KAIROS ARTS UPDATE

LOCKDOWN AND BEYOND…

YOU may recall in our December 2019 issue I spent time with Cathy Sara, Director of local charity, Kairos Arts. Totally in awe of the worthwhile work Kairos Arts had been doing I signed on the dotted line to complete the training and join the dedicated throng of local Kairos Arts Practitioners; sadly our training, several weeks in, was put on hold. Wanting to know how the charity has coped with lockdown, I asked Wendy Jenkins, the charity’s Communications Director, for an update…Juanita Shield-Laignel

Wendy replied…“Lockdown has presented some challenges but some incredible opportunities for Kairos Arts. Though deeply saddened that we haven’t been able to run our normal programmes with Jersey Women’s Refuge and our monthly workshops for people living with dementia, we have endeavored to keep true to our Kairos identity, using our creative gifts and therapeutic training ‘for such a time as this.’ Towar ds the beginning of lockdown, we realised that people were feeling overwhelmed by the new restraints placed on their lives, by having the new challenge of juggling work and homeschooling, of being totally isolated from friends and family and by the constant bombardment of media updates on Covid19 statistics. If ever the arts had a part to play in speaking into this shocking new normal, it was then. We c reated ‘40 Days of

Creative Adventure’ where we invited people on Instagram and Facebook to take up our chosen daily ten minute creative task. We incorporated all the arts - from dancing to singing, to modelling, to signing, to painting...the list goes on. We knew that not all activities would connect with everyone, but even if they just sparked an idea, encouraged one person to step out into creative pursuit, or found a w ay to process concerns and anxiety around Coronavirus then it was worthwhile.

Another impact of the global pandemic was the blow of having our annual fundraiser cancelled due to Lockdown. Not to be disheartened, we organised an online, ‘40 Minute Festival of Creativity’ where we celebrated all of the arts with contributions from very talent local individuals and groups including music from Musical Origin als, Sarah and Gerard Le Feuvre and Liz Shea along with her children, Josh and Esther. The purpose wasn’t to raise funds - we are a small enough charity to survive the economic downturn - but to enable people to enjoy a very engaging and eclectic celebration of the arts.

Following a biblical ‘40 day’ theme, the Kairos Community then embarked on a running challenge. We pledged to run 40km over 8 days to r aise funds for our partners in locally and internationally. In Jersey, we raised funds for Jersey Women’s Refuge who have just opened a second home due to meet the increase in domestic abuse cases during lockdown. We also raised funds for our partners in Bolivia and India who run Freedom Businesses for people who have been trafficked or who are emerging from the sex trade. Employees in these companies have been profoundly effected during lockdown as businesses have been forced to shut down. We wanted to ensure these precious, vulnerable individuals would still be able to take home a salary during this time of economic upheaval. We were delighted to raise £1410.00 and so grateful for so many people’s generous contributions.

As current restrictions begin to ease here in Jersey, we are thrilled to start p lan ning our workshops for the autumn term. We are currently preparing a six week programme for year 10 and 11 girls from Beaulieu School requiring support with anxiety, stress and low self-esteem issues. This is an exciting new chapter for the charity as we develop our schools’ work.

As we emerge from ‘these strange times,’ and our programmes recommence, we know that our therapeutic arts workshops will , as ever, play an intrinsically vital role in allowing people to understand, process and find comfort and resilience in all that they discover about themselves and the world we inhabit.”

I was so thrilled to hear the charity has navigated these difficult times with sensitivity and an ongoing desire to help the local community and also manage their international commitments.

Thank you Wendy for sharing the Kai ros Arts news…

First baby aye-aye to be hand-reared at Jersey Zoo

On Friday 15th May, keepers at Jersey Zoo were delighted to welcome the second baby aye-aye of 2020 to the Durrell family, born to mother Zanvie, and father Pan. However, this time around, zoo staff needed to intervene to ensure the survival of this precious youngster.

Sadly, the infant was rejected by its mother, and keepers had to step in to hand-rear the baby. Despite the zoo staff’s efforts to encour age Zanvie to care for her young, she appears to lack maternal instincts.

Senior Mammal Keeper, Rachel Cowen, said, “Unfortunately, Zanvie doesn’t seem to want to feed her offspring or curl up around them to keep them warm. Two of her infants have been successfully hand-reared before while Zanvie resided at Bristol Zoo, so we knew that we might have to hand-rear this baby. The global captive population of ay eayes is quite small, and there aren’t very many females of breeding age in the European population, so it is still really important for Zanvie to breed, as she is the daughter of wild-born aye-aye Patrice, who was brought back from Madagascar by Gerald Durrell in 1990 and still lives at Jersey Zoo today.”

Globally, this aye-aye is only the fifth baby to be fully hand-reared to this age and brings the to tal number of aye-ayes at Jersey Zoo to nine. Quickly sexed as female and fondly named by her keepers as Mifaly, meaning ‘playful’ and ‘to rejoice’ in Malagasy, she was also one of the smallest babies on record, weighing only 65g. Newborn aye-ayes would usually weigh between 90g–120g, but Mifaly has progressed extremely well and has now more than trebled her birth weight.

Rachel continued, “It has been a n in credible privilege to witness the infant’s growth and development, as normally baby aye-ayes stay hidden in the nest for the first couple of months, so we don’t get to see what they are doing in there! It’s been amazing to see how instinctive some of their behaviours are. She has recently started to ‘tap’ things in her box and then try to chew on them –this is her beginning to practice the percussi ve foraging behaviour th at aye-ayes do in the wild, which enables them to access their favourite juicy grubs and insects from under the tree bark. She is incredibly playful and to have another female in the population is fantastic news for the conservation of this rare species.”

The aye-aye is a species of lemur from Madagascar and, like many primates native to the island, is an endangered species. Given th e serious state of their population in the wild, this precious new baby is a welcome addition to the captive breeding programme.

The baby aye-aye born in March to Ala and Pan is developing well and has now been sexed as a male. Zoo staff say he is getting braver and more confident at moving around the enclosure but is still a little shy around the keepers.

Jersey Zoo is open to all visitors, with the maj ority of outdoor and indoor areas now open. Unfortunately, the aye-aye building is currently closed due to physical distancing measures, but we hope to open it again soon so that visitors can see this year’s exciting new arrivals.