An internationally acclaimed programme, Coaching for Conservation (C4C), was introduced to rural schoolchildren in Mpumalanga in April 2016 at Hazyview Digital Learning Campus. This campus is managed by the non-profit organisation, Good Work Foundation (GWF).
The aim of the programme, sponsored by Investec’s Rhino Lifeline, is to teach children about conservation as well as develop an awareness and sensitivity to the environment they live in; all of this is done through a game of soccer and songs.
The programme links children with conservation awareness through sport. In Botswana, the conservation awareness focuses on wild dogs while in South Africa, the programme introduces children to rhino poaching which is, surprisingly, a topic that many young rural children know little about, though they live on the edges of South Africa’s biggest heritage site; the Kruger National Park.
“At Summerhill, we encourage our children to open their eyes to the community around them and to do whatever they can to make the world around them better. Therefore this was a wonderful opportunity for our grades four and five to interact with pupils from another school and have fun while learning about relevant conservation issues which affect their future,” said Summerhill headmaster, Cheryl Calmeyer.
On August 29, 20 grade fives from Ifalethu Primary School in Shabalala Village were hosted by Summerhill Prep School where they collaborated in fun learning with 18 Summerhill grade four and five learners. The kids were taught about the need to protect the rhino as well as how the animal impacts the ecosystem and the real consequences that would follow if they become extinct.
“It always makes me smile whenever we have done a C4C programme with a group of children and then afterwards hear them discussing what they have learned and singing some of the songs they were taught that talk about how the rhinos should be treated; it is one step forward for us,” said GWF’s Conservation Academy coordinator, Sibusiso Mnisi.
“Thank you Investec for this amazing opportunity and access to learning for the Hazyview children. We believe the learning will not end with them, they will take it back to their siblings, parents and communities who will in the end know better and do better to protect all animals and their natural habitat.”
“It was wonderful to see the children of the two Hazyview schools learn and play together as it is together that they will be the custodians of Mpumalanga’s wild spaces,” said GWF CEO, Kate Groch.