"Coaching Conservation is a brilliant idea"
- HRH William, Prince of Wales -
SPEECH
Mimicking a cheetah’s speed, balance and agility helps kids build a relationship of empathy with cheetahs.
We use sport to engage, play as our mechanism and Learning from Wildlife as our teaching model. All Coaching Conservation lessons are 100% play based and have 3 parts: Meet, Be and Help. Kids first meet an animal coach and find out about what makes it cool. Then they learn from it by becoming it and by mimicking the characteristic behaviours that make it successful in the wild - both as soccer skills on the field and life skills at home. Finally, we role play the primary conservation challenge that animal faces, and how we, as kids, can help. Cheetah, for example, teach us about speed, balance and agility. On the field, we learn fast dribbling and acceleration. At home we learn the importance of a balanced life. To help cheetah, we learn that by keeping our own domestic animals safe, cheetah can’t eat them and cause problems with our mums and dads who may see cheetah as problem animals. We call it Win-Win!! Super simple. Super fun.
Coaching Conservation directly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
The SDG 4.7 directive is to deliver Education for Sustainable Development through the critical dimensions of; Cognitive, Behavioural and Social Emotional, delivery and to use science and start early. Through a process of attention, evaluation and adaptation, CC has created a program that uses these modalitiesuse these same critical dimensions to deliver conservation education.
After 15 years in the field and over 60,000 kids participants, we believe it works.
CC PROGRAM MISSION:
To conserve natural resources by using sport to engender self-respect and inspire a generation of kids who care - about themselves, each other and the natural world around them.
OUR IMPACT - ON THE GROUND - 2023
7,903
participants have acquired new knowledge and skills
70,000
total participants with 10,995 in 2023 alone
94.5%
of kids now have empathy for wild animals after CC programmes.
72
5-year contracts between CC, the Ministry of Education and primary schools
291
teachers and 64 school heads want more CC programmes
33
New CC trainers certified and accredited by SAWC
63
trees planted in school grounds
3,820
students completed a “We are all Connected” programme
2,132
of students agree that they have been empowered to be a kid who cares.
90%
of students started new initiatives that demonstrated new positive values
We empower girls and promote gender equality
We empower girls by empowering girls and boys together. Studies show that children who compete in mixed teams learn to respect and rely on each other, and develop better gender relationships as they grow older.
70,000
total participants with 10,995 in 2023 alone
participants have acquired new knowledge and skills
7,903
72
5-year contracts between CC, the Ministry of Education and primary schools
of kids now have empathy for wild animals after CC programmes.
94.5%
33
New CC trainers certified and accredited by SAWC
teachers and 64 school heads want more CC programmes
291
3,820
students completed a “We are all Connected” programme
trees planted in school grounds
63
90%
of students started new initiatives that demonstrated new positive values
of students agree that they have been empowered to be a kid who cares.
2,132
The circular economy has an exponentially greater impact.
First, we train unemployed youth as coaches. Then we provide them with jobs to teach kids about conservation which results in a generation of Kids who Care; the future leaders of conservation.
PERSONAL IMPACTS AND ENDORSEMENTS
Every day is Earth Day
By planting indigenous trees in schools and teaching children about their benefits, and how we are all connected by the same basic needs, we help to make a positive climate change impact in years to come.
Tumisang
7A Nokaneng Primary
“I used to kill birds but now I have stopped.”
Tshepo
7C, Boyei Primary
“I started throwing waste materials in the rubbish bin.”
Princess
7B, Gumare Primary
“I have advised my friends and family members to plant trees, pick litter and respect others and the environment.”
Florence Banda
Teacher - Kubung Primary School
"The program has ignited a love for nature for me, personally. The respect song has helped my learners take care of everything around them without being told, like sweeping the classroom and doing group works cooperatively. "
Ms Setlhare
Head Teacher ,Xakao Primary School
“The kids who get to have lessons from the program show better behavior improvement compared to those who don’t. The kids have cleaned up campaign influenced by their vulture lesson”
Rikarerera
7A - Nokaneng Primary
“I stopped disrespecting and cutting tree branches to play with them because I am a kid who cares now.”
Modise
6B - Habu Primary
“Wild dogs show us how to be a team player and work together with other.”
Pako
7A - Thamalakane Primary
“I respect animals, myself, and others, I teach young ones about vultures and their importance.”
“I started throwing waste materials in the rubbish bin.”
Tshepo
7C, Boyei Primary
“I used to kill birds but now I have stopped.”
Tumisang
7A Nokaneng Primary
"The program has ignited a love for nature for me, personally. The respect song has helped my learners take care of everything around them without being told, like sweeping the classroom and doing group works cooperatively. "
Florence Banda
Teacher - Kubung Primary School
“I have advised my friends and family members to plant trees, pick litter and respect others and the environment.”
Princess
7B, Gumare Primary
“I stopped disrespecting and cutting tree branches to play with them because I am a kid who cares now.”
Rikarerera
7A - Nokaneng Primary
“The kids who get to have lessons from the program show better behavior improvement compared to those who don’t. The kids have cleaned up campaign influenced by their vulture lesson”
Ms Setlhare
Head Teacher ,Xakao Primary School
“I respect animals, myself, and others, I teach young ones about vultures and their importance.”
Pako
7A - Thamalakane Primary
“Wild dogs show us how to be a team player and work together with other.”
Modise
6B - Habu Primary
What you can do to help !
Organize a fun fundraiser to sponsor a whole class to go on a "Learning from Wildlife" BUSHDay for $1000
CELEBRATING EARTH DAY 2023
We helped plant trees in our
school grounds..........
Learning through PLAY is like learning without having to try. I have always been a huge believer in mentors. I learned from my years of whitewater kayaking that playing is the best way to learn. I also agree with Nelson Mandela who said that “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire… It speaks to youth in a language they understand”. During the peak of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Africa I was searching for a way to reach people with our conservation messages and protect wildlife. I thought: ‘imagine if we could link the passion for sport, to the passion for wildlife, we could not go wrong’. Coaching for Conservation began in 2004 in a the single village of Shorobe where we sponsored the Wild Dog football team. It has evolved over the years to focus on kids. I love that we have now reached over 70K + primary school children; some who now care for their own domestic dogs, some who are ‘sad that animals are suffering’, and some celebrate trees, but all who have been heard chanting the CC Respect Cheer of “Respect yourself, Respect each other and Respect your environment” as a daily affirmation of who they are and what they believe. My goal is to continue to adapt and scale the program to new conservation challenges, different animals, and their different habitats to help inspire an entire generation of kids who are not just told to care, but become kids who genuinely care.
- Lesley McNutt, Director