Empowering young Zambian eco-leaders

Waarm greetings from South Luangwa in Zambia! I am pleased to report that we have now increased our Conservation Clubs in schools from 39 to 40. That means 1200 students are now participating in lessons and activities in 2-hour club sessions every 2 weeks! These students are all keen young conservationists, wanting to make a positive impact for wildlife and the environment in their communties.

This year we introduced a fun-filled Student Conservation Quiz to encourage a sense of friendly competition amongst the students and to help keep them motivated during the heaviest part of the rainy season. After preliminary quizzes in each of our 5 zones we ran the final stage of the Student Conservation Quiz at Matula Day High School. There were exhibits and pictures to identify, word scramblers, a true/false section and straight questions. There was stiff competition, and we had observers checking the audience to make sure there was no communication to the participants of the answers!  Music in the intervals and snacks and drinks for the participants gave the event an extra boost. 

The winning teams with the highest total scores were Uyoba Primary and Matula Day Secondary School. They were each awarded certificates and prizes. The Conservation Club Matrons of the winning teams were also awarded certificates for their schools. There was then a quiz for the 4 members of each of these 2 teams to find the Overall Quiz Winner. This was Jones Phiri for Uyoba Primary and Jacqueline Tembo for Matula High School who were each awarded prizes and a certificate.  Feedback from staff, students and Club patrons was wholly positive so we plan to make it an annual event.

Another highlight of the last few months has been the creation of a library room at the Chipembele Offices and the employment of a librarian. Most rural Zambian students don't own a single book, or even have easy access to one and revising for exams usualy just entails reading their lesson notes over and over. The main purpose of the Chipembele lLibrary is for them to come and read text books to help with their learning in school. However, a wide range of other books are also available, including lots of nature books of course! We hope to encourage a culture of reading among our Conservation Club students and help to open their minds to the wider world. Funds to buy more books for the library are particualry welcome

Fortunately we were not directly affected by the USA cutback on international aid but there is a palpable squeeze on funding for NGOs across the world as they compete for an ever decreasing pool of funding. . Your donations at this particulalry challenging financial time for us are therefore hugely welcome and help us make a difference to the lives of these young Zambian consevationists. Thank you!