What value a smile :)
If there is one thing that we are learning as this project evolves, it’s the value of a smile. We are, literally, putting smiles on people’s faces wherever we go – and it’s not just us saying it. Our resident rhino keeper, Dave Beesley of B-Line, has made this same statement at a number of our personal appearances.
Our rhinos, and potentially your rhinos, will enlighten someone’s life sometime in the next 15 months. Already over a short time period we can look back and remember the fans at the Kassam Stadium, the tourists at The Museum of Natural History, the children of John Blandy School. All smiling.
Move forward to yesterday and I spoke to members of the public at Oxford Castle and guests at the 5th Birthday bash. All understood that the project concept has far more depth than a fibreglass animal sculpture. At a simple level, we had some children ride on the back of the large sculptures currently residing in one of the market squares – cue creative play and role playing. At a deeper level, I debated with a member of the public the merits of removing all rhino horn and elephant tusk and replacing them with fibreglass prostheses to deter poaching until such time as it becomes a marginalised activity – cue intellectual debate.
What shone through was an inspired legacy effect. Many remembered similar projects in other locations and smiled. The Bears in Germany, the cows in the US, the Elephants in London. What surprised me was that, without exception, they all remembered the sponsoring companies as well. This project is intended to have a tangible legacy – charitable, educational, experience and profile. What is emerging is that it is starting to generate an emotional one as well.
Whatever the scenario, our rhinos are a stimulus to a spontaneous action, thought or emotion. I sat down with a primary school teacher in the afternoon and we planned how to work with her class of 30 six and seven year olds. She kept smiling. She remembered her trip to Africa last year. She considered her input as an art graduate. If the teacher is that enthusiastic I cannot wait to meet the children.
