Botswana's future environmental stewards

Mogomotsi Radinonyane, our Community Outreach Officer and the team have been busy with the schools in our region and the kids are really enjoying being back at school and in a recognisable routine again. For children throughout the world the impact of the pandemic will be long-lasting, both emotionally and the effect on their education. Perhaps the latter to a bigger degree for the children we support. When the school closed there were no digital online teaching options when the schools closed the lessons stopped. In our own small way, and therefore in your own way, we are doing our best to help them catch up. Our monthly environmental Education activities at each of the 4 schools are very well attended and it is a joy to see the enthusiasm of the children to learn and be involved.

These past three months we have engaged the children in hands-on learning and despite the cold, the lessons continue to be outside, which not only engages the children in their environment but of course, helps with the Covid Restrictions in place at the schools. Getting them moving is key to keeping them warm and minds active and so active games help us with both. The games centre around ecology and they learn about key ecological processes, such as keystone species, predation, and trophic cascades. Play is so often the best way to learn. At the end of most lessons, the children reflect on their learnings of the day in their own exercise books, and it is always such a joy to read their words and see their drawings. Slowly but surely, we really are building the local conservationists of the future.

Thanks so much for your support of our programme and therefore the support we can give the children in the communities we have the privilege of working with.