Teach Rural African Children to Conserve Wildlife

The aim of our fundraising campaign on GlobalGiving from December 1st-31st 2020, was to raise funds for our direct action partner, The Black Mambas, to purchase solar-powered WiFi to support their educational programme, The Bush Babies, at their resource centre in the Maseke Village community. The Bush Babies programme interacts with 1300 primary-school children in the local tribal communities on the borders of the Balule Nature Reserve. The programme teaches these children how to conserve the local wildlife and their natural heritage. It is critical for personal growth that these children become part of the global community. The addition of WiFi will give them access to online learning resources, transforming the course delivery, scope and impact. These children are changemakers of tomorrow but need the right tools today to educate and inspire others in their community, and beyond. 

Our $5000 USD target was exceeded, thanks to the support of over 100 international donors. To our loyal supporters, a heartfelt thank you, we couldn't have achieved this without you.

Project Findings

Coupled with the Samsung Wildlife Watch Project, other values that were not initially part of the primary objectives of the “Connecting Villages” concept, have come to light:

• The Samsung Wildlife Watch live-stream is now available in the classroom at The Bush Babies Resource Centre and is proving to be an incredible resource for the educators. Basic lesson-plans and activities to improve the learner’s knowledge and understanding of wildlife and the value of the Balule Nature Reserve, have so much more impact now. It has historically been a challenge to give the children exposure to the wildlife and landscapes within the national park and the WiFi 'Connecting Villages' Campaign has brought this directly into the classrooms.

• Most of the Black Mamba Rangers are young mothers and primary caregivers in their communities, and households, and efforts to empower them to become the role-models to their peers and families has been boosted by access to the WiFi. They have always found it difficult to express their work, describe their daily tasks and hardships of a Black Mamba on patrol, to their families and friends. Now, they use live-stream cameras and social media to show their children, families, and friends the animals and landscapes that they are protecting. This has enriched their lives and provided an extra tool for them to use back in their villages.

• Schools around the world often ask for Zoom or Skype time with The Black Mambas for African Wildlife Conservation classes. The ability to stream directly, in real-time, into any classroom around the world would add a lot of value to the conservation cause of African wildlife and would certainly enrich the children’s learning experience. Lesson-plans and activities linked to the audio and visual stream would become a favourite and very popular event.

The remaining funds will be spent at the Research Centre on:

• Canvas blinds to block out the sunlight when using audio-visual with the WiFi. The classroom is open-air, with only a thatched roof.
• A data-projector (screen is already purchased), to be able to reach a larger group each time.
• Plug-n-play speakers to enhance the sound, as the built-in speakers on the computer are inadequate to reach a large class.
• Doors! The doors to the facility found a new home (mystery destination), and we would need to secure the equipment behind solid doors.

Conclusion:

It is our sincerest belief that the efforts of the Bush Babies Programme will be greatly enhanced by bringing the young children of the local villages into the global arena through access to the World Wide Web. There are many teaching aids available online, as well as educational videos, that can now be live-streamed. They can participate in global events and keep up-to-date with social media.

"Many rural children in South Africa have never seen an elephant in the wild. They don't know that every species - from the bee to the elephant - plays an important and unique role in the ecosystem. They also don't know that 35k elephants are poached yearly and their extinction will spell havoc for the environment. Educating these children, using the power of the internet, about the wildlife around them and their natural heritage could dramatically improve their future prospects and help the wildlife too." Holly Budge, Founder and Chair of How Many Elephants Charity.

"I want to express our gratitude to How Many Elephants, for the wonderful kindness and generosity showed towards the Black Mambas and Bush Babies. The recent donation for the installation of WiFi and solar-power has placed our program on the cutting-edge of community upliftment and conservation education. I do not think any of us could have imagined the added value this project would bring to the work of the Black Mambas and Bush Babies." Craig Spencer- MD Transfrontier Africa NPC / Founder/ Manager of Black Mambas / Warden of OWNR Balule Region

Note: See our report in PDF format in the attachments section.

Links:

• Check out our current GlobalGiving Project
• How Many Elephants Website

• How Many Elephants GlobalGiving Report (PDF) (PDF)