On the 9th September 2007 the members of Andavadoaka’s ‘Club Alo Alo’ conservation youth group put on a play about the effects of over-fishing on the local coral reefs and fish populations, and the effectiveness of MPAs (marine protected areas) and good fishing practices.
Blue Ventures volunteers got involved in this project when asked to help provide sets and costumes for the play. Three weeks before the play was first performed the set construction and costume design got underway in full force. Many of the staff and volunteers were involved in building sets and backdrops to depict the underwater worlds of a mangrove forest, sea-grass beds and both dead and living coral. With startling ingenuity and creative use of very limited resources, the sets took shape and came to life when the kids acted out the dramatic scenes of life underwater, and accompanied by original songs that were written for the play by Bic and James.
As the main characters of the story were fish and crustaceans, masks and costumes were created to illustrate this. The excellent performance of the play by the kids, combined with their bright and colourful attire were much appreciated by the audience comprised of local people, visitors and Blue Ventures staff and volunteers.
The play was a hit, and there are plans to take it on the road to visit local villages thus spreading a very important message about marine conservation to the local area.
