Katherine Jones (photographer), Glenn Oakley, Don Gura and Vida Lietuvninkas enjoy an outing in nature that is close to home.
Idaho has many rivers in its vast wilderness – and flowing right through downtown Boise. These photos were taken very near the downtown area. My awareness of rivers changed when I moved from Chicago to Boise. In Chicago, it hardly seemed “natural”.
International teachers Craig Delery and Regina Maniaci relax along the edge of the Reuss River.
The area where we were was where the river meets the lake . . . it was absolutely breath taking . . . it was impossible to get a bad photo of the landscape . . . the swans and ducks love attention . .the swans always threw their wings in this pose like they knew they were being photographed . .we fed them for hours on those stairs! And amazing duck varieties!. . . and of course . . . even in Lucerne . . .Starbucks! A very relaxing and serene day that started out with the children walking on the pedway with their teacher singing beautifully. . . Craig and I watched them from our window.
Artist, Mark Penner-Howell, with photography by Kae Penner-Howell, uses a piece of cotton canvas in the headwaters of the Rio Grande near Creede, Colorado.
The Rio Grande begins as alpine run-off high in the San Juan mountains of Southern Colorado. For hundreds of miles this clear and cold stream wanders through national forests and high desert grasslands. Numerous tributaries in the mountain high country quickly add to the river’s strength. Over millions of years the Rio Grande has carved tremendous, rugged canyons through the heart of the American west. The lower sections of the river find it silt-laden and slowly winding its way to the ocean, nearly 3034 km from it’s origin.
The Rio Grande provides sustenance and respite to migrating birds, desert wildlife, and human populations alike. It remains largely unused by commercial water traffic because it is too shallow.
Recently, growing populations in the region have put formidable pressure on this life resource. Effluent waste from human communities and pesticides from farm run-off compromise the river’s health. In the stretches below El Paso Texas, more water is drawn from the river for human use than is sustainable for the life of river.
The origins of this Rio Grande, it’s course over land and throughout history, and the perils it faces in the industrialized present are well documented and parallel the story of many great rivers. What makes this river special to me is the time I have spent along it’s riparian banks, above it on cliffs, beside it in a mountain cabin. It’s magnetism to both native wildlife and the people of the region stand in stark contrast to the severe beauty and harsh demands of the desert it flows through. I am fascinated with these things and, most of all, the ineffable lure of water flowing over rocks.
Students from the International Community School of Abidjan visit the Comoe river with their teachers as a school project.
Each grade is working on a “global” project and we’ll have a field trip to a nearby river, the Comoe River near Bassam, as that part of this country is still safe to travel in. I also have to get permission slips from parents to take photos of their children and post them on the internet.
The entire Upper School participated in a multi-disciplined day at the Comoe River. The students interviewed locals in French and English, analyzed the water, vegetation, and sand. They almost caught a tad pole and a fish to take care of in Science class, dipped the fabric, wrote poetry in French and English and heard stories of the spiritual beginning of the river and the Boule people.
An amazing day! We were even able to get a journalist to come with us, so the journey will be in the news. We split the kids into four teams. Each team will present all their findings in a project (video, art, performance, power point presentation) to present one evening to the Embassy’s people. The hope is to inspire that something is done about the pollution. — Regina Maniai, teacher
Emails from students:
– My name is Jean Marc Usher me and my partner Meliane Etien are sending some of the pictures we took during the river project. We are both students of the International School Community of Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, and we are currently in the 12th grade.
– Good morning Mrs Lee my name is Mariam Toure I am Ivorian and I am from ICSA here is one of the picture that we took I hope that you will like it. Thank you
– Hello, This is Mukovhe and Lautrice from ICSA, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. We’re both in the ninth grade. Mukovhe is South African and Lautrice is Liberian. We participated in this activity on the World River Project. It was fun and interesting because we had the opportunity to be part of a world project. We think that your idea was good and we hope that you’ll accomplish your goal. Sincerely, Lautrice Morris & Mukovhe Mudimeli
– Hello Mrs. Tracy, My name is Rishabh Pandey and I helped in the river project. I Live in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire). I attend school at I.C.S.A. (International Community School of Abidjan. Almost the whole school went for this project, and it was very successful. Some of us, including me went into the river for dipping the white cloth.
– Dear Mrs. Tracy, My name is Naky Walbridge I’m 12 years old. I’m in the 6th grade. Ive been in ICSA for 6 years. My father is American and my mom is Ivorian. I really liked the outing because it was fun being with all of my friends and learning things. At first I thought it would boring but it was really interesting after a couple of minutes spend listening to certain information. I did not even know their was a River named the Comoe. I have a few questions to ask you, because I was kind of lost on the project.
1) What does the project consist of?
2) What are you going to do with the pieces of cloth dipped in the River?
Sincerely, Naky
– Dear Mrs. Tracy, Hello my name is Christ Ouei I am a student at I.C.S.A. (International Community School of Abidjan) in the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Thank you Mrs.Tracy for giving us the opertunity to let us learn about the Comoe River in Grand Bassam. I never really knew that there was a river in Grand Bassam that had such a great time I got to learn about the how rivers are so important to us in our daily lives. We loved the whole expreince I saw so many things in the water I saw baby frogs and fishes and there was a man who was on a boat. And I have a question for What got you motivated to start this project?
–Hello, My name is Abdoulaye Djinko, and I helped in the project. And I attend school ate I.C.S.A. (International Community School of Ivory Coast) I am a 6th grader. I loved the trip to Bassam, and enjoyed dipping the cloth in the river. I loved the way the river flowed, it made me feel peaceful.
– Dear Mrs. Tracy, Hi my name is Una and I am 11 years old. I am in the 7th grade. I think that your idea of this river project is a good idea because it shows how many rivers there are and how rivers are so important to all of us. I liked it when we dipped the piece of white cloth inside the river. We dipped two pieces of white cloth inside the river. I loved working on your river project it is an experience that i will never forge.
– Dear Tracy, I am writing you this letter to talk to you about this River Project. I would like to ask you some questions. How did you become an artist? What and why did you choose to become an artist? What and why did you chose this water project? If you would like to, I would like to corespond with you, in this way we will be in touch and maybe be more far away friend. About the project, I was really glad to see how water is important to our life, actually I was very happy to do this project. I was surprised.
