eco children

Enriching lives through people-focused initiatives

Eco Children began as an initiative of the Klaserie to educate and enrich the lives of the children of KPNR employees through holiday ‘bush’ workshops.

Seeing a lack of connection between local communities and their natural heritage, these nature-based activities aimed to foster an understanding and passion for wildlife, creating a future generation of nature guardians. It quickly expanded, and to date, Eco Children has adopted nine primary schools in the towns and villages surrounding the KPNR, benefitting a total of 5,176 children living in some of the poorest areas in South Africa.

By stimulating an interest in nature and improving learning environments, Eco Children strives to have a positive impact on environmental awareness and education amongst the youth in these areas, leading to a better conservation and economic outcome for South Africa.

From building an ecology classroom and a library, to incentives and bursary programs. Our goal is to not only greatly impact the day-to-day lives of the children surrounding the Klaserie, but to create future leaders who are impassioned to give-back and affect long-lasting change in their communities.

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Eco Villages

Eco Children’s environmental educators deliver lessons in ecology and conservation and help students learn to plant and grow a variety of vegetables in our keyhole gardens, teaching useful life-skills and sustainability. These vegetables supplement the school feeding scheme, adding much-needed fresh produce to what is often the only meal the child will receive that day.

9 Classrooms and 337 keyhole gardens established
planting 500,000 seedlings a year

Literacy and library development

Eco Children builds a library at each of ouradopted schools as it is the key to encouraging confidence with books and aculture of reading. This is vital in lifting the literacy rate, which statesthat 80% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning.

8 Libraries built with over 29,300 books donated

Up-skilling teachers

Eco Children currently employs and trains ten environmental educators from the local community, as well as delivering maths and early development workshops for all teachers in our adopted schools.

115 Teacher workshops and four educator enrichment programs completed

Bursaries

Our combined projects help us to discover talented learners with great promise who may otherwise be held back by the burdens of poverty. Despite overcoming immense hardship, these children often need a little help to fulfil their true potential. Our bursary scheme is partnered with the exceptional Southern Cross College, ensuring a first-class education alongside ongoing mentorship from the Eco Children team and giving these children a real chance to thrive and excel in life.

33 Learners have benefitted from ourbursaries to date, with several now in - or have completed - tertiary education

Incentive Programs

Rewarding achievement is a key strategy in increasing engagement and motivating students to succeed. Each term, the to performing learners receive a certificate and reward from school uniforms, educational hampers and prizes to our annual holiday winner’s excursion.

4,792 School uniforms donated

12,112 Santa shoeboxes delivered

56 Holiday workshops completed

17 Winner’s excursions

17 Kruger trips accomplished

Whether you have already visited, or plan to visit the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, there are many ways you can give back to the communities that are so vital to safe-guarding the future of this delicate wilderness.