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Past EventsJune 2010Little Winter Green Lessons with Sobantu's Children at RiskSince 2007 ARKZN has been partnering with the Nikuthando Welfare Organization, an extended family and foster parent childcare network for 296 children affected by HIV and AIDS. Instead of taking the children into a wilderness area this holiday our team went to Russell Junior Primary School in Sobantu to meet the children with a programme of stories, action games and elementary environmental activities. Our theme Walking from Creation to New Creation drew on the Bible's creation narratives and Revelation's inspired promise of creation restored. Each day began with action songs in English and isiZulu, a story, a craft and a memory verse. The best remembered verse was the one with all the popped balloons, James 1:17.
Then it was out into the sun to play, learn names, make friends and find something green in the school playground. The question in the minds of the whole leadership team was, Can anything green come out of the middle of winter in Sobantu, for the kids' mini gardens of Eden?
And the answer to our hopes was, Yes, there's more than enough greenery to go around, if you just know where to find it.
Since beginning our environmental outreach work with this network in 2007 fifteen of these Nikuthando Welfare children under the age of six have died of HIV related illnesses. Thankfully, our government's newly rolled out anti-retroviral programme has stemmed the death toll of children in many urban areas, so only one child in Nikuthando died during the last year. Nevertheless, 40% of these children are at risk, living with HIV. How does one approach the task of environmental education with children who live in a former township which is sandwiched between the municipal waste site, the Darvill Sewage Works, and Maritzburg's heavy industrial area, who have no parents, who are generally fed only one meal a day at home, and who attend some of the least resourced schools in our city?
The same way as with any other children. Lots of fun, creativity, and good food, plus an adequate dose of something sweet is also the recipe for enabling learning in Sobantu!
Gloria Mtshali, co-ordinator of the Nikuthando project, helped us in our
desire for greater effectiveness in working with children at risk. In her
evaluation of our holiday club she said: Your activities motivated our
children to believe that they live in a worthwhile place. With this better self
esteem they will be able to learn anything.
Phila Endalweni and Vuya Endaweni environmental education programmes are extending ARZA's reach to children at risk in KZN and Western Cape Provinces. If you are interested in motivating a potential donor for this strategic work, please contact Allen Goddard allen.goddard@arocha.org or Leanne Seeliger leanne.seeliger@arocha.org May 2010ARZA in the Cape Town Anglican Diocesan Youth SummitTwenty Five young people from six parishes in the Diocese of Cape Town gathered for a youth summit on the environment at the Southern Life Centre in the Kirstenbosch Gardens Cape Town on Saturday 29 May 2010. Revd. Rachel Mash, Allen Goddard and two local facilitators presented a day of learning about creation care which began with games, a drama workshop and discussion about an enviro pledge by young people to live more lightly in creation.
Allen invited the young people to create a guided tour through creation history following the theme of Water in God's Purpose for Creation. Participants tested the water of their Bible knowledge by working on a time line of history between the waters of Genesis 1.2 and the wetlands of Revelation 22. Other workshops included focuses on lifestyle choices, waste management, recycling and climate change. Later delegates walked in Kirstenbosch to discover more about carbon capture in trees and plants, and discussed firsthand the implications of climate change for the Diocese of Cape Town. The youngest participant asked if anything could be done about stopping Polar Bears from going extinct in the wild. Allen reminded participants that God's creation is always open to God and his healing, however, urgent change in human lifestyles and national and international choices is needed now if the habitat of these exquisite creatures can be saved from destruction within a few decades. After a packed lunch everyone lay in the sun and enjoyed South Africa's abundant supply of renewable solar energy, even in mid winter. We ended the day back at the centre by refining our pledge, which will be sent to churches throughout the Diocese to invite Anglican young Christians on the Cape Peninsular to make a more responsible commitment to creation care.
April 2010Amagoggagogga Amble's ForestTreasuresThe annual Amagoggagogga Amble took place in April 2010 in the Doreen Clark Nature Reserve at Mount Michael in Hilton, a three hectare pocket of mistbelt grassland and montane forest tucked away between the suburbs of Mount Michael and Winterskloof, 11km from the Pietermaritzburg City Hall.
Noluvuvyo Mshumpela, Schools Field Worker with A Rocha South Africa, and John Roff, A Rocha Friend and Educationist at the Hilton College led 12 eager visitors into this reserve, equipped with butterfly nets and water sampling kits.
