It is the goal of VFWT to work with local communities to discuss conservation and to learn from each other. A key part of this involves working with children who are ultimately the conservators of the future. Therefore VFWT endeavors to hold at least two, one-week long courses each year specicially for children that are interested in wildlife and natural resources conservation. During the school holidays VFWT holds each course which takes up to 20 participants. One course is for primary school children and the other is aimed for high school/senior school students. The participants are selected based on their interest and performance during the weekly conservation education activity VFWT holds every Friday. The courses are provided through generous donor funding and are full scholarship to every participant, including room and board.
Topics covered during the courses vary depending on the age group, however in addition to general conservation topics, some discussions and activities include:
- Game Drive to see wildlife in natural habitats including critically endangered black rhino
- Animal, bird and tree identification, tracking and reading danger signs
- Career day- people from a range of occupations discuss how wildlife plays a role in their job (including professional hunters and guides, chefs, mechanics, accountants, ecologists, pilots, researchers and company owners).
- Field trips to some of the local attractions in Victoria Falls
- Health and hygiene- One Health diseases
- Dealing with human wildlife conflict
- Wildlife Management
- Project time- each course gets broken into groups and the groups each have a project on animals and a fun activity including songs and skits
Throughout the courses, experts in their respective fields are brought in to discuss and present some of their findings and the impact on conservation given their field of experience. If you would like to learn more or to donate to help fund our conservation courses please click here.
Teacher Training Course
As a major objective of VFWT is to enhance conservation education work on the ground, providing training is important to improve local capacity. This year VFWT will be hosting 30 rural school teachers from the local Eco-Clubs for a one week long training course. The training is designed and put together by local NGO- Children in the Wilderness, Zimbabwe (CITW) to assist teachers with updating their existing curriculum to have current scientific concepts, conservation material, and basic life skills all designed around conservation. Each teacher will be given lesson plans and materials to support their efforts in the classroom. By training teachers we hope to improve conservation knowledge in the classroom for years to come. Thank you to Safari Club International Foundation’s Conservation Education Funding for supporting this training.
