“My parents told me that the forest is the place where they find peace, feel the breeze and listen to the trees. Sitting and watching nature at its best,” wrote Grade 10 Mary Waters Secondary School pupil, Masande Nyikinya. “It's where they feel free.”
“My parents told me that the forest is the place where they find peace, feel the breeze and listen to the trees. Sitting and watching nature at its best,” wrote Grade 10 Mary Waters Secondary School pupil, Masande Nyikinya. “It's where they feel free.”
For four years now, the Inkcubeko Nendalo (culture and nature) school programme has been educating pupils all over Grahamstown of the danger in exploiting our natural resources. Coupled with this, they are taught about their natural heritage and know to protect our biodiversity before it is lost.
“One of the activities we organise is weekly forest excursions to a small indigenous forest patch on the Grahamstown commonage. In some instances, it's a first-time opportunity for learners to experience nature in a recreational context,” said one of the project leaders, Dr Michelle Cocks of the Rhodes University Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER).
Thanks to the project, more than 1 000 pupils have made this trek to the magical patch. “My favourite part was when we were all told to sit down, close our eyes and just feel our surroundings and listen to the wind and birds,” said Nyikinya.
“This year we decided to enhance the learning component of the forest experience by encouraging learners to talk about the experience with their elders once their got home and write a report about it,” said Cocks, “It's all in an effort to have the different generations talking and sharing information with each other.”
On November 22, prizes were awarded to three pupils who produced exceptional reports. All hailed from Mary Waters and Nyikinya was one of them. “This course is invaluable to us,” said Mary Waters Grade 10 and 11 life sciences teacher, Ndzondie Myoli. “The learners gain knowledge of indigenous plants and learn to look after them, understanding the role they play in our world.”
One of the winners, Mluleki Nkosi, noted in her reportback that her parents were grateful for the extra teaching their daughter was receiving. “Even if the plants are not important to my culture, my parents said I must still learn about them. Perhaps I'll be interested and want to study botany further.” Nyikinya's parents were also highly supportive of her efforts in the programme.
“It's a very important lesson these children are learning,” said her mother, Nomakholwa Thembalihle. “The plants we find in the woods can be medicine, or they can be fuel. It's important for these children to learn to protect them and to pass these lessons on to their children.”
The Mobile Science Lab has also been in partnership with Inkcubeko Nendalo, as well as the Donaldson Trust, which funds the forest trips for the children. More information about the programme can be found at www.bioculturaldiversity.co.za.
