Budgets might not be the most fascinating of subjects, but in the Natural Selection office, they can lead to all kinds of excitement, such as a playgroup for the Khwai community in Botswana.
A portion of the Khwai Private Reserve funds were set aside specifically for a playgroup – an initiative initiated just over a year ago by the Naletsana Charity, as well as a Feed A Child programme, providing the youngsters with a high protein porridge each day, supplies such as cups, plates and bookshelves, and salaries for a teacher and an assistant. The reserve teams have also been involved in volunteer work, with camp staff dispatched to help clean up the grounds and the delivery truck sent for refuse collection.
The resulting nursery school is a highlight of our new village tour for guests, which allows them an insight into the lives of the local community.
This March we will be hosting Julie Hay, founder of Waste2Toys Early Childhood Education. Her programme will be introduced to the nursery school which will see toys produced from the waste that the safari camps create.
After consultation with the community, it was decided that education was the community’s most pressing need, and so the playgroup was created to teach, influence and extend the horizons of two to four-year-old children in the community.
That’s what we call a good budget meeting!
