Celebrating World Teacher's Day

A programme of the Wilderness Trust, and flag-bearer for the Educate pillar of Wilderness’ impact strategy, CITW and its teachers at partner schools are empowering Africa’s future conservation leaders. Through hosting Eco-Club programmes at the schools, providing scholarships to promising students, and running annual camps for children at Wilderness and partner camps, CITW looks to teach children about their natural heritage. In time they can learn to understand it, love it, and conserve it. 

This heartfelt mission, however, is only possible through the work of the many good teachers running the CITW programme. Teachers like Rebecca Kamanga from Zimbabwe.

Rebecca, who was born in Bulawayo, is a teacher and CITW Eco-Mentor at Ngamo Primary School in the Tsholotsho District. Her passion for becoming a teacher came from the very educators who taught her when she was growing up. According to Rebecca, they displayed so much commitment, love, and dedication that it truly inspired her to pursue teaching. When asked what makes a good teacher, Rebecca responded by saying, “A good teacher possesses genuine enthusiasm for sharing knowledge and inspiring learners. They create a respectful, inclusive, and productive learning environment. This role also involves working with diligence, commitment, and dedication. Personally, I believe it’s not about rewards or benefits. It’s a passion”.

And it is indeed a profession that requires passion, for teaching in rural Africa does come with its challenges. In Zimbabwe, for example, there is currently a mass exodus of teachers due to the low wages they receive; an estimated 300 educators are leaving each month according to the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association. This has resulted in a literacy crisis, with over half of Zimbabwean Grade 7 learners leaving primary school unable to read or write in English. This is a huge problem, and only further emphasises the importance of CITW and having teachers like Rebecca to turn the tide.

Not only does Rebecca do her duty as a teacher with diligence, but she goes above and beyond that by also being a CITW Eco-Mentor. In this role, she supports learners in adopting environmentally friendly practices and sustainable living habits. Motivating learners to take action and enact positive changes in their surroundings is key to her role.

“I became an Eco-Mentor because of my passion for the environment. I also wanted to inspire others by empowering learners to appreciate wildlife and nature, as well as fostering an understanding of being environmentally conscious and eco-friendly. Personally, I sought to deepen my own knowledge and understanding of wildlife and nature”. – Rebecca Kamanga  

And it is perhaps this desire to deepen her own knowledge of the natural world that makes Rebecca and our other CITW teachers so inspiringly good at what they do. They are constantly pushing themselves to learn so that they can impart more knowledge to future generations. As the Greek philosopher Socrates highlights, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel”. And like the flame, our teachers' passion to constantly learn and improve as coaches burns ever so brightly, igniting fires of curiosity in their students.

It is only right that we celebrate this and take a moment to appreciate all our teachers this World Teacher's Day. It is also critical, however, that we support them in the challenges they face so that they can focus solely on the good work they do. One such initiative that will help do this is the Wilderness Ngamo Livestock Farm and Vocational Centre. It was unveiled in August by CITW and the IUCN, after ground was officially broken on the 30th of July. For this initiative, funding has been made possible with financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ), with the funding administered by the KfW Development Bank through the SADC Secretariat and IUCN ESARO partnership.

Located between the rural communities of Ngamo and Ziga outside Hwange National Park but close to Wilderness Linkwasha, the initiative seeks to establish a community farm, complete with an abattoir, an agricultural training centre, and boarding facilities. This will not only benefit residents and the local economy, but also provide skills training, education, job creation, and ultimately, a good business model to supply Wilderness and other safari camps in the area with staff rations.

By establishing an agricultural training centre with boarding facilities, Wilderness and the IUCN aim to accommodate up to 40 school leavers aged 17 to 25, offering a one-year diploma programme accredited by the Ministry of Education. This will provide students with the practical and theoretical farming skills necessary for employment in the agricultural sector.

According to Rebecca, the Wilderness Ngamo Livestock Farm and Vocational Centre will benefit her community in numerous ways: “It will provide training in practical farming skills, and offer us hands-on experience. Additionally, it will create opportunities for career growth and advancement, guidance from experienced professionals and mentors, and generate employment within the community. It will also provide financial benefits through increased productivity”.

It is initiatives exactly like this that create self-sustaining communities driven by conservation economies, empowering households and giving children the space to focus on their education, without worrying about basic needs being met. This in turn gives our CITW teachers the space to teach, nurture, and inspire. 

For Rebecca, some of her proudest moments as a teacher have been witnessing her Eco-Club members take the initiative to clean their local environment, work in the school garden, and raise community awareness about maintaining a clean and well-managed environment. The impact of such moments on how children see the natural world cannot be underestimated, and teachers like Rebecca are pivotal to them. 

Simply put, teachers really do shape the future by empowering the future custodians of the planet. For that, they must be celebrated, today and every day.