Thank you for your amazing support throughout 2023 so far. Your donations have helped us to widen our education projects this year to include: education packs for children living with wild tigers; desks and seating for 100 children at the Damna village school; backpacks for 120 children; and this month wildlife safety education for every village in Bandhavgarh.
This latest initiative is bringing together our projects to reduce human-wildlife conflict, our anti-poaching patrols and our education projects in an innovative way not previously tried. The overall objective of this initiative is to ensure that wild tigers have a wild future living harmoniously alongside the people whose ancestors have be guardians of the forest in the centuries which have gone by. Once, not so long ago, 100,000 wild tigers roamed the earth living alongside people with both giving the other space to thrive. Now there are only 4500 but many more humans and far less space for the wildlife.
If humans and wild animals can’t live alongside each other in harmony, then the future for wild tigers will be very bleak indeed. For this reason, we have prioritised forest safety education so we can address the increase in human-wildlife conflict which threatens to undermine the successes we have had to date in boosting wild tiger numbers!
Having already helped 820 children living with wild tigers gain access to education over the last year, we wanted to expand our education project to ensure wildlife safety too. We couldn’t have done this without your kind donations so thank you for helping us to achieve this goal.
Educating 105 Villages
Delivering safety education messages to 105 villages isn’t easy when you only have a small team and there are literacy and language barriers to overcome. Difficult doesn’t mean impossible though. Many of us know the phrase pictures speak louder than words, so we have decided to put this to the test. The biggest threats to life for wildlife and humans in Bandhavgarh currently come from four main species: Tigers, Elephants, Snakes and Leopards. Although there wasn’t one solution to address all the risks and challenges, so we started with words.
By talking to our anti-poaching patrollers, local educators, wildlife experts and the victims of wildlife attacks we began to compile a table of the most common causes of wildlife attacks and attacks on wildlife. It was quite a comprehensive list. The next stage was looking for solutions to each problem. Would it be something to avoid, mitigate or remove the risk. The table expanded, we now had eight pages of problems and solutions, but it was entirely in English! Very few of the people who live in the rural villages around Bandhavgarh speak, read or write English so we needed a translation into Hindi, being the most commonly spoken language around Bandhavgarh, and a solution for those who couldn’t read either Hindi or English.
We needed someone to turn our words into pictures. We came up with the idea of creating images like those seen on airline and ship safety cards to indicate the do’s and don’ts of safety education. Now we had the idea, the words and the challenge, to find a graphic designer who could put our words into pictures which would be understood by all.
It takes time
After 3 months of work, we finally had the first designs. A few tweaks here and there and we were ready to put together the final designs for approval by those who would deliver the safety education messages. At first we considered 4 laminated cards one for each species to be carried and issued by our anti-poaching patrollers when they encounter people in the forest. This would take too long to deliver the message to everyone, especially as much of the human-wildlife conflict happens when wildlife enters the villages to raid crops and livestock. Putting up metal notices was expensive, time consuming and not environmentally friendly as notices would need to be set in concrete and painted by hand. In addition, we have experienced destruction of metal information boards by wild elephants over the last 3 years. Each village has a meeting place or Chaupal which would be an ideal place for posting safety education information for all to see. Therefore, we decided to use local printers in Bandhavgarh to produce huge weatherproof banners with tiger and elephant safety information on one and leopard and snake safety information on the other. We also hope to put these banners up at 10 key forest locations visited by tourists and other non-residents so that they can benefit from forest safety education too.
This week we have ordered 115 of each type of banner plus 100 of each type of banner as a smaller laminated card to be issued at forest outposts and carried by our anti-poaching patrols in the vehicle in case of need. We will start to deliver and mount these banners over the next few weeks and will deliver a safety brief to the villagers so they can familiarise themselves with how to behave when wild animals approach or when entering their forest home.
