It’s been over a year since the College, through the Rural Initiatives for a Sustainable Environment (RISE) Unit, shared the good news of its collaboration with Coaching for Conservation (C4C). This provides innovative conservation education through the Learning from Wildlife model where kids learn about wildlife and from wildlife. The C4C-College duo then in late 2018 took on the task of finding a funding partner to make the collaboration happen. In July 2019, this became a reality as the Investec Rhino Lifeline teamed up with C4C and the SAWC.
Investec Rhino Lifeline is a long term partner of Coaching for Conservation, and has been supporting the children’s programmes as one of their Rhino Lifeline initiatives. The Rhino Lifeline believes that “by educating the youth in rural communities to care about rhino, we can develop rhino custodians of the future.” This sentiment resonates strongly with the SAWC-C4C duo as the focus is also to inspire a generation of children that care and have respect for themselves, each other, and the environment they find themselves in. The perfect vessel for conserving Africa’s natural resources has been realised through using sport to engender self-respect and inspire a generation of kids who care.
This partnership has enabled the College to increase its interaction and impact in the local primary schools within the Mnisi Villages. Over the past five months we have been able to reach 652 children, deliver 122 rapid awareness programmes; host 273 bush day activities; deliver 771 interventions on the overnight bush day programmes – a whopping 2194 interventions overall! There is absolutely no way this would have been possible without the support of the Investec Rhino Lifeline.
Each of the children taking part in the programme excitedly received the colourful C4C gear which comprised a T-shirt, cap, water bottle, string bag, and fun educational activity books. Having seen the impact and excitement generated, the wish now from the teachers and community leaders is for the programme to continue into 2020 and beyond.
A core output of the partnership, given the demands of the programme, is the development of a ‘train the trainer’ tool kit for future coaches, mentors and trainers. The College, with the support of C4C led by Lesley McNutt and Dr Hugh Webster, is also happy to share that it is in the process of internally accrediting the tool kit, which will enable the programme to have further reach with certified coaches and mentors.
The College wishes to acknowledge the technical and financial support received from Coaching for Conservation supported by the Investec Rhino Lifeline. This support has further enabled the C4C-SAWC partnership to develop new products with the potential to increase its regional impact.
For further information on Investec Rhino Lifeline and Coaching for Conservation, follow the links below:
Investec click here.
Coaching for Conservation :
Website: www.coachingforconservation.org
Facebook click here.
Instagram / Twitter: @C4C_Africa
