Empowering Future Conservationists
Donation protected
What are we raising money for?
A Namibian friend of ours, Nico Uararavi, has started a project, called Uncle Oryx EnvironCare. At Uncle Oryx, Nico is empowering children and young adults to make informed decisions about the environment and their lives within it. The goal of Uncle Oryx is to give the next generation of community members, leaders, and policy makers the tools they need to make decisions that enhance environmental and cultural sustainability, while also raising the standards of living for local communities. The project is being undertaken in coordination with the Big Three communal conservancies of northwestern Namibia: Anabeb, Sesfontein, and Torra.
Overview
The core objective of the Uncle Oryx EnvironCare Project is to strengthen teaching in environmental concepts and transformative environmental learning in selected schools within the Kunene region of northwestern Namibia.
Students are encouraged to physically interact with the environment and experience nature in a hands-on way that cannot be simulated in a classroom. Uncle Oryx EnvironCare also aims to identify promising learners for additional financial assistance, as well as moral and schooling support in order to achieve their full potential.
Strategic Aims
The mission of Uncle Oryx is to:
• Expose children, decision-makers, and communities to different geographies, cultures, and environmental issues;
• Assist children in linking their school curriculum with the world around them;
• Sensitize children to the environment and particularly to environmental degradation;
• Instill a sense of pride in children towards their country, its cultures, and its natural resources;
• Stimulate debate and discussion on environmental issues and encourage children to become involved in management of the environment; and
• Help explain the term “environment” and show that conservation is not only about protecting it, but also about the people who live in it.
How your kind donation will be used...
• Rent vehicles to allow students and teachers to participate in wildlife population counts conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism together with supporting NGO and Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC);
• Purchase two cameras and two pairs of binoculars to be shared within each vehicle on this and future wildlife counts and other outings;
• Purchase education materials for students and teachers; and
• Pay for ongoing development and hosting of an Uncle Oryx website with information and resources for students, educators, community members, and sponsors.
Note that if you have a previous generation camera or binoculars that you might like to donate, send me a direct message using the email icon by my name at the top-right of the page!
Why is this important?
Uncle Oryx is the brain-child of a Namibian who is passionate about Namibia, its environment, its people, and its sustained conservation. He seeks to achieve these objectives, not by raising himself up, but by empowering others to teach and to learn, to facilitate others in carrying on the torch of environmental education in order to sharpen the next generation of young Namibians and make them future facilitators and environmentalists in turn. This is just the kind of local, grass-roots project and movement that can begin to change the world...
“If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children.” —Confucius.
A Namibian friend of ours, Nico Uararavi, has started a project, called Uncle Oryx EnvironCare. At Uncle Oryx, Nico is empowering children and young adults to make informed decisions about the environment and their lives within it. The goal of Uncle Oryx is to give the next generation of community members, leaders, and policy makers the tools they need to make decisions that enhance environmental and cultural sustainability, while also raising the standards of living for local communities. The project is being undertaken in coordination with the Big Three communal conservancies of northwestern Namibia: Anabeb, Sesfontein, and Torra.
Overview
The core objective of the Uncle Oryx EnvironCare Project is to strengthen teaching in environmental concepts and transformative environmental learning in selected schools within the Kunene region of northwestern Namibia.
Students are encouraged to physically interact with the environment and experience nature in a hands-on way that cannot be simulated in a classroom. Uncle Oryx EnvironCare also aims to identify promising learners for additional financial assistance, as well as moral and schooling support in order to achieve their full potential.
Strategic Aims
The mission of Uncle Oryx is to:
• Expose children, decision-makers, and communities to different geographies, cultures, and environmental issues;
• Assist children in linking their school curriculum with the world around them;
• Sensitize children to the environment and particularly to environmental degradation;
• Instill a sense of pride in children towards their country, its cultures, and its natural resources;
• Stimulate debate and discussion on environmental issues and encourage children to become involved in management of the environment; and
• Help explain the term “environment” and show that conservation is not only about protecting it, but also about the people who live in it.
How your kind donation will be used...
• Rent vehicles to allow students and teachers to participate in wildlife population counts conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism together with supporting NGO and Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC);
• Purchase two cameras and two pairs of binoculars to be shared within each vehicle on this and future wildlife counts and other outings;
• Purchase education materials for students and teachers; and
• Pay for ongoing development and hosting of an Uncle Oryx website with information and resources for students, educators, community members, and sponsors.
Note that if you have a previous generation camera or binoculars that you might like to donate, send me a direct message using the email icon by my name at the top-right of the page!
Why is this important?
Uncle Oryx is the brain-child of a Namibian who is passionate about Namibia, its environment, its people, and its sustained conservation. He seeks to achieve these objectives, not by raising himself up, but by empowering others to teach and to learn, to facilitate others in carrying on the torch of environmental education in order to sharpen the next generation of young Namibians and make them future facilitators and environmentalists in turn. This is just the kind of local, grass-roots project and movement that can begin to change the world...
“If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children.” —Confucius.
Organizer
Brent Daniel
Organizer
Lyons, CO