We hope to help in other areas too
Human-wildlife conflict is a growing problem in tiger territories all over India, so we hope that we can help in areas outside Bandhavgarh too. Reproducing these forest safety education resources elsewhere shouldn’t be as difficult as doing it for the first time, however, funding the production and distribution of them will be a much bigger challenge! For now, we hope to reduce the loss of life both human and wildlife in Bandhavgarh by ensuring that everyone in the 105 villages has access to the forest safety education delivered by Tigers4ever.
Nonetheless if elephants, leopards, snakes and wild tigers, are to have long term futures in Bandhavgarh, it is essential that the human and wildlife communities can live together in harmony.
Traditional Educational Resources
We are not turning our backs on the poorest children living in the villages around Bandhavgarh. We will continue to raise funds to ensure that these children can go to school and become future protectors of wild tigers. We just feel that with more tigers and more elephants living in and around Bandhavgarh the risk of retaliatory attacks on wildlife is too high! By ensuring the people know how to protect themselves and keep wildlife safe, we hope that such attacks will reduce.
It would be wonderful to know that you have helped us to keep thousands of wild animals safe thanks to our latest education projects, would it not?
If you wish to help us provide banners for safety education training and issue a donation of £14 (US$18) will help us to provide them at one location: https://goto.gg/32565
The Record so Far
We have helped 3135 children living with wild tigers in 32 villages gain access to education, so we still have some way to go. Sadly, there are still thousands more children who desperately need your help! https://goto.gg/32565. We want to continue this valuable project across as many villages as possible and to help all the children who otherwise wouldn’t have chance to go to school. In order to do this, we will need to raise funds for many more education packs and forest safety resources. If you’re able to help us do this, please donate now at: https://goto.gg/32565, even the smallest donation can have a big impact in the lives of these children and their families.
For every £1400 (US$1800) we raise, we aim to send 450 children living with wild tigers to school. We will continue to distribute all education packs in the hardest hit villages and will try to raise further funds so that we can also help the pop-up schools again when these resume. (https://goto.gg/32565).
If you are able to help us help more children to have an education and become tiger protectors rather than foragers, please consider a new monthly donation as it’s never too late to make a difference: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
Long Term Impact - Help is Still Needed
Our experience has shown us over the last 13 years, that without education, the prospects for the poorest children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, from the forest to sell. Others will chop down trees and clear precious forest habitat to create more land for agriculture. Children from the poorest families still have no access to online learning facilities, as they live without electricity or access to technology. https://goto.gg/32565
Your support for our work is amazing. We definitely couldn’t keep wild tigers safe without it. As the world tries to rebuild its lives, we hope that we can provide a brighter future for some of Bandhavgarh’s poorest children. If you can help to support Bandhavgarh’s poorest rural children by starting a new monthly recurring donation from just £5 (US$8) per month, you will make a huge difference for at least 15 children in a year: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In Bandhavgarh, for the thousands of young children with no access to schooling, without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, a bleak future awaits. These are the children who Tigers4Ever has always tried to help with books and basic writing materials which give them hope. With your help we give them a chance which otherwise they may not have.
You Can Make a Difference Today
We want to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education. We want to do more but we need your help to provide education packs so children can go to school right now. Your donation of £25 (US$40) can make that happen for at least 5 children: https://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have helped to get an education (and their families who have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing materials for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute; and also the safety education training materials we will be using going forward. Stay Safe.
Links:
Thank you for your amazing support throughout the first quarter of 2023. Your donations have helped us to provide education packs for another 120 children living with wild tigers bringing the total in just over a year to 820 children helped. This makes a huge difference to the rural Indian families whose children are still reeling from the impacts of the COVID pandemic. This continues to be increasingly important because we are unable to resurrect the pop-up nature schools for children without access to state schools due to the continued lack of volunteer teachers. With the help of grant funding, we have been able to provide equipment for schools in the current quarter meaning that the learning experience will also improve in the classroom too. We continue to look for new solutions to help those children without access to schooling and hope to develop audio and visual learning materials as part of our project initiatives too. The safety education materials are at first design stage and we’re currently sourcing translations into local languages/Hindi to help us deliver the messages via illustrations and script. Your continued generosity means that 120 more children have education packs with essential writing materials so they can learn to read, write and protect their forest home and give wild tigers a wild future.
