Photographers and a journalist have documented the programme since 2009. Articles have been published in various outdoor, travel and birding magazines,
with the aim to maximise exposure of existing and new community projects and participation of the sponsors. Publicity draws attention to the route followed
and the people and places visited and will assist these natural and cultural environments in the future. During the trip the branded 4x4 vehicles form a
visual convoy in the form of magnets, stickers and spare wheel covers. Feather banners are pitched every night at camp. The setting of each night's
wilderness camp provides a photographic feast for the crew journalist, optimising the story potential for selected magazines. Opportunities for
involvement are endless and, due to the potential of publicity, maximum exposure will be achieved. Your brand can be part of the social and conservation
responsibility offset offered by this initiative.
Africa Bird and birding - Feb/March issue 2011
Since 2009, Edward Snell, owners of the Strettons Gin & Glendower Whisky brands, with co-sponsor BondiBlu, distributors of reading and sunglasses, have embarked on an outreach venture programme endorsed by Birdlife South Africa. The group, consisting of environmentalists, birders, educators, the Overberg Honorary Rangers and sponsors, have on three separate trips, covered 6,000 km, making 11 community stops and reaching more than 600 disadvantaged children living in isolated areas, such as Namaqualand, the Richtersveld, Southern Namibia, Baviaanskloof and the Addo Region. These visits are focused on remote communities located on the fringes of the South African National Parks, Community Conservancies, and Provincial and Private Nature reserves.
Birds are used as a medium to present an environmental education programme aimed at children of all ages. Bird identification - using sounds, form, behaviour and colour - leads to interactive games and bird art to cultivate a love for birds and the environment. The ecosystem around the village and how each child can contribute to conserving the bird habitats within it are focused on. Waste management and recycling in the community are promoted and the waste collected from the streets during the visit is used to make recycled birdfeeders and land art. After the programme each child receives a new soccer ball, an "I love birds" T-shirt, a meal and sunglasses. The rural schools receive educational material and stationery.
Reading glasses are dispensed to the elderly and short-sighted, some of whom have not had the opportunity to read or use their hands in specific skills since age weakened their eyesight. We do basic tests and provide individuals with reading glasses, motivating them to again become part of a productive community, where they can pass on their skills to the youth.
The project aims to expand to remote corners of South Africa, to reach disadvantaged people who are fortunate enough to be living in areas with rich natural resources. We want to support and establish eco-tourism projects in order to maximise the benefits of conservation to the community. * Anyone interested in the project should please contact Paul Slabbert at phs@orcawireless.co.za
If our children are to be left to grapple with the legacy of our troubled environment, then the least we adults can do is to advise them about how best to conserve it.
The African Vision Foundation, a group dedicated to teaching our youth (especially those who live in and around South Africa's most abundant natural regions) how to cherish and sustain our natural resources, recently completed its fourth expedition into a remote area to deliver an environmental awareness project.
Four 4x4 vehicles carrying 13 volunteers zigzagged across the Karoo to teach children living in poor communities near game reserves and national parks how to appreciate South Africa's flora and fauna and how to care for it.
This was done through using the medium of birdlife as the children are, consciously or unconsciously, exposed to a wide range of bird species around their homes and schools.
Paul Slabbert, the national co-ordinator of the African Vision Foundation projects on behalf of principal sponsors Edward Snell & Co, said that deeply rural communities were "often neglected and missed by tourism and the tourist authorities because of their remoteness and their proximity to more prominent attractions in the area".
"Our intention is help them to be aware of the opportunities offered by conservation and tourism in order to give these very poor communities the means to sustain themselves by working with the rich natural resources right on their doorstep.
Slabbert believed that the Karoo expedition, which took his group to settlements near Vanwyksdorp, Bhejane private game reserve (Willowmoore), the Mountain Zebra National Park (near Cradock) and the Karoo National Park (outside Graaff Reinet), had been an outstanding success.
"It is always difficult to gauge how much our lessons spark off an interest in the environment among the kids," he said, "but we certainly built on our network of friends and supporters who will help us to sustain new and existing programmes."
Each African Vision Foundation visit to a community group comprises of an introductory lesson to basic knowledge and identification of local bird species, awareness of animal spoor through the use of plaster of paris moulds which capture tracks left in the bush, bird art classes and interactive games.
