Animal Welfare Room Berlin-Pankow
25.11.2011Dr. Gabriele Inaara Begum Aga Khan opened the first Berlin nature and animal protection room in the primary school at Hohe Feld in the district of Pankow.
The princess and the headmaster Marian Imke gave a short speech in front of the 370 pupils gathered in the auditorium and were happy about the following small program of the children, consisting of songs, a dance and a poem on the subject of animal protection. Afterwards the nature and animal protection room was opened. Together with the Begum, the pupils cut a ribbon at the entrance, unveiled a blackboard in the room and explored the equipment. A large television set, DVD player, microscopes, magnifying glasses, experimental kits, books, games and a lot of action animal material on the subject of animal and environmental protection were available for discovery and experimentation. The life-size animal penguin mascot "Pingi", loved by all children, was also part of the party as well as representatives of "aktion tier" and the foundation "Menschen für Tiere" (People for Animals).
After this opening, the approximately 370 children from the primary school will be able to use the nature and animal protection room primarily in the free afternoon hours. Supervised and instructed by two teachers from the school and, on request, with the support of aktion tier employees, they are taught how to treat nature and animals with respect in a playful and informative way.
In cooperation with the foundation Menschen für Tiere (People for Animals), aktion tier developed the concept of the animal protection room several years ago. Animal shelters are appropriately equipped rooms in educational institutions such as schools, after-school centers and day-care centers, in which children can inform themselves about topics such as species-appropriate domestic animal husbandry, wild animals in the wild or the origin of animal food without having to print notes. Here they can read and explore or develop their own small projects and implement them in everyday school life.
After our already existing nature and animal protection rooms in Radeberg, Munich and on Tenerife in Spain were enthusiastically received by children and educators, we decided in the middle of this year to donate such an innovative educational institution to every Berlin district in the context of the campaign "12 districts - 12 animal protection rooms". For this campaign Dr. Gabriele Inaara Begum Aga Khan could be won as patron. The princess has already accompanied the campaign launch on 5 June 2012 at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin. Since then we have received numerous applications from schools and we are delighted that the first of the 12 Berlin animal shelters has now been opened in the primary school at Hohe Feld.