It has been a busy time
In the last week, we have delivered desks and seating for 100 children to a school in Damna village. These children, in year 4 – 9 age groups, had previously been sitting on the floor for their lessons. This was something which was both challenging and sometimes dangerous, especially in the rainy season when venomous snakes are highly active. We were able to provide these desks and seating thanks to grant funding from the B C Mehta (Fable and Mane) Trust, which also helped us to provide 120 school backpacks with education packs for the children at the school in Damna village, Bandhavgarh.
Since our last report, we have also distributed education packs to children in the villages in the Dhamokhar Buffer zone, where the families have been hardest hit by human-wildlife conflict. These education packs are carried by our Anti-poaching patrols and distributed where they have encountered hardship due to crop losses, elephant damage or livestock losses. Supplies of these education packs are now low and our next objective will be to raise funds for replenishing stocks of education packs, plus for the new elements of our education projects (see below). The lack of education in some of the rural communities around Bandhavgarh continues to be a concern for us.
This year we have witnessed an increase in human-wildlife conflict, injuries and even deaths due to a lack of understanding of basic safety protocols coupled with an increased dependency on scarce forest resource. Human-Tiger conflict has resulted in the deaths of two villagers in the last three weeks, as the mahua picking season started. During the first quarter of 2023 there were three further tiger attacks, one of which killed a young boy, and another put a senior Ranger and tiger protector in hospital. Human-Elephant conflict was also very high in the last quarter of 2022, as wild elephants raided crops, destroyed buildings and attacked whatever was in their path. These elephants arrived in Bandhavgarh just a few years ago when mining activity in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh state drove these magnificent animals from their native home into pastures new. It’s not surprising that they have a dislike of humans given their reason for coming to Bandhavgarh. Nonetheless, if the elephants, like the wild tigers, are to have long term futures in Bandhavgarh, it is essential that the human and wildlife communities can live together in harmony.
New and Different Educational Resources are Needed
In order to improve both education and safety, plus restore harmony where human-wildlife conflict exists, we are producing safety and awareness handouts to be issued by our anti-poaching patrols when they encounter humans in the forest. These simple handouts will provide advice in pictures, Hindi and English, for animal encounters including tigers, leopards, elephants and snakes. It is hoped that the villagers will in time recognise the words as well as the images and take notice of safety notices posted at the entrances to the forest too. These vital educational resources are currently being translated so they can be finalised, printed (locally in Bandhavgarh) and laminated prior to distribution. This will also provide some much needed employment for local daily wagers in Bandhavgarh. We hope that with these resources we can save human lives, and thus reduce the risk of retaliatory attacks on wildlife thereby maintaining the ecological balance.
Our Anti-Poaching patrols are also carrying training materials which we hope will change the way that mahua flowers are collected by the villagers. Currently villagers burn the foliage around the mahua trees to stimulate the dropping of the flowers and making the flowers easier to see amongst the burnt embers. Often these fires get out of control with devastating consequences for both the forest and the animals within it. More than one third of pristine forest habitat has been ravaged by forest fires in recent years, something which is having consequences for both the wildlife and human populations. Mahua collectors enter the forest in the early morning twilight, which is when tigers are actively hunting, as the villagers crawl on the forest floor collecting freshly fallen mahua flowers, they can be mistaken for prey animals and tigers can attack. Safety cards will warn the villagers against this dangerous habit as it is safer for them to collect mahua after sunrise.