Jason Stonehewer, who showed the children how to relate to the wild animals that share their domain through the plaster of paris casts, said that his modus operandi is "to visually connect the communities with the animals, especially those which are nocturnal as they are seldom seen.
"You don't have to see the animal to appreciate its presence," said Stonehewer. "Capturing its footprint in POP is proof that the animal's home range is the same as yours. Hopefully, this solid proof along with identification of species will help to bring a sympathetic knowledge and understanding of our natural environment".
The huge problem of littering - and learning how to recycle waste instead - was addressed and the children shown how to make birdfeeders out of old plastic bottles.
Each child was given products donated by African Vision Foundation sponsors, including a pair of BondiBlu sunglasses, a football, an "I Love Birds" T-shirt and a copy of Africa Birds & Birding magazine.
Teachers and community leaders were encouraged to build on the momentum and further mentor the children in issues relating to the environment. The African Vision Foundation is committed to returning to those communities visited by the group to monitor the development and growing interest of the children.
Elderly people and short-sighted members of the communities were eye-tested and given reading glasses to enable them to resume reading and to re-engage in sewing, knitting and other needlework activities, traditional skills which can then be passed on to the younger generation.
Robin Stonehewer, the volunteer tasked with the eye-testing, was greatly moved by the joy displayed by folk once they realised that they would again be able to read and sew. "There were some whose eyes were so bad that I couldn't help them and that was upsetting," she said. "But the happiness of those who I could help was so rewarding!"
This happiness was echoed by the children who, when they weren't proudly showing off their new sunglasses, got down to a pretty serious game of football or, in the case of the girls, practising netball skills.
But it was all too evident that service delivery in these remote communities is severely lacking, each group showing various levels of neediness in their crushing poverty.
"It feels sometimes like our actions are just a mere drop in the ocean," says Slabbert, "but it is better to do something than nothing at all. There is a desperate need among the rural poor for some kind of interaction and we are only doing as much as we can at the moment. There is immense scope to build on what we have done and I urge people who feel that they can contribute to our project to contact us.
"There are almost no job opportunities for these people and a little upliftment in their lives can make a big difference. The youth must learn to respect themselves and others - and their surroundings - and they should be encouraged and enabled to play sports for as long as possible. Food security is essential, as is educating the communities about the possible opportunities for empowerment in the area.
"It would be absolutely wonderful if just a few of the children we have seen are motivated to go on to become conservators, such as honorary rangers, and inspire others to want to follow in their tracks," said Slabbert.
In the middle of a stinking, polluted ocean of rank poverty in a township outside Nieu Bethesda can be found a green and verdant island of hope.
A vegetable garden is sprouting its rows of spinach, carrots and cabbage from what was once just another hard, dusty field within the sprawl of tied-together tin shacks and flea-ravaged mongrels lying in negligible shade.
Barbara Vaaltyn, the headmistress of the township's Lettie de Klerk Primary School, is the driving force behind a project that now nourishes up to 1,300 hungry bodies each day - for free.
She and her small team manage this considerable feat on almost no money at all. "We have been asking for financial help," says Barbara, "but, so far, nobody has given us anything. We applied to the Department of Social Development for funding but they said they had already given money to another project and couldn't help us. We sell some of the vegetables to local guesthouses and that money is used to buy seed and equipment to keep the garden going."
I walked through the neat rows of vegetables greening out of hand-tilled soil. The spinach looked very healthy, as did the cabbage, lettuce, beetroot, green beans and cauliflower which symbolised promise in an otherwise seemingly hopeless terrain. Barbara beamed. "We've also got tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, onions, mealies, pumpkin and cucumber," she said proudly.
Barbara introduced me to a weatherbeaten woman bent over a rake in the garden. Molly is 57 and bright and nimble, although her years of toil in the sun make her appear 20 years older. She is the supervisor responsible for maintaining the garden with the help of six volunteers.
"We started in February last year with 38 school pupils," says Molly. "But when they realised that we couldn't afford to pay them for the work, they disappeared and now we have just six 'high school drop-outs' who come to work."
"Feeding the entire community is very hard for us," says Barbara. "We are doing our best but, without funding or sponsorship, it is very hard. We cannot give up. People rely on us to give them some food every day and we can't let them down. Where would they go to find food? How can they eat? But we need some help to provide nutrition to our children and improve the health of the old people here... we pray that somebody will help us."
