Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

The education programme is slowly starting to wind down now as school are writing end of year exams and closing for the long summer holidays. We are still booked with school groups to the last day of school though!

General

This time of year we get our local schools from Paterson out for a visit. In the past week we have had close to 100 local learners visit us and we are expecting more next week. It is really nice to see them enjoy and appreciate the wildlife right on their doorstep and I really enjoy having them here as I have come to know them well through all the activities we do at the school. For many of these children this will be the highlight of their year and something they will talk about for many years to come! Special thanks to Avis for our kombi that is used to transport some of the children and their food as well as Shamwari’s Long Lee Manor kitchen for baking all the delicious cakes.

Eco-Schools

The Eco-Schools program has now closed for the year. Portfolios were submitted and 3 out of our 4 schools got their green flag. We will have our award ceremony next year and wave our flags high! Next year the schools will be going for their gold status only one step away from their international flag!

World Wide Experience volunteers

Due to exams we weren’t able to do work at the schools this month but the volunteers did help me with a very important project at our Julie Ward Centre, making a medicinal garden. This garden will be a great and much utilised education tool to teach children more about the importance of our indigenous plant life and their cultural and medicinal uses. We have already cleared the area and planted the first of the plants. Keep following the blog to see how our garden takes shape.

FGASA workshop

Four of our students wrote on 07/11/2011 we are still awaiting the results and will share them as soon as they are available.

Born to Smile Fundraiser

Well known local fashion designer Jason Kieck holds a benefit fashion show every two years and we were very fortunate to be chosen as the main beneficiary for this year’s show. The glam (black tie) evening involved a fashion show, live entertainment, a five course meal and great goody bags. Proceeds made from ticket sales go to the chosen charities and pledges were also signed on the evening. Shamwari also very kindly donated a prize that was auctioned off at the show. It was a few months of very hard work but at the end of the day it was worth it as it gave Born Free great exposure as we are not as well known in SA as in the UK. We are still waiting to hear from the designated law firm to let us know how much funds were raised.