Our patrolling teams are now carrying collection netting which they demonstrate to the mahua collectors they encounter. These simple nets can be tied beneath, around or between mahua trees in the afternoon and left overnight to collect the falling flowers the next morning. With the netting there is no need to burn the ground foliage as the flowers are collected in the nets, this reduces the risk of forest fires getting out of control and destroying precious wildlife habitat. It also reduces the risk of human-tiger conflict because the flowers can be collected by gathering up the net and resetting it in daylight when the tigers are less active. These simple nets are a low-cost option but many of the mahua collectors will be unable to afford them without help, therefore Tigers4Ever will try to raise funds to subsidise the issue of these nets to the villagers in the interest of reducing forest fires and retaliatory attacks on wild tigers. If you wish to help us provide mahua collection nets for training and issue a donation of £10 (US$14) will help us to provide 3 nets: https://goto.gg/32565
The Record so Far
When we donated 120 education packs at the school in Damna it increased the number of children living with wild tigers which Tigers4Ever has helped to 3135. The number of villages helped has also increased to 32, including those in the Dhamokhar buffer. This is amazing considering it seemed almost impossible this time last year.
We want to continue this valuable project across as many villages as possible and to help all the children who otherwise wouldn’t have chance to go to school. In order to do this we will need to raise funds for many more education packs, safety resources and nets to protect the forest from fires. If you’re able to help us do this, please donate now at: https://goto.gg/32565, even the smallest donation can have a big impact in the lives of these children and their families.
Although we couldn’t help every child in need this year, we have helped to prevent at least 820 children missing out on schooling by ensuring that the education packs we’ve distributed benefited children in these three key age groups:
For every £1400 (US$1800) we raise, we aim to send 450 children living with wild tigers to school. We will try to distribute this evenly across the three age groups with one third of the packs for each. We will continue to distribute all education packs in the hardest hit villages, and will try to raise further funds so that we can also help the pop-up schools when these resume. (https://goto.gg/32565).
Making a Difference
Another 120 children who didn’t have access to remote learning due to poverty, no electricity and lack of technology throughout the schools’ lockdown now have the opportunity to start or resume their education, thanks to your generosity. If you are able to help us help more children to have an education and become tiger protectors rather than foragers, please consider a new monthly donation as it’s never too late to make a difference: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
Thankfully, due to your amazing support and donations we’ve provided education packs and school backpacks to support the learning of 120 children, this time. Sadly, there are still thousands more children who desperately need your help! https://goto.gg/32565
Long Term Impact - Help is Still Needed
Our experience has shown us over the last 12.5 years, that without education, the prospects for the poorest children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, from the forest to sell. Others will chop down trees and clear precious forest habitat to create more land for agriculture. Children from the poorest families still have no access to online learning facilities, as they live without electricity or access to technology. https://goto.gg/32565
Your support for our work is amazing. We definitely couldn’t keep wild tigers safe without it. As the world tries to rebuild its lives, we hope that we can provide a brighter future for some of Bandhavgarh’s poorest children. If you can help to support the education of Bandhavgarh’s poorest rural children by starting a new monthly recurring donation from just £5 (US$8) per month, you will make a huge difference for at least 15 children in a year: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In Bandhavgarh, for the thousands of young children with no access to schooling, without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, a bleak future awaits. These are the children who Tigers4Ever has always tried to help with books and basic writing materials which give them hope. With your help we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have.
You Can Make a Difference Today
We want to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education. We want to do more but we need your help to provide education packs so children can go to school right now. Your donation of £25 (US$40) can make that happen for at least 5 children right now: https://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have helped to get an education (and their families who have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute; and also the desks, seats and backpacks provided and the mahua collection nets used by our patrollers for training. Stay Safe.
Links:
Thank you for your amazing support throughout 2022. Your donations have helped us to provide education packs for another 250 children living with wild tigers bringing the total for 2022 to 700 children helped. This makes a huge difference to the rural Indian families whose children lost so many educational opportunities whilst the schools suffered extended closures during and after the COVID pandemic. Our attempts to resurrect the pop-up nature schools in rural villages for children without access to state schools continues to be hampered by a lack of volunteer teachers, so we continue to look for new solutions to help. Your generosity means that another 250 children have education packs with essential writing materials so they can learn to read, write and protect their forest home and give wild tigers a wild future.
