Children in the Wilderness Visit CCF and the Cheetahs

CCF had the privilege of being visited by the Grade 7 students from Dawid Khamuxab primary school (Seringob 110 KM outside of Omaruru) for a multiple day visit from the 10 – 12 Nov 2017. This was a group of students that consist mostly of the San community, a disadvantaged community in Namibia. Wilderness Safaris and the Ministry of Youth Development support this school by paying for their school fees and purchasing school uniforms for them.

The support base this children get, makes a huge difference in their quest to uplift themselves educationally. It is a big achievement for them to complete their grade 7 due to a very high illiteracy among their parents and community which creates a lack of support in their school work at home.

CCF hosted them at our Research and Education Center for the weekend. The children where overwhelmed and in awe with the research side of CCF work, learning about our resident cheetahs and being to be able to view this magnificent animal inspired most of them to be advocates for the survival of the cheetah in Namibia.

We combined the conservation education sessions with bushwalks. As an educator, I personally experienced the amount of knowledge these children have for their natural environment when they expressed themselves in their native tongue. We visited the Livestock Guarding dog program where they learned how important it is to practice wildlife friendly farming methods and how that plays a huge role in conserving and protecting our wildlife due to their abundance on our farmlands.

For this important education and outreach opportunity CCF was proud to be partnered with Wilderness Safaris – Children in the Wilderness, Ministry of Youth Development, SCORE Namibia. At the end of their stay I picked up on how exciting their learning experience was at CCF how the combination of so many different fields of conservation research work is combined in saving our important predators.