Over 220 South African youth educated about nature

Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage inspires, motivates, develops and educates underprivileged children to care for the environment through the medium of a wildlife orphanage.

Each week Daktari invites children from the local underprivileged school to stay at the camp for 5 days. Whilst the children are at Daktari, they follow an eductional program about wildlife and the environment. They also take part in lessons such as English, Poilteness and Maths. A very important part of Daktari is the animals. We care for animals which are injured or orphaned and also animals which cannot be released back into the wild. These animals are used to educate the children, who help with their daily care and feeding.

As a volunteer at Daktari, I have been involved with the teaching program for the children. When they arrive on a Monday morning, an introduction to Daktari is given and then we start with the teaching program. The children help us with daily chores, which include cleaning animal camps and feeding some of the animals. Whilst following the teaching plan, we all aim to make the lessons as exciting as possible and to make sure that the children get the most out their time here as possible.

I plan to stay at Daktari for another 2 months and will then return to England. I came to Daktari in January so have been here a while! I would greatly recommend this project to anyone wishing to spend time in South Africa working with the local children. From volunteering at Daktari, you can be sure to have a trip filled with wonderful memories and experiences which will never be forgotten.

When asked what she would tell her friends about this project, Vicky said: "Incredible! You need to see this."