Providing Outreach to Local Communities

Dear supporting friends,

Are you ready for Christmas? Including fir tree, crackers, Christmas songs and maybe some snow? Here in South Africa we have a whole other idea of Christmas… quite difficult to get into the ‘jingle bells spirit’ with 42 degrees Celsius and blue skies :-).

Anyway, I got loads of exciting news to tell you that has nothing to do with Christmas! First of all, did you check out the completely revamped project page already? ‘Environmental clubs for kids in South Africa’ has given way to ‘Rural community empowerment in South Africa’. Since DAKTARI’s Outreach Program is much more than just environmental clubs, we decided to create a comprehensive project supporting the whole Outreach Program. In this way, your donations will not only benefit EcoClub students, but the entire community, consisting of 3,500 residents. With only a small budget adjustment and efficient planning of village visits, we can provide more effective assistance to all walks of life. From career guidance to unemployed youngsters to implementing a waste management plan: it is all part of the project now.

However, if you wish to specifically support our environmental clubs, this is of course still possible and very much appreciated. You can choose this option in the donation selection menu on the main page of the project.

You might have seen a sneak peek of it on our Facebook page already… the brand new teaching programme we are running at two local crèches! A total of 120 toddlers ranging from 2 to 5 years now weekly participates in ‘playducational’ lessons about animals and the environment. They recently learnt what the Big 5 animals are and whether we can shoot them or not. ‘Aowa’ (Sotho for ‘no’) sounded in unison in the classroom… mission accomplished! After the December holidays we will kick off with a ‘Mr. Tree & Mrs. Plant’ lesson, excellently supported by the newly planted marula and moringa trees!

Do you remember the picture of plastic bottles filled with plastic rubbish I attached to the latest report? Well, these are so-called Ecobricks. We challenged primary and high school students to make these bricks for the benefit of their village. A win-win situation, because plastic litter goes into the bottles (cleaner environment!) and the Ecobricks will be used to build a big dustbin on the marketplace. 500 bricks are needed and we are almost there. Work in progress!

In October, we took the most improved learners from both EcoClubs on a trip to a wildlife rehabilitation centre. They were taken on a tour to meet abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife animals that are being prepared to be released into the wild again. Candice, one of the eight students, said: ‘My favourite animal was the orphaned baby rhino. I hope one day he will live a long and happy life in the wild, where he belongs.’

It fills our hearts with warmth and happiness that we could count on your support in this eventful 2015. YOU are the reason that we can empower the wonderful communities that surround us towards a better future. Christmas is a time of reflecting and counting our blessings and we feel truly privileged to have someone like you in our DAKTARI family. Thank you so much for all you have done and may 2016 become yet another memorable year of achievements in the villages!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas and may all your dreams come true in 2016!

On behalf of the entire DAKTARI team,

Toine Vos, Outreach Program Coordinator

PS: There is more! Please scroll down to the pictures to discover some other highlights and developments from the past months :-).

Links:

• Join us on Facebook!

Dear supporting friends,

Wow, time went by so quickly… it is already September, can you believe it?!

The past few months were filled with a broad range of activities in the Eco Clubs and as pictures say more than a thousand words, I will let them do the talking ;). However, there are some exciting developments I am very eager to tell you about.

At first we are thrilled to inform that learners from the local primary schools are also finding their way to the environmental clubs. We welcome everyone who is keen to learn about animals and the environment, so we are very happy to have them!

Remember that I told you last time about the wallet we made from an old milk carton? Well, this lesson got a follow-up as we made wall art using old cardboard and ‘treasures from nature’ (i.e. stones & twigs). This all is nice and fun to do, but actually serves a greater purpose. We aim to make the students aware of the great possibilities of recyclable materials. In the local villages the communities face a large litter problem, which is a shame, since we all know that it is very important to live in a clean environment.

As another part of DAKTARI’s Outreach Programme, we are helping the communities with implementing rubbish management. Once this is done, it is more likely for visitors to stop by in the villages (which are located along main roads). At that very moment, the children can sell their 100% homemade curios, primarily made out of things that are considered as rubbish. All in all, crafting with recyclables now will pay off in the long run! And oh, we are also working on a ‘building with rubbish’ project with the learners but I will tell you all about that in the next report :). 

Last but not least I would like to raise awareness for a very special day for us. Wednesday the 16^th of September, GlobalGiving is offering an opportunity that you do not want to miss! Every online donation will be 30% matched. $70 000 in matching is available, so be prepared! Matching begins at 9.00 AM EDT (South Africa: 3.00 PM – Europe: 3.00 PM – UK: 2.00 PM). On this day, your donation will even have a bigger impact on the underprivileged children; you can make the difference!

As you might know, in the past we already organized some environmentally oriented day trips and game drives for those underprivileged students that improved most in the clubs. These trips are essential in making the learners more conscious of their heritage and to take care of it: they provide the much needed practical component in addition to the theory covered in the lessons. Most children have never been able to see African wildlife, even though they live very close to numerous nature reserves. Your support will be amazingly appreciated in order to offer these excursions.

Let me end by giving a huge shout out to all of you generous donors. It is because of YOU that the environmental clubs can exist and flourish. On behalf of all underprivileged learners: ke leboga kudu (means ‘thank you very much’ in the local language; Sepedi)!

Best regards and until next time,

Toine Vos, Eco Club teacher and Outreach Programme Coordinator

Links:

• DAKTARI Outreach online
• DAKTARI on Facebook