The students in Safari English Club are curious about the world, even though they have so few windows to look through. Our volunteers Kristina, Lucie and Jack are passionate about giving them opportunities that most children take for granted, such as learning more about the sea that surrounds Zanzibar and the consequences of pollution. Waste management is poor in Zanzibar: because there's no state service to take care of rubbish, residents often just throw it onto the streets or onto the beaches with no thought to what happens next.
Earlier in August “Giving Nature A Voice”, a series of environmental documentaries produced by East African filmmakers won one of the top awards at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). The series (originally broadcast during primetime on Kenya’s national TV) features in-depth reports on Africa’s most urgent environmental crises and has generated public debate and mobilized action to defend East Africa’s wildlife and environment. Kristina, Lucie and Jack built a project inspired by showing the video to Safari English Club.
We’ve shown various films to the students but find that the ones that relate to African themes are the ones they find most motivational.
Protect our Ocean! project included getting the students involved in a clean-up of the beach which is a couple of miles away from the school. The older students learnt vocabulary associated with the environment and put together a giant poster which is proudly displayed in the school. It’s the first poster they’ve produced an in the photos that follow you can see how delighted they are with the results. Jack, Lucie and Kristina also produced a short video about the project which you can watch by following the link
