Value of environmental education for kids

Value of environmental education for kids

453 people visit the Waterberg Living Museum thanks to funding from Marataba Community Conservation Fund

As of the end of April 2021, 453 people mostly children have undertaken a one-day field trip to the Waterberg Living Museum outside Vaalwater, in the Waterberg Biosphere. The remaining funding is likely to cover another 150 children to visit the museum over the next two months.

Save the Waterberg Rhino kindly received R100,000 from the Marataba Community Conservation Fund at the end of 2019, for local kids to visit the Waterberg Living Museum. Unfortunately, with the national Covid lockdown happening from March 2020 the project had to be suspended until the beginning of this year.

So far, 265 kids from Vaalwater, 128 kids from the Bakenburg area and 60 adults from Marataba have experienced a one day visit, where they were hosted by Sekwhiri Langa, a Level 3 FGASA Guide who attended the Waterberg Biosphere’s Youth Environmental Service project where he obtained his Level 1 FGASA qualification, and Moji Kitsi of Welgevonden Environmental Awareness Programme (WEAP); an outreach programme organised by Welgevonden Game Reserve that provides environmental education to local schools.

The experience consists of visiting the museum exhibits which includes the rhino and elephant museums, the anthroposphere which showcases early hominins and cultural exhibits, Ancient Africa with a superb collection of fossils, the past and present Waterberg ecosystems and wildlife and lastly the museum of memory which showcases photographs and artefacts with a strong accent on personalities that have lived and worked in the Waterberg.

The experience consists of visiting the museum exhibits which includes the rhino and elephant museums, the anthroposphere which showcases early hominins and cultural exhibits, Ancient Africa with a superb collection of fossils, the past and present Waterberg ecosystems and wildlife and lastly the museum of memory which showcases photographs and artefacts with a strong accent on personalities that have lived and worked in the Waterberg.

Although South Africa ensures environmental themes are now part of learning areas in schools a lack of resources, at many schools, makes the teaching environmental topics and environmental problems such as land pollution, insufficient water, land degradation, deforestation and species protection is difficult.

Therefore, in addition to the museum exhibits other curriculum focused topics are included in the experience such as geology, solar system, pollution, food webs, photosynthesis, water, nitrogen and carbon cycles, and water issues. Teachers have provided input as to which topics are preferred that may be the most helpful to learners, or where there have been difficulties in teaching a topic in a classroom setting.

In this way, the children have received coverage of topics that have strengthened and complimented school curriculum learning. Mixed groups of different children, mostly aged between 12 and 19, and based on their interest or need to learn a topic have been selected by teachers from each school. Lunch refreshments are also provided for groups and are prepared by Sekwhiri’s wife Caroline.

Feedback from both learners and teachers have been great with many comments about how individuals are now able to understand issues or concepts that were too difficult to learn in a classroom setting. Many teachers have also provided feedback that they would love this experience to become a regular feature for children from their schools to complement classroom learning.

Few if any facilities exist for the broader community of Vaalwater with most children never having visited a game reserve let alone a museum or similar facility. The Waterberg Living Museum will not only be the first and possibly only museum many of these children will ever visit but is also one of the very few natural history museums in the entire Limpopo Province!

This was one of the main reasons the Waterberg Living Museum was created so that both children and adults, but in particular local children of the Waterberg have access to such a facility. It is well known that such facilities act to inspire wonder and appreciation for our environment, impart knowledge, and lay the groundwork for a life-long journey of learning about our natural world. Therefore it is critical to get as many children and adults to experience the museum and learn about our past, present and future and become environmentally conscious citizens.

Save the Waterberg Rhino and the Waterberg Living Museum are partnering to raise funds to be able to provide these experiences to as many local children as possible on an ongoing basis. While entrance fees into the museum are not high, the combined costs of transportation, lunch, and guides in addition to the entrance fee make the cost unaffordable to many children whose families struggle to pay for everyday essentials.

Funds are needed to provide this experience free to school children and other target groups. Costs range from R150 (£8) to R220 (£11) per child depending on travel distance. If you are interested in donating to this project you can donate through our website www.waterbergrhino.com/donate/ and use the reference ‘Kids to museum’ or contact Kelly for further information at kelly@stwr.org.za.

Save the Waterberg Rhino and Waterberg Living Museum want to give a huge thankyou to the Marataba Board for the Marataba Community Conservation Funding that’s providing this experience for about 600 children. We are eternally grateful for this generous funding.

Did you know learning about environmental issues not only helps to change behaviour and create environmental citizens but also helps with academic skills, critical thinking, decisions making and synthesizing complex information which in time produces individuals that are problem solvers, lifelong learners, and thoughtful community leaders and participants helping to create a better society for all.

The Waterberg Living Museum is also open for day visitors – you can get more information and directions from www.themuseum.org.za or visit their facebook www.facebook.com/waterberglivingmuseum

 

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