tree PLANTING WITH SAN CHILDREN
Our School Tree Nursery programme been successfully running in the UK for almost 15 years. We now want to bring this outside of our own borders to Namibia! We will work together with local partners and communities to make this happen. With your help, we can make the first school tree nursery happen at Naankuse Primary School. Contributing to the education of local indigenous children in Namibia.
the san people of the namibian desert
The San peoples are part of local indigenous cultures, who were the first to inhabit large parts of Southern Africa. For thousands of years, they were nomads living off the land. Today, there are only about 36,000 people in Namibia who identify as San people. They are a highly marginalised community of people, who lack land rights and face regular discrimination within society. It is estimated that just over half (55.6%) of San have never accessed formal education.
“Fewer than 1 in 5 San children attend primary school due to financial difficulties and social prejudices. Discrimination of the San prevents many children from receiving adequate education and extends so far into them not being accepted into mainstream schools.”
Our partner, the Naankuse Foundation, therefore established their own school in 2009. The focus has been to provide a safe environment for learning of San children. Classes are held in both native Bushmen language, English and Afrikaans. The two latter are essential for them to know, if they want to continue education at a higher level in Namibia. In 2021, the new building for the Primary School was completed and ready to be the future place for learning.
naankuse primary school
The primary school is located around 60 km outside of Windhoek in Namibia. The school currently teaches 53 students, who are aged 3 and up, and mainly from the local San community. They teach children for pre-school (age 3-5), junior primary (year 1-3) and senior primary (year 4-7). Have a look at this lovely video to meet some of them.
The children will be an active part of planting the trees, and looking after the tree nursery once finished. The tree nursery will become an interactive part of their education on the environment, climate change, sciences and alike.
The girls are showing the place where the new tree nursery will be located by their school.
What is a school tree nursery?
Just like our School Tree Nursery programme here in the UK, the nursery in Namibia will work the same way. A Tree Nursery is an area set up within school grounds, where small tree saplings of various native tree species are planted and raised. The trees will stay in the nursery, where they are looked after by teachers and students alike. This is until the trees are big enough to be moved and replanted elsewhere. Some usually stay within the school property, yet most are planted in different places within the local community. The children can help decide where they finally will be planted and make them part of the grand event.
We would like to run the School Tree Nursery in Namibia for at least three years. This means that we will together establish and plant new trees in the nursery each year for three seasons straight. This way more children will be able to take an active part and learn from the trees in the nursery each year.
trees & local environment in namibia
The varied and stunning natural world of Namibia is well-known. Many visit this beautiful country exactly for its unique and incredible desert landscapes. The primary school is located within the Windhoek district, which is in the central part of the country. Here, it is a hot semi-arid climate with rocky and mountainous areas.
The species of local native trees to plant have been decided upon by the school in collaboration with their local provider of tree saplings, Namib Trees. These species include the Marula, Karee, Leadwood and the silver cluster tree.
“We chose these trees, because of their resistance and because they also provide a lot of shade.” - Naankuse Primary School Teacher, Yvette Verburg
We believe that they know best which trees are compatible with their local climate, landscapes and soil, and which will be most useful for them and their communities in the future. Once the trees have grown large enough to be out-planted, they will be planted at the school, in the village near the Naankuse farm, and then some in Windhoek at other local schools. The trees will be shared and beneficial to many people in and around Windhoek.
how can you help the tree nursery?
To make this happen, we are asking for donations that will help us and Naankuse Primary School get this project started and going for a few years. So, how much do we need to raise? To cover all of the expenses for setting up a tree nursery during the next three years, we need to raise £3500 for the school in Namibia.
So how will this be used? Each donation will:
Support the people of the local tree nursery in Windhoek that supplies the trees for the school to create their own nursery.
Help plant around 100 native tree saplings that students will plant and look after for a couple of years.
Contribute to the environmental and science learning of children in Namibia.
Directly impact the local environment and community of this area with more trees being planted for shade and alike.
Overall, the majority of the funding will be spent on setting up the project, providing tree saplings and planting materials, ensuring water sources, transport of the trees, and developing new tree planting guides and educational materials. A small part will be spent on administrative related costs and expenses. We believe the funds should be spent where they will make the most difference.
To make a donation just click on this link or the right-hand ‘Donate’ button. Select how you would like to donate, the amount, fill in the details and choose the “Tree Nursery Namibia” option.
If you prefer to donate via a bank transfer, then these are our bank details:
Account Name: Earth Restoration Service
Account Number: 20521957
Sort Code: 20-79-06
Just remember to write in the reference “Tree Nursery Namibia” so we know exactly which project these funds are directed towards.
While our first aim is to run this for three years, we of course would love to continue this for more years than this! Therefore, if we raise more money than needed, we will hopefully be able to continue sending money for more trees to plant in the future.
GET IN TOUCH!
If you as an individual, business, organisation or foundation of any size would like to make a donations to help make this School Tree Nursery happen, please don’t hesitate to let us know! We can also provide some social media material that you can use to help promote the work, fundraise money or share that you have made a contribution.
Reach out to us on Charlotte@earthrestorationservice.org to hear more about how you can support and be part of these efforts.
