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On Saturday 25 May, 13 Little Explorers from Bel-Ombre attended the exhibition at the National Museum and Kenwyn House Gallery. This was a great opportunity for our Little Explorers to learn about marine life and was indeed a great day out together.
The most exciting activity for the children was the Virtual Reality (VR) session whereby the children got the chance to wear a headset to view the underwater world in 3D. Immersing themselves in the experience of life below the sea was a great treat. The Little explorers were drawn and mesmerised as they delved into the underwater virtual experience with their VR headsets on, eyes wide open in full focus as they exclaimed ‘wow’, ‘get sa gro pwason!’, ‘la en torti i vini!’. They would have stayed in that room for the whole day if it were not for the fact that there were other visitors. So, with some effort, the facilitator had to get them to move on from their underwater virtual experience to go and explore the rest of the exhibition.
Off they went to the dark room that was set up to create a deep-sea experience. Each of the Little Explorers grabbed a torch to make their way around the dark room shining their torch onto pictures of deep-sea creatures such as the Dumbo Octopus, “a strange looking creature” uttered a Little Explorer. There was more thrill as a film on life in the deep-sea was projected on the ceiling. The Little Explorers laid on the floor facing the ceiling eagerly watching the film as sharks and strange looking fish swam by in the dark. The dark room was a unique and unforgettable experience.
Hesitantly, the Little Explorers had to leave the dark room as there were other marvels that the exhibition had to offer. We walked outside on the balcony looking at the different displays on exhibition. The Little Explorers were enthralled as they discovered the different equipments, treasures of the marine world and learned about what they can do to support marine life. They were able to use the microscope, touch and learn about the Baited Remote Underwater Videos (BRUV) – operate the measurement tools that are used to measure and weigh fish, breathe using the scuba hose, touch and see different corals from under the sea, learn about the dangers of plastics in the environment, admire the beautiful creations from recycled plastics, learn about the sensing buoy that amass data such as temperature.
As we say ‘time flies’ and it was already afternoon, so off we went to Kenwyn House Gallery, where the children looked at the captivating artwork on display and enjoyed a film about a trip to Aldabra.
Soon it was time to leave the marine life exhibition to return home to Bel-Ombre, but in our Little Explorers hearts, seeds of love for our marine life and fun memories sealed forever. Dreams of becoming divers and doing research work on marine life already planted.
We say thank you! to the organisers of the ‘Dekouver Nou Losean’ Exhibition. We also thank SeyCCAT for supporting this trip through the grant for the project ‘Little Explorers promoting climate action through a transformative learning programme on marine life and fisheries’. The project funding gives our little explorers such opportunity to learn, socialise and have exposure to different experiences that will empower our children to discover their inner gifts and possibilities that are available to them. As some parents are not always able to expose their children to various experiences, we are grateful for this opportunity and thank everyone who continues to work towards community initiatives that benefit our children. THANK YOU.