The first creepy crawly to be spotted in the picnic area before we set off was a busy Robber Fly (of the Asilidae family) zooming through the grass. But it wasn't long before the group disappeared into the depths of the forest shade.
There was more interest in mischief around the water's edge than in too much sampling, so a relaxed time of play and discovery near the water ensued. One of the boys, Simeon, spotted a Pirate Spider (Mimetidae family) just finishing off its spider brunch. These spiders mimic the prey in other spiders' webs, then turn on the host spider as they are approached, eating up their hosts.
A very enjoyable tea time including popcorn, chocolate and chips was had by
all. And there was time for two legged creepy crawlies to pratice eating up
their prey... Then it was back into the grassland to see what we could see.
A Tangle-veined Veined Fly of the Nemestridinae family, of whose life cycle very little is known, caught John's eye, and it took a while and several attempts before we bagged him to look at. A catterpillar of the Acraea family, possibly the Garden Acraea, Acraea horta, was munching on the leaves of a Wild Peach tree, Kiggeleria Africana, while a Blonde Glider was caught, but got away before we could photograph him. This butterfly was far from home, usually found in the Ongoye and coastal Forests of KZN further north and east, so this was quite unusual sighting by John.
One last sighting of an Acrea Butterfly was enjoyed close up....
...we all headed for home.
November 2009Congratulations Lydia Willems on Winning a 2009 Eskom ETA Award
A Rocha's Western Cape Trustee Lydia Willems has won the Women in Industry ESKOM eta Award for 2009 for her innovative energy saving competition in the student halls of residence at Stellenbosch University. For background to Lydia's project, and some of her personal insights, please click here . October 2009Conservation and Prayer - A Natural Pair?A Rocha South Africa's Encountering Christ in Creation Prayer Day on
17 October was attended by 19 people from 8 countries. During a walk in the
Hesketh Conservancy participants' interest in the medicinal uses and
conservation status of the wild flowers generated many questions, interactive
learning and focused discussion about the work of A Rocha in
Africa. Participants who will be returning to their home countries this December
expressed interest in joining initiatives that may be underway in Zambia and
Nigeria under the A Rocha banner. Find more pictures
here (application/pdf, 658.7 kB, info) Greening the Soulscape of the Post Apartheid Urban Generation
Wilderness enthusiasts who canoe down rivers, frequent botanical gardens or hike mountain trails return to wildernesses because wild places often rekindle experiences of early childhood discoveries. Similarly, adults who pick up litter, or plant water-wise gardens usually had childhood experiences of the wilderness. Some parent or teacher believed in the priceless value of creation and modelled green ethics. In contrast, most South Africans lack wilderness experiences. More than 40% of urban municipalities fail to provide basic household services so that too many South Africans’ experience of the environment is overshadowed by daily struggles to meet basic needs. Whole generations grow up experiencing open green spaces and rivers as refuse dumps. For millions the sight of burning tyres or solid waste outdoors is all in a day’s experience of grim surroundings. The damage caused by these abuses of the environment, particularly to children’s attitudes, is a challenge Pietermaritzburg needs to address to ensure a greener, sustainable future for the next generation. Greening the soulscape of the new generation to encourage green ethics on our landscape is a priority. A Rocha’s conservation work takes up this challenge. Planting trees in under-resourced schools like Zweliyazuza Primary, Elandskop, where four hundred learners planted forty trees, introduces children to the principles of conservation. Community events like A Rocha’s Amagoggagogga Adventure this June gave urban children a taste of the wild. John Roff, Noluvuyo Mshumpela and Susan Viljoen facilitated a morning of walks and craft activities along the Umgeni River. Children and adults got hands-on with butterfly nets, magnifying glasses and fishing line in a fun search for creepy crawlies of all descriptions. John Roff , environmental educationist at Hilton College, endorses A Rocha’s philosophy of education: “Knowing plants or insects’ names is not as important as discovering the amazing ways that they relate to other plants and animals around them.” So it wasn’t surprising to see lots of activity around the facilitators of Amagoggagogga . Pre-schoolers yanked crabs while older kids caught wasps in honey jars or chipped earthworms and spiders out of rotting logs. Children’s innate curiosity directs environmental education. That’s why learning can’t be more fun than out of doors. It’s just a pity that most children locked into former township areas don’t get this opportunity to discover the wild firsthand. A Rocha is building community partnerships to pioneer environmental education in the Edendale, Imbali and Sobantu schools. Greening Maritzburg’s Backdrop on Election Day – Allen Goddard – A Rocha South Africa