Time for Change
The lack of education in some of the rural communities around Bandhavgarh has been a concern for some time. This year we have witnessed an increase in human wildlife conflict, injuries and even deaths due to a lack of understanding of basic safety protocols and an increased dependency on scarce forest resource. Human-Elephant conflict is very high as the wild elephants continue to raid crops, destroy buildings and attack whatever is in their path. Historically, there were no wild elephants in Bandhavgarh, until mining activity in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh drove these magnificent animals from their native home into pastures new. It’s little wonder that they have a dislike of humans given their reason for arriving in Bandhavgarh. Nonetheless, if the elephants, like the wild tigers, are to have long term futures in Bandhavgarh, it is essential that the human and wildlife communities can live together in harmony.
In order to improve both education and safety, plus restore harmony where human-wildlife conflict exists, we are now working towards producing safety and awareness handouts to be issued by our anti-poaching patrols when they encounter humans in the forest. These simple handouts will provide advice in pictures, Hindi and English, for animal encounters including tigers, leopards, elephants and snakes. It is hoped that the villagers will in time recognise the words as well as the images and take notice of safety notices posted at the entrances to the forest. By saving human lives, we can reduce the risk of retaliatory attacks on wildlife and thus maintain the ecological balance.
More Educational Resources Too
In July 2022, we received a pledge from a corporate partner to donate £15000 in lieu of Global Tiger Day, to assist our efforts to give wild tigers a wild future. Thus far we have received donations of £7500 towards our waterhole project (https://goto.gg/34315) and a further £2500 towards our education projects, which has been a tremendous help in these challenging times. We are now in discussions as to how the final donation of £5000 will help and which project will benefit. As always, we will ensure that we can achieve the maximum benefit for the wild tigers’ future, whichever project is chosen.
The latest distribution of 250 education packs was undertaken in conjunction with open days at state run schools in four villages. It offered children in the villages a chance to go to the schools and meet potential new friends, whilst helping to ensure that the children already attending the schools had the basic reading and writing materials to enable them to continue their schooling. Future donations of educational resources will continue to explore new initiatives to ensure the best outcomes for reducing human-wildlife conflict.
The Record so Far
When the most recent donation of 250 education packs took place it increased the number of villages where Tigers4Ever has helped children living with wild tigers to 30. It also took the number of children helped to 3015, something which seemed almost impossible this time last year.
We want to continue this valuable project across as many villages as possible and to help all the children who otherwise wouldn’t have chance to go to school. In order to do this we will need to raise funds for many more education packs. If you’re able to help us do this, please donate now at: https://goto.gg/32565, even the smallest donation can have a big impact in the lives of these children.
Although we couldn’t help every child in need this year, we have helped to prevent at least 700 children missing out on schooling by ensuring that the education packs we’ve distributed benefited children in these three key age groups:
For every £1400 (US$1800) we raise, we aim to send 450 children living with wild tigers to school. We will try to distribute this evenly across the three age groups with one third of the packs for each. We will continue to distribute all education packs in the hardest hit villages, and will try to raise further funds so that we can also help the pop-up schools when these resume. (https://goto.gg/32565).
Making a Difference
Another 250 children who didn’t have access to remote learning due to poverty, no electricity and lack of technology throughout the schools’ lockdown now have the opportunity to start or resume their education, thanks to your generosity. If you are able to help us help more children to have an education and become tiger protectors rather than foragers, please consider a new monthly donation as it’s never too late to make a difference: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
Thankfully, due to your amazing support and donations we’ve provided education packs to support the learning of 250 children, this time. Sadly, there are still thousands more children who desperately need your help! https://goto.gg/32565
Long Term Impact - Help is Still Needed
Our experience has shown us over the last 12 years, that without education, the prospects for the poorest children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, from the forest to sell. Others will chop down trees and clear precious forest habitat to create more land for agriculture. Children from the poorest families still have no access to online learning facilities, as they live without electricity or access to technology. https://goto.gg/32565
Your support for our work is amazing. We definitely couldn’t keep wild tigers safe without it. As the world tries to rebuild its lives, we hope that we can provide a brighter future for some of Bandhavgarh’s poorest children. If you can help to support the education of Bandhavgarh’s poorest rural children by starting a new monthly recurring donation from just £5 (US$8) per month, you will make a huge difference for at least 15 children in a year: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In Bandhavgarh, for the thousands of young children with no access to schooling, without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, a bleak future awaits. These are the children who Tigers4Ever has always tried to help with books and basic writing materials which give them hope. With your help we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have.
