Empowering the local communities through initiatives in healthcare, education and career development.
Wildlife Encounter
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Focus Projects: Monde Primary School, Chamabondo Primary School & Chinotimba Primary School.
Our established reading Clubs are aimed at improving literacy levels in the local community as well as creating a culture of “out-of-box thinking” within the next generation. Over the last few years we have conducted internal assessments which show that the literacy levels in the children groups we work with have been improving by over 60% per year. Our Assistance projects involve the organization aiding the schools with assistance where they are lacking. In the last 5 years, the organization has provided learning resources, classroom supplies and teacher aides to Monde Primary School and has been a key partner to the school development committee.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Focus Projects: Rose of Charity Orphanage, Victoria Falls Old People’s Home and Zimbabwe Social Welfare.
Our organization has a firm “Hand up and not Hand out” philosophy, which means that we thrive on setting up sustainable socio-economic projects within the community. Our key demographics are the Orphaned, Old-Aged and HIV+ members of the community.
Our relationship with Rose of Charity Orphanage is a very close one as we have developed a family bond with them. We provide the children with all their tuition and school needs as well as conduct after school clubs with them where our employees and eco-tourists help with homework, studying as well as interpersonal development. Apart from that we also, once a week, have a community meal with not only the children who reside at the home, but those from the surrounding community. This has, over the years, improved the English speaking abilities of the children, as well as their attitude towards their life situation.
The Old People’s Home is a key partner to the organization as we have a standing relationship with all the members of the home. The organization provides medical funds for the residents as well as funeral assistance in case of death. We have in addition re-roofed the houses there as they had been previously roofed in harmful inefficient material. Our weekly visits include cleaning up and gardening as we have provided them with the means to have a sustainable home garden so as to cut costs of buying food. Apart from financial and operational support, we thrive on providing emotional support as most of the residents have no families and homes to go to at this point. By our visits and occasional meals with them, we provide a family feel to the place as well as eliminate the “loneliness” factor in the home.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Focus Projects: Garden Projects
As a part of sustainable development, we have a number of garden projects within the communities that are aimed at helping mainly, women and children. To date, we have a total of 5 garden projects which see us providing seedlings, boreholes, support as well as workshops to the members of our gardens. Our garden total comprises of one for the HIV+ of Monde, one for a widowed group of women in Chinotimba, one for the Old People’s Home, one at Monde Primary School as well as one in the Woodlands community. These gardens have helped provide income for these women as well as opened entrepreneurial doors for them.
CULTURAL EMBRACEMENT
Focus Projects: Monde Village, Matetsi Village, Jambezi region
In a generation where most people have set aside their cultural values, we value the cultural history of the communities. Through Cultural tours to local villages and in-house educational activities we have tried to embrace the diversity and authenticity of our local cultures. By the aid of local Monde and Matetsi villages we have managed to do village tours enabling our eco-tourists to learn more about the area as well as provide income for these homes by purchasing their souvenirs directly from their source. The organization has through such tours, identified a few children in need of tuition and education help and has provided such means.
Chief Shana, of the Jambezi region is a key partner as he provides our eco-tourists with a comprehensive look at the local cultures as well as opens his Palace to us for our educational needs. To date, because of this relationship, we have managed to build long-standing donor-relationships which help us to support the local communities as well as provide help to where it is most needed.
