In the Hindu pilgrimage and holy town of Rishikesh, India earthAWARE runs a four day workshop using discarded plastics, gathered organics and kid ingenuity to create colorful drawings, full size monkey forms and a multi-personality scarecrow for their organic garden.
We started the workshop by climbing down the banks of the Ganges River to do both the school laundry in the river and to fill five large sacks with plastic bottles, bags and caps... We found plenty. Next we went into the stream Ed area next to the school and trimmed trees and shrubs for branches the diameter of pinkys and thumbs looking for ones that are Henry and pliable.
With the materials needed and with the able help of volunteers Toby from Australia, Claire from Russia, Alexandria from France and Paolo from Brazil we set about making a monkey first.
We formed ribs by bending the most pliable sticks into a circle, doubling the stem back on itself to hold the form. With 20 or so oft ewe ribs assembled we strung them together with other sticks and some twine to form a tapering cylinder. More sticks were then bent into the cylinder to hangs it into a torso shaped orb. With this being the body we then added a head, arms, legs and a nice long tail. The kids thought the monkey was hungry so they fed it leaves by stuffing the hollows inside the head and body giving the monkey a bit of green color.