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WHAT DOES NATURE FOR KIDS DO?
Nature for Kids has produced an educational environmental school TV series entitled Superhero, aimed at children throughout Africa. So far, five (24minute) edutainment programmes have been produced. Each one tells an engaging story of a local child who learns about an environmental problem in his/hercommunity and then takes the lead in finding a solution that benefits both the natural world and the village community.Sophia and the Terrific Forest, for example, talks about deforestation and encroachment of wildlife and natural areas, while Mkobo and the Great Lion discusses food chains and human-wildlife conflicts. Issa and the Returning Grasslands deals with erosion, overgrazing and land management, and Faraja and the Wonderful Water talks about water resource management. Kagiso and the Clean Village is about waste management, including the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Through the issues discussed in these films, the fictional superheroes show real-life school children that the cycle of poverty and environmental degradation can be broken through sustainable management of their natural resources. Through watching the simple yet important actions that Sophia, Mkobo and the other young characters take – such as planting trees, organising clean-up campaigns, catching rainwater and encouraging herders to keep cattle away from drinking water – the school children acquire the basic knowledge, skills and values that promote environmental responsibility.
Because of the unique education through entertainment formula, these innovative school TV programmes are not just documentaries – they are exciting and captivating short screenplays featuring local schoolchildren (7-12 years) and memebr within their communities. The programmes are interactive and fun, and therefore very appealing to the children. Of particular importance in terms of impact is that one film can reach a very large audience, whereas a single book can only be read by a few students.
Local partners supply NfK with research input on the conservation messages. Local languages, such as Kiswahili, are used in the films and supporting materials, which also help the children to understand and relate tovthe characters and environmental messages. However, NfK also works with voiceover in its films, so each programme can easily be dubbed into any language. One film can therefore be used to reach children in many different countries.
The films are brought to schools in rural areas with the help of a mobile cinema and a team of local teachers. The film packages (film and additional materials such as booklets, questionnaires, baseline surveys, posters, water tests, etc.) are also used by local education centres, refugee camps, NGOs, and wildlife and environmental clubs. This is often the first time many of the children have ever seen a film, so the impact of these programmes is tremendous. After viewing the films, the teachers start lively group discussions, including environmental songs, to involve the children. The teachers are also provided with surveys, booklets, posters, water-testing kits and other materials. These enable the teachers to do interactive follow-up activities with the children, such as organizing clean-up campaigns, planting trees and making recycled art. NfK is also working on a new project which will provide
seedlings to 76 schools in Tanzania, enabling the pupils to plant a school nursery. Through all these activities, the pupils learn about the benefits and essential ecological roles of different ecosystems and the interactions and relationships between various ecosystems, as well as the threats to their existence. Most importantly, the pupils learn how their actions can have a positive impact on the world around them in protecting vital natural resources that they are heavily dependent upon.
