Over 220 South African youth educated about nature

No no no, we didn’t forget you, although January is almost over, we are still in time to thank you for your great support last year and all the previous years! It is greatly appreciated and we are proud to have you as part of the Daktari family. We wish you all great happiness for the New Year and look forward to another year of working with you.

2011 saw our Global Giving friends almost reach our $40,000 target for the “Over 220 South African youth educated about nature” project. This year we will be introducing a new project and hope that we can count on your continued support, both financial and moral, in 2012. We in turn will bring you regular updates and exciting news from Daktari!

Last year Daktari hosted a whopping 387 underprivileged children and we hope to continue that success in 2012. From talking to international volunteers, to learning about life cycles, fun and games to three square meals a day, the children really enjoy their time at Daktari and leave with a new sense of purpose and pride in both themselves and their country. Daktari plants the seed of environmental awareness in these children, they must then nourish it and help it to grow.  Risette, the Outreach Manager (see project “Teach over 200 kids in eco clubs in rural villages”) asked the kids last week to write about their best memory, more than half of them wrote about Daktari. It is small things like this that truly touch our hearts and give us the will to continue with the work that we are doing.

Thank you again for your support,

The Daktari Team :o)

Dear Sponsors,

Thank you so much for your continued support of Daktari! We are currently working with our last group of children for 2011, and are excited to say that we have welcomed 387 children for week-long stays this year! Those 387 children had the opportunity to work one-on-one with an amazing group of international volunteers, take care of injured and orphaned animals, and make a commitment to make South Africa a better place. We couldn't do it without our sponsors, so thank you from all of us!

I also wanted to update you a bit on some special things we are able to do with the children each week. One of the coolest things we do is to take the children every Wednesday morning to Makalali, which is a private game lodge that borders our land. The rangers there take the children around behind the scenes where they are able to meet all the different people that are employed at the lodge. Before they leave they have a short lesson with the volunteers called “Job Opportunities,” where they learn about the different jobs, the type of training and education required for each, and the correlation between staying in school and making a higher salary. This lesson and the experience at Makalali are especially important in this area because jobs in ecotourism are prevalent, and the children do not usually know that they exist. The kids brainstorm a ton of questions before they leave, and have the chance to ask the employees at Makalali all about their jobs. It's also a great chance for them to look for wildlife out of the open air vehicles and they yell, “STOP!” every time they see a new animal! They are so excited when they see these wild animals for the first time.

 We have one other bit of exciting news – thanks to our Global Giving donors (spurred by a fundraising campaign from our current American Volunteer Coordinator) we raised over R30,000 to re-do the roof of our kitchen and lounge before the rains hit! We now have a tile roof in place of our old thatched roof full of holes – and now there is a dry place for the kids to spend time when it is raining outside!

It has been an incredible and exciting year here at Daktari. The volunteers, the animals, and especially the children thank you for your support! Have a wonderful holiday season, we look forward to updating you again in the new year! 

In June we invited the children of the Qokiso orphanage for a week of education. These children are very far from Daktari and we thought we would also give them a chance to get our attention. This is the review we received from Mrs Bjorg Krane Bostad in charge of the Qokiso orphanage after the departure of the children.

... "Thank you so much for giving our kids such a good time. The week spend at Daktari is such a wonderful and unforgettable experience for our orphans, and it makes such a good impact on their lives.  

I asked some of them what they liked best, and Humphrey said without having to reflect: The food!!! I had a good laugh, he just loves food, and might not get enough at home for all we know.  

Mathapeto cherished the private sessions she was having with one of the volunteers, her eyes were shining talking about it.

One of the other girls mentioned the talk session about sexuality as a highlight.

And everybody loved the way they were taught and playing and having fun at the same time.

For my orphans, coming to Daktari for a week is a life changing experience.

It is not just the bush experience and the animals that are highlights forthem, but the volunteers!  To have adults talking to them, helping them,teaching them, playing with them, giving them love and attention all thetime is for them a totally new and soul saving experience. They come fromovercrowded classrooms of 40 students, from child headed households or a family member that has taken them in without really having the means to feedmore mouths. To experience the warmth, the fun and laughter and peerguidance at Daktari gives them a feeling of self and that they matter whichthey sorely need. They come back to their village as different youngsters,they have felt valued and important and this they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

So, thank you all so much for doing what you are doing in the way you are doing it. It works wonders on hungry souls, that’s for sure!!!”…

Best regards from Sarah and Bjørg at the Qokiso Orphans Project

Links:

• Daktari latest newsletter
• Daktari's website