You Can Make a Difference Today
We want to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education. We want to do more but we need your help to provide education packs so children can go to school right now. Your donation of £25 (US$40) can make that happen for at least 5 children right now: https://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
For those who are celebrating during the festive season, I hope that your celebrations are happy and peaceful, thank you for all your support in 2022. I hope that 2023 will bring a better year for all: Happy New Year.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have helped to get an education (and their families who have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. Stay Safe.
Links:
Thank you again for your amazing support in these challenging times. Your donations over the last few months have helped us to provide education packs for another 240 children living with wild tigers. This means a great deal to the rural Indian families whose children lost so many opportunities for education whilst the schools suffered extended closures following the COVID pandemic. Our attempts to resurrect the pop-up nature schools in rural villages for children without access to state schools is still being hampered by resource shortages, so we are trying different solutions to help. Your generosity means that another 240 children have education packs with essential writing materials so they can learn to read, write and protect their forest home and give wild tigers a wild future.
Something Different
This year we have recruited more volunteers, including some in India, who have helped to distribute education packs to the children in rural villages and to gather new ideas to help educate these children about the importance of wild tigers and their forest home. We will continue to work with our new volunteers to ensure that learning about the forest and the wildlife within it will be fun for the children who will provide the next generation of wild tiger protectors. We’ve also worked with our new corporate partners, the Tiger Chi Community to develop some fun resources to help the youngest children to learn to draw and colour. By taking these new art resources into the villages, we can give every child an opportunity to learn about wild tigers.
We’re also developing a new volunteering partnership which will enable us to create bi-lingual educational resources on forest safety and protection for all age groups, including adults, so that our anti-poaching patrollers can distribute these when patrolling around villages and encountering villagers in the forest. We also hope to develop an audio resource which can be delivered by volunteers in the villages as part of a wider awareness and environmental protection programme.
Distribution Challenges
In our last report, we told you how we’ve had to use our patrollers to distribute education packs whilst on duty, due to our own resourcing issues. This has presented an even bigger challenge since the start of the monsoon season on 01 July when we increased our patrolling to quadruple standard patrolling as we address the increased risk to wild tigers in the peak poaching season. If you’ve read our recent report on the work of our anti-poaching patrols: https://tigers4ever.org/peak-poaching-season-and-a-late-monsoon/ you’ll be aware that the monsoon rains are extremely late this year in Bandhavgarh which will have a huge impact on the farming community too.
The latest hardship will mean that distributing educational resources for both children and adults will take on greater importance than ever. Thus we need to find new ways to raise funds for the essential educational resources and new ways to ensure distribution without impacting our other work. One of these solutions is the distribution of education packs via open days in state run schools.
Working with Village Schools
We have made arrangements to distribute the 240 education packs at three schools in the villages of Barwara, Sakariya and Chakaria in the Dhamokhar Buffer Zone of Bandhavgarh. In each village, the teachers will call the children in their villages to the school where Tigers4Ever representatives and volunteers will distribute the education packs and talk to the children about wild tigers and the forest. We want to continue this initiative across a wide number of schools as we hope that when the children go to school to get their education packs, they will meet new friends and enjoy learning so they will keep going back. In order to do this we will need to raise funds for many more education packs, even if we select the schools in the smallest villages. If you’re able to help us do this, please donate now at: https://goto.gg/32565, even the smallest donation can have a big impact in the lives of these children.
