Afar Desert Class. From the deser of Ethiopia to other worlds

The second edition of Afar Desert Class will take place on February 10th, 2020, in Hamed'Ela (Afar, Ethiopia). The class aims to involve the children and the community of the village closest to the site of the Dallol planetary camp, to make them discover what the incredible environments of the Afar desert and Dallol volcano offer.

Barbara Cavalazzi, researcher and geologist of the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, told her experience after the first Afar Desert Class in February 2019:

“I am a geologist and I deal with extreme environments and extremophilic life forms. I started to explore this part of the world with the University of Bologna in 2013, when no one knew about the Danakil desert as a possible terrestrial analogue for Mars. Today we know a lot more about this place, which can be considered as one of the most extreme natural places in the world with environmental temperatures easily reaching 50°C. In the middle of this salt desert rises the volcanic structure of Dallol – a salt dome about 60 meters high – formed by a phreatomagmatic eruption [an explosive eruption that results from the magma erupting through water]. On the top, there are hydrothermal sources of hot water up to 110°C, that are extremely acidic with a pH equal to 0, and with very high salinity. After several geological campaigns in these regions I came into contact with many children, who wandered around to look at my strange samples at the end of the day. I realised that despite the extreme conditions and all the difficulties, their curiosity was the same as any child’s anywhere else in the world.

One of the main problems with teaching local children was the language barrier. So, I thought about creating a programme with the idea of teaching teachers to reach children and offer them knowledge and opportunities. The program is called “SPACE: Speaking Planet to Teachers Community in Ethiopia”. SPACE was born in 2013 and was developed as part of the AlmaEngage project, and with support of the European planetology organisation, Europlanet 2020-RI. The objective is to work with local communities, especially in rural areas, to create opportunities, for example by creating training courses for discovering the region in respect and harmony with local communities and their culture. We focus on teacher training and the implementation of projects and courses in the school environment."


The basic idea of the project is to sensitize children about the uniqueness of the place where they live, to be proud of it and to protect it from the "plastic" pollution of tourists. The children, who have only seen the reality of the desert in their lives, are surprised to know that this is a unique place in the world, with a lot of scientific, but also tourist potential.

"There is a lot to do for the development of these countries, and we must do it one step at a time, starting with the children," concluded Barbara Cavalazzi.

 

Read here the integral interview.