PIC initiated the Zoo Connection program in 1993 for students attending primary, middle, and secondary schools in America and Africa. The program focuses not only on protecting the environment and conservation issues, but also on learning about the richness of each other’s cultures. PIC presents Zoo Connection to more than 10,000 students attending 40 schools in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area and at Central Square High School in Central Square, New York.
PIC also works with two primary and two secondary schools in Rwanda and a secondary school in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Members of the PIC team visit the four Rwandan schools every year. At the current time, security issues prohibit us from going into DRC, but Congolese teachers cross the border to meet with us in Rwanda. The Zoo Connection program reaches more that 5,000 students in Rwanda and the DRC.
In 2005, PIC began a partnership with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International to assist the Bisate Primary and Secondary Schools that are located about a mile from the Volcanoes National Park, the habitat for the mountain gorillas. There are more than 2,600 children attending both schools, including the children of gorilla trackers and members of anti-poaching teams. PIC provides school supplies for every student (including textbooks), funds a conservation education program, and built cisterns that enable students to have clean drinking water. Teachers report that student test scores have increased by 40% since children have had access to the education materials.
The following are excerpts from a letter read by a student during the PIC team’s visit to the Bisate Schools in June 2010. A young girl stood in front of her classmates, local officials, and teachers and bravely read her remarks in English.
Dear Guests, your annual visit to our school and your participation in the development of our school is a symbol of you and the Columbus Zoo wanting to help us. We don’t see you as a sponsor but are really one among our parents. As our conservation parents, you have shown us that good conservation starts from people. We promise to be one of the good members of Partners In Conservation because of this acquired instruction from you. Thank you very much - to help us - to help ourselves and the mountain gorillas.