Although we can’t help every child in need right now, we can help to prevent at least 240 children missing out on schooling by ensuring that the education packs we distribute will benefit children in these three key age groups:
For every £1400 (US$2000) we raise, we aim to send 450 children living with wild tigers to school. We will try to distribute this evenly across the three age groups with one third of the packs for each. We will continue to distribute all education packs in the hardest hit villages, and will try to raise further funds so that we can also help the pop-up schools when these resume. (https://goto.gg/32565).
Making a Difference
Another 240 children who didn’t have access to remote learning due to poverty, no electricity and lack of technology throughout the schools’ lockdown now have the opportunity to start or resume their education, thanks to your generosity. If you are able to help us help more children to have an education and become tiger protectors rather than foragers, please consider a new monthly donation as it’s never too late to make a difference: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In the meantime, we will work hard with our now volunteers and partners to develop and distribute the educational resources which our current funding allows. Thankfully, due to your amazing support and donations we’ve provided education packs to support the learning of 240 children, this time. Sadly, there are still thousands more children who desperately need your help! https://goto.gg/32565
Long Term Impact - Help is Still Needed
Our experience has shown us over the last 12 years, that without education, the prospects for the poorest children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, from the forest to sell. Others will chop down trees and clear precious forest habitat to create more land for agriculture. Children from the poorest families still have no access to online learning facilities, as they live without electricity or access to technology. https://goto.gg/32565
Your support for our work is amazing. We definitely couldn’t keep wild tigers safe without it. As the world tries to rebuild its lives, we hope that we can provide a brighter future for some of Bandhavgarh’s poorest children. If you can help to support the education of Bandhavgarh’s poorest rural children by starting a new monthly recurring donation from just £5 (US$8) per month, you will make a huge difference for at least 15 children in a year: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In Bandhavgarh, for the thousands of young children with no access to schooling, without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, a bleak future awaits. These are the children who Tigers4Ever has always tried to help with books and basic writing materials which give them hope. With your help we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have.
You Can Make a Difference Today
We want to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education. We want to do more but we need your help to provide education packs so children can go to school right now. Your donation of £25 (US$40) can make that happen for at least 5 children right now: https://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have helped to get an education (and their families who have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. Stay Safe.
Links:
Thank you for your kind donations which meant that we were able to give new beginnings to 450 children living with wild tigers. This was 50% more than we had anticipated in our previous project report which is amazing. The new COVID protocols are still in place for many of the schools in India and this is still impacting our attempts to resume the pop-up nature schools in rural villages with children without access to state schools, but we are still trying. Your generosity has enabled us to help 450 children with education packs containing essential writing materials so they can finally access learning.
Distribution Continues
With so many children disadvantaged by the COVID pandemic coupled with the impact of human-animal conflict on their parents’ livelihoods, it is a near impossible task to choose which 450 children to help first. We’ve also had resourcing issues ourselves, as our patrols have been operating at triple standard patrolling for over a year and work continues to provide year-round water to as many tigers as possible as the drought season takes hold. Thus we have asked our patrollers to take education packs on the patrolling vehicle and distribute these to the neediest children in villages which have suffered the greatest losses due to human wildlife conflict. As a result, these education packs can reach children in some of the remotest villages, thereby having a positive impact for wild tigers in those communities.
We haven’t forgotten the children in the villages living closest to the wild tigers; in fact we’ve recently distributed education packs in the villages or Badrehal and Pathari in the Dhamokhar Buffer forest. For many villages around Bandhavgarh, human-wildlife conflict has been increasing year on year following the arrival of the wild elephants which are now claiming Bandhavgarh as home. These elephants have destroyed forest watch camps, a school, many crops and have killed many villagers as they tried to protect their livelihood. This when coupled with crop raiding monkeys, deer and wild boar plus livestock rustling predators, puts many villagers on the brink of extreme poverty. This poverty then equates to a lack of educational opportunities for the affected families’ children.