* Contact Barbara Vaaltyn on 079 705 6688 if you would like to support the Lettie de Klerk Feeding The Community project.
Edward Snell & Co - Community Outreach Programme
Africa Bird and birding - Feb/March issue 2011
Since 2009, Edward Snell, owners of the Strettons Gin & Glendower Whisky brands, with co-sponsor BondiBlu, distributors of reading and sunglasses, have embarked on an outreach venture programme endorsed by Birdlife South Africa. The group, consisting of environmentalists, birders, educators, the Overberg Honorary Rangers and sponsors, have on three separate trips, covered 6,000 km, making 11 community stops and reaching more than 600 disadvantaged children living in isolated areas, such as Namaqualand, the Richtersveld, Southern Namibia, Baviaanskloof and the Addo Region. These visits are focused on remote communities located on the fringes of the South African National Parks, Community Conservancies, and Provincial and Private Nature reserves.
Birds are used as a medium to present an environmental education programme aimed at children of all ages. Bird identification - using sounds, form, behaviour and colour - leads to interactive games and bird art to cultivate a love for birds and the environment. The ecosystem around the village and how each child can contribute to conserving the bird habitats within it are focused on. Waste management and recycling in the community are promoted and the waste collected from the streets during the visit is used to make recycled birdfeeders and land art. After the programme each child receives a new soccer ball, an "I love birds" T-shirt, a meal and sunglasses. The rural schools receive educational material and stationery.
Reading glasses are dispensed to the elderly and short-sighted, some of whom have not had the opportunity to read or use their hands in specific skills since age weakened their eyesight. We do basic tests and provide individuals with reading glasses, motivating them to again become part of a productive community, where they can pass on their skills to the youth.
The project aims to expand to remote corners of South Africa, to reach disadvantaged people who are fortunate enough to be living in areas with rich natural resources. We want to support and establish eco-tourism projects in order to maximise the benefits of conservation to the community. * Anyone interested in the project should please contact Paul Slabbert at phs@orcawireless.co.za
Karoo expedition focused young eyes on wealth of nature
If our children are to be left to grapple with the legacy of our troubled environment, then the least we adults can do is to advise them about how best to conserve it.
The African Vision Foundation, a group dedicated to teaching our youth (especially those who live in and around South Africa's most abundant natural regions) how to cherish and sustain our natural resources, recently completed its fourth expedition into a remote area to deliver an environmental awareness project.
Four 4x4 vehicles carrying 13 volunteers zigzagged across the Karoo to teach children living in poor communities near game reserves and national parks how to appreciate South Africa's flora and fauna and how to care for it.
This was done through using the medium of birdlife as the children are, consciously or unconsciously, exposed to a wide range of bird species around their homes and schools.
Paul Slabbert, the national co-ordinator of the African Vision Foundation projects on behalf of principal sponsors Edward Snell & Co, said that deeply rural communities were "often neglected and missed by tourism and the tourist authorities because of their remoteness and their proximity to more prominent attractions in the area".
"Our intention is help them to be aware of the opportunities offered by conservation and tourism in order to give these very poor communities the means to sustain themselves by working with the rich natural resources right on their doorstep.
Slabbert believed that the Karoo expedition, which took his group to settlements near Vanwyksdorp, Bhejane private game reserve (Willowmoore), the Mountain Zebra National Park (near Cradock) and the Karoo National Park (outside Graaff Reinet), had been an outstanding success.
"It is always difficult to gauge how much our lessons spark off an interest in the environment among the kids," he said, "but we certainly built on our network of friends and supporters who will help us to sustain new and existing programmes."
Each African Vision Foundation visit to a community group comprises of an introductory lesson to basic knowledge and identification of local bird species, awareness of animal spoor through the use of plaster of paris moulds which capture tracks left in the bush, bird art classes and interactive games.
Jason Stonehewer, who showed the children how to relate to the wild animals that share their domain through the plaster of paris casts, said that his modus operandi is "to visually connect the communities with the animals, especially those which are nocturnal as they are seldom seen.
