December 2006, Pafuri Camp in the northern Kruger National Park will be the scene of much excitement when the Children in the Wilderness programme once again takes place here. From 4th to 8th December 2006, Pafuri Camp will be closed to paying guests to play host to the children’s programme which will run for 4 nights/5 days. Participants this year are 48 children between the ages of 11 and 17, selected from the Makuleke Village. The children have been selected from the local schools by the Makuleke Community Trust, the school teachers and Pafuri Camp.
The curriculum is well structured and offered in a safe wildlife environment, where the children will be both entertained and educated in various aspects of life – including the wildlife of the area, conservation, geography, geology, as well as art, nutrition, health and HIV/AIDS awareness.
This year it has been decided to combine the skills of Children in the Wilderness with that of Active Education. Active Education tries to instil a passion in each child about sport through age-specific instruction, which is provided by trained professional coaches. Active Education’s “Kids in Action” programme caters for children, using positive teaching methods, creativity and specialised sporting equipment and activities. “Kids in Action” exposes children to ball skills and movements in addition to life skills such as courage, decision-making, confidence, positive thinking, co-operation and goal setting.
Our objective for combining the skills of both curricula is to train Pafuri Camp staff during the camp. Active Education will be sending eight coaches to Pafuri Camp, whose role will be to coordinate certain modules of the programme as well as to train and mentor the Pafuri staff.
In 2007, Children in the Wilderness South Africa will be focusing on formalizing a more structured follow up programme. Our intention is to incorporate the skills of Active Education and train local community members who show potential, on how to teach sports and life skills. These community members will become part of our permanent team and will visit the schools on an ongoing basis. This will ensure that skills learnt on the programme are not forgotten and also will ensure that other children are also exposed to some of the programme content.