Helping the Children in Schools
In recent weeks, we have spoken to teachers at a number of schools in the villages around Bandhavgarh about distributing education packs in conjunction with the schools; however, most have been reluctant because we haven’t had sufficient education packs to ensure every child at the school will receive one. In order to do this we will need to raise funds for many more education packs, even if we select the schools in the smallest villages. If you’re able to help us overcome this obstacle, please donate now at: https://goto.gg/32565, even the smallest donation can have a big impact in the lives of these children.
For some children, our help has arrived too late, they have already reached 14 years old and thus no longer qualify for free state driven education. For those whose parents can’t afford to pay school fees there will be no opportunity to complete their education. As we reported in January, this is a concern for charities all across India, as this “lost generation” of young adults as the impact on their lives, their families and the forests will be felt for many years to come.
Although we can’t help the “lost generation” right now, we can help to prevent further youngsters falling into the same trap by ensuring that the education packs we distribute will benefit children in these three key age groups:
For every £1400 (US$2000) we raise, we will aim to send 450 children living with wild tigers to school. We will try to distribute this evenly across the three age groups with one third of the packs for each. We will continue to distribute all education packs in the hardest hit villages, and will try to raise further funds so that we can also help the pop-up schools when these resume. (https://goto.gg/32565).
Making a Difference
Around 450 children who didn’t have access to remote learning due to poverty, no electricity and lack of technology throughout the schools’ lockdown now have the opportunity to start or resume their education, thanks to your generosity. In this newsletter, we have shared some of the images of the smiling children’s faces who you have helped.
If you are able to help us help more children to have an education and become tiger protectors rather than foragers, please consider a new monthly donation as it’s never too late to make a difference: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In the meantime, we will work hard with our Indian based education partner, GTCS, to try to restart the pop-up schools in the most remote villages as soon as the latest restrictions and funding allow. Thankfully, due to your amazing support and donations we have been able to provide education packs to support the learning of 450 children with education packs, this time. Sadly, there are thousands more children who desperately need your help! https://goto.gg/32565
Long Term Impact - Help is Still Needed
Our experience has shown us over the last 11.5 years, that without education, the prospects for the poorest children will be limited to picking tendu leaves, mahua flowers, amla fruit, from the forest to sell. Others will chop down trees and clear precious forest habitat to create more land for agriculture. Children from the poorest families still have no access to online learning facilities, as they live simple lives without electricity or access to technology. https://goto.gg/32565
Throughout the pandemic, your support for our work has been amazing. We definitely couldn’t have kept wild tigers safe without it. As India’s people try to rebuild their pre-pandemic lives, we hope that we can help to provide a brighter future for some of Bandhavgarh’s poorest children. If you can help to support the education of Bandhavgarh’s poorest rural children by starting a new monthly recurring donation from just £5 (US$8) per month, you will make a huge difference for at least 15 children in a year: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/education-saves-tigers/?show=recurring.
In Bandhavgarh, many people have faced the biggest challenges of their lives since the onset of the pandemic. For the thousands of young children with no access to schooling, without computers or mobile phones, without electricity in their homes, a bleak future awaits. These are the children who Tigers4Ever has always tried to help with books and basic writing materials which give them hope. With your help we give them a chance to go to school which otherwise they may not have.
You Can Make a Difference Today
We want to ensure that the poorest children get a chance to complete their education. We want to do more but we need your help to provide education packs so children can go to school right now. Your donation of £25 (US$40) can make that happen for at least 5 children right now: https://goto.gg/32565.
Remember: when we provide education packs and scholarships for children living with wild tigers we are reducing the risk of future tiger habitat destruction AND ensuring that these children have the opportunity to become future tiger protectors.
I would like to thank you for your generosity and support on behalf of the wild tigers, which we are keeping safe; on behalf of the children who we have helped to get an education (and their families who have food because of this help); and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing books and writing equipment for inclusion in the education packs which we distribute. Stay Safe.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
Make a monthly donation & get 
