Children from Alexandra in Johannesburg were exposed to exotic animals, horse-riding and a cleanup the Jukskei River as part of a nature and wildlife conservation awareness campaign to teach youth about the importance of taking care of their environment.
Nonprofit Guardian Angels Wildlife and Marine Trust (GAWMT) rolled out the second phase of their Youth Conservation Education Project in Alexandra where 250 grade 8 pupils from five secondary schools in the township took part in an educational and insightful morning at the East Bank Hall on Friday.
This follows the first phase launched last month where 100 pupils took part in a community cleanup initiative along the polluted section of the Jukskei River that runs through Alexandra.
On Friday, each pupil received a T-shirt and a cap and excitedly took turns riding horses, which some saw live for the first time. The event included an educational and fun interaction with exotic animals as some hesitantly held snakes and large lizards.
The children were educated about rhino poaching and the importance of conserving their surroundings while receiving a detailed talk from Black Mambas, an anti-poaching organisation operated by only unarmed women who trace poachers at the Kruger National Park.
Detailing how they guard the park’s fence and report any suspicious activities or any sightings of poachers to armed rangers, Black Mambas’ Leitha Mkhabela said the women help raise awareness in neighbouring communities where poachers live.
“We don’t carry weapons because the children we bring awareness to are from the same communities that the poachers come from. If I were to go to the community with a firearm, or to a school, they would be scared of me instead of listening to my message.
“If one of the uncles or fathers is killed by rangers, won’t I be seen as the ranger that took their loved one? We instead use education and knowledge to teach the community to stop poaching. We are also women and it is all about creating awareness to allow children to learn and not to use weapons. The community that had so many poachers coming into the game reserve is now working with us because we are not killing,” she said.
GAWMT founder and trustee Raymond Kramer said the initiative came about after he brought a tourist into Alexandra township when he realised nature conservation starts at home. Kramer has a history with the township as he used to represent the community’s taxi associations but met the NPO’s co-ordinator, Mandla Khumalo, in an Uber as he was his taxi driver and was from Alexandra.
Khumalo assisted in identifying schools, inviting them and co-ordinating the event.
He said the NPO wanted to create an experience for the children as many go through traumas in the township.
“They are loving the horses. We are bringing an extra experience to them and it’s an animal that puts them in touch with nature. We also wanted them to see people in uniforms as the children need to aspire to something. What is important is the basics and giving them the discipline ... It’s the little things that we are doing to educate them that we hope would change lives,” he said.
Those in uniform included members of the SA National Defence Force, the Black Mamba Rangers and the Alexandra police station’s commander Brig Vusumuzi Michael Ngubane.
Other guests included veteran entrepreneur Mashudu Ramano who gave a talk on the environment and trees, equestrian expert from Hearts Haven Mandy Laskey and Fanie Brandt who rescues exotic animals from owners who want to discard them.
The third phase of the youth project is for pupils to write essays on wildlife conservation where children will be selected from the five schools to go to the Kruger National Park and be sponsored by a team that will educate them, said Kramer.
“These children must be influencers that can come back and talk about their experience and what they saw. It’s about letting them get lessons and see the wildlife in their real environment.”
For now, the project will remain in Alexandra before moving to other parts of the country, Kramer said.
“We need to be successful and need continuation with the same children. We need to build something up in Alexandra and once we have reached the stage where we feel we must go somewhere else, we will go there. We are not jumping until we do a successful job in Alex,” he said.
TimesLIVE
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