Workday with Ubuntu

On Saturday, the Duke/UNC Roots & Shoots hosted our largest service day yet at the Duke Lemur Center. Twenty-five volunteers spent their mornings transporting trash to a dumpster or tearing down an old enclosure. The difference in just an hour and a half’s work was dramatic. Where a building once stood, remained only fragmented pieces. The space once occupied by a tonnage of wooden beams and other parts was now empty save the separated metal bits.

Ubuntu, Duke’s civic engagement themed living group, organized the day’s event with the help of Roots & Shoots as part of their annual ‘rush.’ Members and prospective members of Ubuntu volunteered. Fortunately, the tasks at hand were appropriate for such a large and enthusiastic group.

After the work segment, the Duke students broke up into smaller groups to receive tours of the center. The day’s terrific weather brought out the sifakas, ringtails, and other prosimians. As per the group’s focus on social change, Roots & Shoots got to talk especially about the center’s important contributions to conservation and the role of research in preserving biodiversity.

The Duke/UNC Roots & Shoots group is now developing our calendar for spring service-days at the Duke Lemur Center. If you are interested in volunteering or hosting a group of volunteers, please contact nc.roots.shoots@gmail.com