Dear Friend of Koko,
Announcing our bold new Kids4Koko website app, where kids can come and learn to talk with the animals!
Koko spent her life bringing joy into people's hearts. She called it Koko-Love. With Kids4Koko, we will spread that love through our children — who are our future. As Kids4Koko, they will come to understand gorillas by "talking" with Koko. And in the process they will become Koko's ambassadors for Mother Earth and Her endangered species.
Nature is in crisis! We see it all around us. And because we are part of Nature it is our crisis, too — ours to solve. Koko would inspire us to act if she were here. Now, through Kids4Koko, her voice ("The Voice of Nature") will be loud and bright and clear. This new movement is Koko’s enduring legacy. With your help it can change the world.
Intro to the "Kids4Koko" Web App
In our first release of Kids4Koko (located at
koko.org/kids4koko), kids will have 4 ways to connect with Koko and Nature — Signing, Painting, Reading and Helping:
Sign Like Koko
In Sign Like Koko, kids will use an interactive chart to learn 48 of Koko's favorite signs (which we'll continually update from her 1000-word vocabulary). Koko demonstrates each sign in videos and/or photos, and Penny and native signer Darlene Chan show how Koko's signs may sometimes differ from conventional American Sign Language (ASL).
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| Koko signs "THANKS" |
Penny & Darlene Illustrate Variations |
Paint Like Koko
In Paint Like Koko, kids will peer into the artistic side of a gorilla's mind. They'll view the art of Koko and her extraordinarily talented friend Michael. They'll watch videos showing Koko painting with joy and amusement, expressing her feelings without inhibition. Kids will be inspired to express their own feelings as they paint "like Koko," and will be invited to share their work with other Kids4Koko.
Read About Koko
In Read About Koko, we have selected two books initially to teach kids about Koko's life and legacy — the classic paradigm-shifting Koko's Kitten, and the heartwarming new story of hope, A Wish for Koko. These books will become tools for action as they reach more readers around the world, opening hearts and minds, young and old. And the signing presented in both books will link to Koko's sign demo videos, expanding their sign language vocabulary. The Kids4Koko site will be a place to visit often, like a favorite classroom … or the home of a best friend. Like Koko.
Help Save Gorillas
In Help Save Gorillas, kids will gain knowledge and appreciation of Koko’s species. They’ll learn about the challenges facing captive gorillas — their lack of autonomy and undervalued ability to communicate with caregivers in zoos. And they'll learn about the threats to free-living gorillas in Africa from bushmeat hunters, loss of habitat and diseases (yes, great apes are susceptible to human diseases). Armed with this information and inspired by compassion, Kids4Koko will be guided to act on behalf of this noble species. They’ll be invited to sign Koko's Pledge — to treat all living things and the natural world with love, respect and wonder. It is their commitment to extend Koko-Love (Koko's favorite sign and emotion) everywhere.
With your help, Kids4Koko can change the world ...
Kids4Koko is not only a website, but a group and a movement. It will inspire children — our future leaders — to embrace their kinship with all life and become Koko's "Voice of Nature." And it can be a shared activity between parents and kids — learning sign language together; painting like Koko and reading her books — and learning about gorillas both as a species and as individuals with unique personalities.
We have ambitious plans for the Kids4Koko site: We'll add more Koko signs, videos, books and activities for kids, inviting them to explore the mind of another intelligent species — especially the endangered gorilla. They'll come to appreciate the power of "learning to talk with the animals" to gain empathy and bring about real-world conservation. And they'll be inspired by Koko to do it!
Our goal is to make Kids4Koko a global network, so that kids can share knowledge, ideas, Koko signs and Koko-inspired creations with their friends and families — and with other Kids4Koko members around the world. Their world.
Thanks to your previous support, we've made a great start. But we need your continued support to sustain, expand and update Kids4Koko with the most powerful content — fueled by The Gorilla Foundation's 50-years of interspecies communication research and its pioneering discoveries about "other" intelligent life on Earth.
Please make a generous donation today and invest in a future that Koko wanted for us all.
Thank you for supporting Kids4Koko, and our greater mission of achieving conservation through communication in our lifetime!
Sincerely,
PS: Like many other nonprofits, small businesses and individuals, The Gorilla Foundation is doing its best to survive during these challenging times.
Your donation of $25 or more today will make all the difference to the success of our critical mission.
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