After endless hype in this year’s general election 67 Martizburgers braved a cold start to the April 22nd Election Day bright and early, to plant trees in the Ferncliffe Nature Reserve as part of A Rocha South Africa’s Carbon Banking project. The event included a handful of grandparents, four teachers, 30 boarders from Merchiston Primary School and seven staff members of three conservation organizations around the city. In the last two years A Rocha has donated 640 trees to the Msunduzi Municipal Conservation Division for 50 hectares of degraded areas in the 290 hectare Ferncliffe Reserve. The young trees are planted where invasive shrubs and trees like Lantana, Bugweed, Black Wattle and Guava have been cleared. Plantings take place in A Rocha’s Ultra Green Marathon each November and in once-off events like Election Day in partnership with the Ferncliffe Conservancy. The Ferncliffe and World’s View escarpments which rise 290 metres from their base at 850 metres above sea level are our city’s impressive green backdrop and one our least understood natural assets. This panoramic gateway to the Natal Midlands is a mixture of mistbelt grasslands and rainforests and the source of pristine streams which flow into the Duzi catchment. Ferncliffe and World’s View are included in our city’s municipal protected areas because they boast a number of rare and endangered plants and animals, including the elusive Blue Duiker and the famous Hilton Daisy. Ferncliffe is also home to 117 species of birds and 66 species of ferns.
Younger and older Maritzburgers alike get a living link with Ferncliffe by planting a tree Conservation organizations like A Rocha and local action groups like the Ferncliffe Conservancy champion conservation work in Ferncliffe because of its magnificent range of species. But also to increase local appreciation for the role Ferncliffe plays as a natural carbon bank and climate moderator. More than 50 species of trees replace increasing amounts of carbon dioxide which Maritzburg produces, with fresh oxygen, cooling our city in summer by mist and precipitation, and warming the climate in winter by absorbing solar rays in its distinctive green bowl. This is why Ferncliffe is the city’s closest carbon banking site, storing carbon for us at a time when global concerns about carbon mitigation are at a peak.
Some came for trees and others, for the ride. Children need to be key partners in conservation work and environmental education in Maritzburg, to build an appreciation in a whole new generation for the priceless value of our city’s forgotten ‘green curtain’. That’s why A Rocha’s Election Day tree planting aimed to give scholars and their families an enjoyable, simple way to discover Ferncliffe for themselves and contribute to its conservation. 100 trees were planted between 8 and 9:30 am of 300 trees donated to A Rocha by Hoheisen Charitable Trust. The remaining trees will be planted by the municipal conservation division before the end of this year’s rainy season in April. A Rocha will commence tree planting again this November, after the start of the 2010 rainy season with the Ultra Green Marathon of 500 runners, cyclists, walkers and ramblers walking, running cycling or skateboarding to Ferncliffe to plant trees with a minimum of carbon emissions.
Extending the Green Footprint of Forests - a challenge for a new generation Fourth AGM of ARZA at the Strelitzia Room in the KZN National Botanical Garden, 28 March 2009A Rocha Friends gathered to hear Rob Scott-Shaw's presentation on the current status of KZN's Forest and Grassland biospheres. Rob presented some of the provincial consevation research of Ezemvelo-KZN Wildlife, which shows a marked decline in the extent and health of both vegetation types outside of protected areas in our province. He highlighted the need for greater economic opporunities in rural communities to protect the last fragments of grasslands and forests that remain outside of protected areas in KZN. After refreshments, a short business meeting gave Friends of A Rocha the opportunity to hear the Director's Review of 2008 and projected Work Plan for 2009. The goals for the coming year include the appointment of A Rocha South Africa's first CEO, the establishment of a Christian Citizenship Education wing, and further expansion of A Rocha's capacity in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces. Please find a copy of Allen Goddard's A Rocha Review of 2008 here. Participants at the A Rocha AGM pack Doggie Boxes (unfortunately in polystyrene) to take home, for supper.
SPRING 2008 TREE PLANTING EVENTS
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