is located in the South East of Melbourne. ruMAD? was introduced as a project framework for the student leadership team. The students identified their group values and issues that they wanted to address. The students’ project was focused on Africa under the theme of Tolerance and Unity, which continues the interest of past work. There are several parts to this. The first is HIV, the second War, Displacement and Homelessness and the third is the gorilla as an endangered species.

The Gorilla Project involves visiting local primary schools to explain the issue of the deforestation due to the mining of the metal coltan, contributing to the accelerating loss of the Mountain Gorillas. A key aspect of the project is the collection of disused mobile phones. Coltan is used to coat the capacitors in mobile phones. With the loss of the forest the gorillas are exposed to poaching. Decreasing the demand for the commodity decreases the chance of extinction for the mountain gorillas. By collecting 500 used mobile phones the school can make a significant contribution to the preservation of the gorilla and also increase awareness of the issue.

The secondary students are making a short film and are constructing a paper mache gorilla as a repository for the phones. Each of the primary schools will make a replica paper mache gorilla and extend on the collection of mobile phones. Visits to the schools will involve a presentation and a set of activities. When the phones are collected they intend to come together for a Day of Celebration of all their efforts.