Conservation Kids

"Wildebeest Migration is Seventh Wonder but Locals Hardly Know it."

This was a newspaper headline in The Arusha Times late 2006. The article went on to say: "What most Tanzanians take for granted and would not even pay a visit at minimal charges is now termed as the Seventh New Wonder of the World."

There is truth to this. The Tanzanian perspective has long been that the Eden we foreigners enjoy on safari is land they used to share with wild beasts, and theirs remains the practical view of a hungry people of animals as food - in the Swahili language the word for "animal" and "meat" is shared. (See Travel Writing: Wild Africa.)

Not all Tanzanians are disinterested in their national parks. Entry permits for Tanzanians - middle class Tanzanians that is - is minimal compared to the $50 US a day that foreigners pay, but affordable accommodations for them are lacking.

In Dar es Salaam this past December, I met with someone from the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots and Shoots school program. He told me that Tanzanian school children's knowledge of their country's natural resources is good. He attends classes when the students draw pictures and discuss the wildlife unique to their country.

I talked with him about my goal to set up a program for schoolchildren where they can learn about nature in the best of all possible classrooms - their national parks. Tanzanians students do visit their parks periodically on sponsored class outings, but I have a much more focused program in mind - called Conservation Kids - which will provide small groups of young people the opportunity to spend a few days and nights inside their parks under the instruction of educators who are wildlife and conservation authorities. I will continue to work on the idea throughout 2007 to make a first student trip a reality. Please get in touch with me if you wish to help.

16-02-2007