The fruitful collaboration with the BNC

under

the

leadership

of

MaryBeth

brought

about

another

opportunity

for

our

Grade

Zero Class. They were invited to be part of an adventure into nature.

GCF’s

Khomas

Environmental

Education

Programme

(KEEP)

team

takes

local

primary

school

students

on

a

3km

hike

in

Daan

Viljoen

Game

Reserve

just

outside

the

capital

for

an

interactive,

fun,

and

hands-on

experience.

Since

starting

the

programme

in

2016,

over

11000

young

Namibian

students

and

400

teachers

have

participated in KEEP.

The

field

day

starts

off

with

a

wildlife

tracking

and

plant

identification

activity.

This

means

that

the

young

Namibians

search

for

animal

spoors

and

try

to

identify

these

using

the

GCF

Nature

Workbook.

The

tracks

they

encounter

include

giraffe,

oryx,

wildebeest,

zebra,

kudu

or

even

jackal.

Some

young

trackers

are

convinced

that

they

have

spotted

elephant or lion spoors;

luckily,

these

animals

do

not

live

in

the

park,

so

everyone

is

safe.

However,

we

have

come

across

fresh

leopard

and

hyena

spoor

on

occasion

–

always

the

cause

for

much excitement.

Identifying

trees

and

investigating

animal

droppings

(poo)

teaches

the

children

about

grazers,

browsers,

as

well as ruminants and non-ruminants.

We

also

discuss

the

differences

between

carnivores,

herbivores,

and

omnivores,

all

while

resting

in

the

shade

of

an

Acacia

tree

(or

should

we

say

Vachellia

tree)

for

a

quick

drink

and

a

healthy

snack

for

sustenance.

We

also

discuss

other

topics

such

as

our

environment,

living

and

non-living

things

and

their

basic

needs,

and

the

importance of plants.