Abstract
( ( 0 n my desk lies a small blue puppet with fuzzy down that was once the star of a play telling the fairy tale story of the Spix's Macaw. It is a reminder of an event in a dilapidated old theater, in a small rural town, and of a group of children that had been in the play. They had run up to me afterwards and given me the puppet as a reminder to help them get a real Spix's chick. . Maybe we are not too far off from fulfilling that wish. "
Natasha. SchiscMkin
A.FA WatchbirdNov/Dec. 1999
Those words, written by Natasha Schischakin in her article entitled "The Spix's Macaw - a Non-Extinction Story," published in the Nov/Dec 1999 issue of the A.FA Watchbird, gave then AFA President Robert]. Berry, an idea for a fund-raising effort that would bring U.S. aviculturists and the local community of Curaca together to jointly help in the conservation of the
Spix's Macaw. Bob proposed a project where the children of the area would make a limited number of Spix's Macaw puppets based on the original used in the play. These crafted puppets would be available to contributors to the AFA Campaign for the Spix's Macaw who would receive a unique, one-of-a-kind puppet representing a child's-eye view of the Spix's Macaw (many of these children have grown
up regularly seeing the last wild bird). At the same time, the children would be contributing directly through their efforts to the conservation program that is striving to help the bird they care so deeply about. Part of the proceeds would be returned for education of these and other children of the region through support of the rural schoolhouse program.
Last July, this idea became a reality when the children of the Rural Schoolhouse came together and made the first set of Spi:x's Macaw puppets. This was a festive and fun occasion for the children (and even some parents) - as they have never had the luxury of having paints, plaster and other art materials (colored pencils are a luxury).
After the puppets were made, Yara Barros, the Spix's Macaw Field Researcher explained to the children that of course the puppet was theirs - but, if they wished to donate it to the AFA for the fund-raising effort and to help the Spix's Macaw - they could.
The response was enthusiastic and unanimous - the children, some who had by now grown quite attached to their special hand-made puppets, willingly gave them up. They wanted the puppets, but they wanted to help the Spix's Macaw more.