"You don't have to see the animal to appreciate its presence," said Stonehewer. "Capturing its footprint in POP is proof that the animal's home range is the same as yours. Hopefully, this solid proof along with identification of species will help to bring a sympathetic knowledge and understanding of our natural environment".
The huge problem of littering - and learning how to recycle waste instead - was addressed and the children shown how to make birdfeeders out of old plastic bottles.
Each child was given products donated by African Vision Foundation sponsors, including a pair of BondiBlu sunglasses, a football, an "I Love Birds" T-shirt and a copy of Africa Birds & Birding magazine.
Teachers and community leaders were encouraged to build on the momentum and further mentor the children in issues relating to the environment. The African Vision Foundation is committed to returning to those communities visited by the group to monitor the development and growing interest of the children.
Elderly people and short-sighted members of the communities were eye-tested and given reading glasses to enable them to resume reading and to re-engage in sewing, knitting and other needlework activities, traditional skills which can then be passed on to the younger generation.
Robin Stonehewer, the volunteer tasked with the eye-testing, was greatly moved by the joy displayed by folk once they realised that they would again be able to read and sew. "There were some whose eyes were so bad that I couldn't help them and that was upsetting," she said. "But the happiness of those who I could help was so rewarding!"
This happiness was echoed by the children who, when they weren't proudly showing off their new sunglasses, got down to a pretty serious game of football or, in the case of the girls, practising netball skills.
But it was all too evident that service delivery in these remote communities is severely lacking, each group showing various levels of neediness in their crushing poverty.
"It feels sometimes like our actions are just a mere drop in the ocean," says Slabbert, "but it is better to do something than nothing at all. There is a desperate need among the rural poor for some kind of interaction and we are only doing as much as we can at the moment. There is immense scope to build on what we have done and I urge people who feel that they can contribute to our project to contact us.
"There are almost no job opportunities for these people and a little upliftment in their lives can make a big difference. The youth must learn to respect themselves and others - and their surroundings - and they should be encouraged and enabled to play sports for as long as possible. Food security is essential, as is educating the communities about the possible opportunities for empowerment in the area.
"It would be absolutely wonderful if just a few of the children we have seen are motivated to go on to become conservators, such as honorary rangers, and inspire others to want to follow in their tracks," said Slabbert.
Oasis of hope springs up in Nieu Bethesda township
In the middle of a stinking, polluted ocean of rank poverty in a township outside Nieu Bethesda can be found a green and verdant island of hope.
A vegetable garden is sprouting its rows of spinach, carrots and cabbage from what was once just another hard, dusty field within the sprawl of tied-together tin shacks and flea-ravaged mongrels lying in negligible shade.
Barbara Vaaltyn, the headmistress of the township's Lettie de Klerk Primary School, is the driving force behind a project that now nourishes up to 1,300 hungry bodies each day - for free.
She and her small team manage this considerable feat on almost no money at all. "We have been asking for financial help," says Barbara, "but, so far, nobody has given us anything. We applied to the Department of Social Development for funding but they said they had already given money to another project and couldn't help us. We sell some of the vegetables to local guesthouses and that money is used to buy seed and equipment to keep the garden going."
I walked through the neat rows of vegetables greening out of hand-tilled soil. The spinach looked very healthy, as did the cabbage, lettuce, beetroot, green beans and cauliflower which symbolised promise in an otherwise seemingly hopeless terrain. Barbara beamed. "We've also got tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, onions, mealies, pumpkin and cucumber," she said proudly.
Barbara introduced me to a weatherbeaten woman bent over a rake in the garden. Molly is 57 and bright and nimble, although her years of toil in the sun make her appear 20 years older. She is the supervisor responsible for maintaining the garden with the help of six volunteers.
"We started in February last year with 38 school pupils," says Molly. "But when they realised that we couldn't afford to pay them for the work, they disappeared and now we have just six 'high school drop-outs' who come to work."
"Feeding the entire community is very hard for us," says Barbara. "We are doing our best but, without funding or sponsorship, it is very hard. We cannot give up. People rely on us to give them some food every day and we can't let them down. Where would they go to find food? How can they eat? But we need some help to provide nutrition to our children and improve the health of the old people here... we pray that somebody will help us."
* Contact Barbara Vaaltyn on 079 705 6688 if you would like to support the Lettie de Klerk Feeding The Community project.