The Education Program

The eleCREW Education Program sits at the very heart of our project and is central to achieving our aims and objectives.

The basic introductory program, known as ‘Through the Eyes of an Elephant’, is a half-day elephant focused activity designed to challenge perceptions, inform about conservation issues and educate participants on innovative solutions for communities coexisting with elephants. The basic program is highly beneficial for communities coexisting with elephants and school groups.

Members of the general public are also invited to participate in this powerful and immersive experience and learn about the conservation and coexistence challenges facing elephants and communities in North-Western Zimbabwe. All participation fees and donations are used to support eleCREW’s Community, Research, Education and Welfare programs.

The Education programme has been running since 2018 and is already having a positive impact on conservation and coexistence efforts in our region.

How do we achieve our vision?

The program is built on a half-day visit to the eleCREW Visitor Centre located at the Jafuta Wildlife Reserve and the unique opportunity to meet the Ambassador Herd – a group of elephants in human care and under the guardianship of the eleCREW team!.

This immersive experience invites participants to see the world through the eyes of an elephant, enabling empathy for this iconic mammal both as a keystone species and as individual sentient beings. The opportunity to connect so closely with members of the Ambassador Herd is a unique and unforgettable experience.

School children, youth groups and target communities, as well as members of the general public, are introduced to humane and non-lethal techniques of human-elephant conflict mitigation. Community-based participants will often have had negative first-hand experiences with elephants, experiences that may have impacted their livelihoods. In response, the Education program seeks to introduce community members to new ways of achieving a more peaceful coexistence.

The program also includes an elephant observation activity during which participants learn how to identify and interpret elephant behaviours. This empowers communities to better adjust their own activity around elephants with the objective of avoiding conflict and thus improving outcomes.

It is also a useful way for visitors to Victoria Falls to learn how to move safely around the town should they find themselves faced with an elephant walking down the road, as often happens!

What have we done so far?

Since its inception, our Education program has reached over 500 children and elders living in target communities.

The Education Program is also a key component of our Community Empowerment Program. It is intended to be the first step in developing an ongoing engagement with affected communities. This acts as a gateway by changing attitudes in these individuals, allowing them to think of elephants as important sentient beings, rather than big dangerous crop raiders. This leads to the adoption of innovative and sustainable coexistence solutions such as better farming methods, chilli fences and chilli brick deployment to protect crops.

For community and school participants, the Education Program is totally sponsored. Neither the schools nor communities taking part need to make any financial contribution – eleCREW and its partner organisations provide transportation where required.

Conservation Art

We also have linked up with Doodles with my Daughter™ to bring her innovative approach to conservation education through art to some of the younger children in our community.

After initially trialling these workshops with 4 to 12 year olds we could see how well the workshops were received. Some key conservation messages were getting through to these bright young minds – from plastic pollution, to biodiversity loss and even climate change. We are pleased to say that Diana has been keen to continue to run the workshops regularly and is happy to see increasing numbers of children join every time. One parent even told us that it was the ‘highlight of their child’s week’, seeing Diana through an internet video and getting to colour topic relevant pictures whilst learning keywords.

We feel sowing the seeds of knowledge at this early stage is key to raising bright stars of the future, who will care for our planet.
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What is our goal?

Our goal is to share the program and the experience with the Ambassador Herd, with 5000 children, youth and affected community members by the end of 2025.

We also intend on developing several further programs to add as a rounded curriculum on living with elephants, these are:

How to Behave Around Elephants to Avoid Conflict
Understanding Elephant Behaviour
Toolbox of Humane Conflict Mitigation Techniques
Become an Elephant Researcher
Elephant Welfare and Caring for Elephants
The Ecology of Living with Elephants

Who are the Key Team Members?

Gerald Chibanda

Head Elephant Interpreter & Education Program Manager

Klaus Murapa

Elephant Interpreter & Educator

Desire Zulu

Elephant Interpreter & Educator

How can you help?

$30

Pays for one child to attend and benefit from our program

$50

Pays for the educational resources needed for one school trip

$100

Pays for the transport for an outlying school group to attend

$600

Pays for a school group of 20 kids and their minders

$1000

Pays for the training of one of our highly skilled ‘elephant interpreters’ – who can then go on to educate over 1000 children a year!

Who are our education Partners?

Doodles with my daughter™

Greenline Africa

Painted Dog Research Trust

We Are All Mammals

Tag Rugby Trust