From 4-8 December 2023, Children in the Wilderness Namibia (CITW) held its annual December Eco-Club camp at the Namib Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET), located 100 km south of Sesriem/Sossusvlei in the Hardap Region in Southern Namibia.
The idea was to expose our North-Western Eco-Clubs to the Namib Sand Sea World Heritage Site, as inscribed by UNESCO in 2013. A group of 42, consisting of children, their teachers and Eco-Mentors from our partner conservancy schools in the Kunene Region – namely Marienfluss, Sesfontein, Anabeb, Torra and Dora !Nawas – and the latest addition, the Windhoek Urban Eco-Club from Michelle Mclean Primary School, gathered for a week-long, life-changing, environmental mentorship and fun camp.
Mrs Karuaihe-Upi, a resourceful CITW board member and the Chief Executive Officer of Miss Namibia Organization, made it possible for the collaboration of Miss Teen Namibia 2023, Oriana Ribeiro, together with the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) team, to join the programme and capture the camp activities. As Miss Teen Namibia, Oriana was enthusiastic about contributing to the camp’s educational endeavours and actively engaging with her peers.
The activities ranged from parabolic solar cooking, playing the 5Rs game of recycling and waste management, understanding the biomes of Namibia, measuring our enviro-footprint, exploring the Namib Desert on a dune walk, and catch-and-release trapping, among others, in a fun and playful manner.
The lesson plans were centred around the global goals for Sustainable Development. The leaners were engaged and participated in all activities, happy and grateful for such a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience, and they all were excited about how they are going to implement the initiatives back home in their respective towns and villages.
