Local Kids Excel: Wildlife and Environment Quiz Competition

Kids During a Computer Lesson at Iganyana Children’s Bush Camp

The greatest threat to painted dogs isn’t from large predators or other natural causes—it’s from humans. Because of this, we put a lot of energy into working with local communities, farmers, and children to improve the perception and awareness of the painted dogs. Beyond our flagship Iganyana Children's Bush Camp, which teaches conservation concepts to kids from surrounding communities, we have created Conservation Clubs and run Conservation Education Quiz competitions in schools. The aim is to keep the kids connected to conservation education even after they have left the Bush Camp.

In the period under review, PDC conducted cluster and district wildlife and environment quiz competitions. Ndangababi Primary School and Mazwa Primary School came 1st and 2nd in the district competition finals respectively. PDC will be sponsoring these two local schools to represent the Hwange district in the regional competitions that will be held in the second largest city in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, in October 2022.

St Francis Primary School (Dete), Makwandara Primary School, Chezhou Primary School, Ndangababi Primary School (Cross Dete), Mabale Primary School and Mazwa Primary School from Mazwa, battled out their knowledge of wildlife and their environment at Miombo Safaris Lodge in Dete.

The Iganyana Children's Bush Camp imparts critical wildlife and environmental education to local kids giving them the confidence and ability to compete with some of the elite schools in the cities. For some kids, this will be the first time they leave their rural homes to visit a city. We take pride in the support you give us, which enables us to avail opportunities to the local people. In turn, it enhances their appreciation of the wildlife around them and creates an environment where painted dogs and other wildlife can thrive.

Special thanks to the following: Miombo Safaris for generously offering the venue for the competition, all the kids who participated, all the schools and teachers for taking their time to coach the kids for the competition, the Iganyana Children's Bush Camp staff, and last but not least to Ashleigh Moore from Tusk as our guest of honour and sending a critical message about how we should "...look after it (nature) for the future..."