'Meet Phakamani. Our precious contribution in aid of Project Rhino. He is symbolic of a sustainable approach to conservation where the environment, people and technology thrive in symbiosis.
Phakamani has been carefully designed and curated to represent many things through intricate symbolism - nature thriving and flourishing, the sun rising over the rhino's back which speaks to a new day dawning, the South African flag to signify the rainbow nation, diverse and unified, working together. The horns of the rhino are green, to symbolise conservation as a weapon and the buildings display technology, being used constructively to aid conservation efforts.
Phakamani has taken many hours and become a love project for all of our Cowan House boys and girls. He is made up mostly of plastic bottle tops and lids. Each lid was pierced, threaded and carefully wired onto the wire mesh structure. All children in the school, from pre-primary to Grade 7 were involved in collecting lids and recyclable items for a term, and ensured we had ample material to work with. This was an amazing process for the children as they could see how much waste is made by a community such as ours.
Multiple ages were involved in the art-making process and so the end product is truly a team effort.
Phakamani will be popping up in various locations over the coming weeks and we'd like to encourage you to take a picture with him, share it on social media and be sure to TAG us!' shared Cowan House.