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Hwange Volunteer Conservation Project Newsletters » Mar/Apr 2006 » Hwange Volunteer Conservation Project A turning point for our Hwange Conservation Programme as we sign on our permits to operate within the National Parks, off-road and at night; Archiving ancient relics and cultural histories in our Miombo Museum; Community chilli’s keeping Ele’s out. For the past 8 month’s African Encounter (of which African Impact is a department, and which facilitates all our eco-tourism and volunteer programmes) has been in many discussions with Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife Authority. They have been discussing the possibility of working closely with Parks staff within the Matabeleland National Parks area these would include Matobo, Hwange (largest National Park in Zimbabwe) and the Zambezi National Park’s covering the Victoria Falls. On the 3rd February 2006 we were granted our permit to work within all of the above-mentioned Parks. This is a HUGE stepping-stone for ALL of our projects as we hold the ONLY permit which allows us to work closely with N.P’s. No other agency, researcher, tourism company etc etc have been granted this same opportunity. We believe that it is a great privilege to have been offered this chance to continue to make a positive impact on Africa’s wildlife. AE will provide Volunteers to work in the Parks & Wildlife areas under the instructions of the Senior Wardens with the Volunteer Projects Coordinator supervising; the following areas will be covered: Snare removals - snare searches will be carried out in suspect areas and will be removed before they can claim animal lives Darting of animals with snares, removal of such snares and treatment of the wounds Animal rescue - animals in danger will be brought to safety Game capture and translocation - help will be given to the Parks Capture Unit when animals are being moved from one place to another. AE has an experienced game capturer who can be called upon together with the volunteers to assist where need be. This will be done in collaboration with the authority capture team. Collection of data i.e. game counts, vegetation transects and any other work requested by the station parks researchers. All information and/or data collected will be surrendered to the local warden/senior warden of scientific services. Assistance will be given in the provision of game water supplies: - Where possible, provisions of diesel for an adopted one or two strategic water points - Provision of transport and labour to do the pump run and servicing of pumps - Provisions of labour to clean out the water troughs - Any other assistance where possible, after consultations with the senior warden A report on entry statistics, income generated for parks and work done will be submitted to senior Wardens and Director General quarterly The whole process would require two weeks of camping, which we could probably divide into 7 days segments. Museum at Miombo Lodge We are also looking into creating our own museum on the Miombo Campsite starting with butterflies and insects. Brian Orford who has joined us recently as a full time guide and assistant to Jerry will be starting this project off. Special Needs Classroom One of the other projects we are trying to introduce is community work within the Dete area. One of our current volunteers, Grethe, is busy getting this project up and running with assisting the local school in opening their first ever Special Needs classroom. These kids range from 6-18 years of age and are in desperate need of an education and assistance. Grethe is working very closely with the Principle of the school and hopefully we will be able to supply them soon with Montessori equipment through volunteer funding and supplies. Grethe and the Teachers Pupils at the Dete School Old Age Home Other community projects which are just as important is the old age homeless shelter run by Sister Rosa who has been dedicated to the elderly for over 25 years. Volunteers assist the aged with exercises, gardening and keeping them company. 50 years ago Africans from all over the continent came to work on the mines and railways, Zimbabwe became their home but their family’s never joined them. As they grew older most of there friends passed away leaving them homeless and no where to turn as going home was impossible. The homeless shelter was their only solution. Sister Rosa is funded by the Catholic Church and other fundraiser but she needs so much more. There are days even months that she goes without medication to give to the people but somehow she continues to find her way through – and we hope to be able to continue to assist her in her efforts. Community Cultural Exchange This entails the coming together of the local community and African Impacxt volunteers and sees the exchange of arts and crafts. E.g. Volunteers learn basket weaving and in return teach the community to paint, draw and even knit. We have been collecting bits and pieces for the project to start it up so it hasn’t kicked off just yet. Human-Elephant Conflict - A Chilli Deterrent For as long as I have been in Hwange and listen to stories and even watched the elephants go by it has been known to everyone that they are a pest. The local community in Dete have been struggling day in day out year after year trying to protect their crops from the hungry giants but to no avail. However, after speaking to some people in Zambia who have been working with elephants wild and tamed with some research I have discovered that chilli seeds and a bit of old engine grease painted on a tree or rope around a crop make the Ele’s to run for miles never to return!! So volunteers at Hwange have started to experiment with the new discovery. At the moment they are busy separating seeds and mixing it with the grease kindly donated from Safari Par Excellence’s warehouse in Victoria Falls. The chillies came from all over the community. The moment they heard we were making an elephant deterrent they jumped in to assist! I will keep you updated on the results. The volunteers feet became very sore from the exposure of the chilli’s so they had to cover themselves up!   Read more about the Hwange Volunteer Conservation Project. Jambo - Hello from Milena! Antelope Park - Lion Project News Lion Encounter - Victoria Falls Lion Project News Zambia Lion Volunteer Project Update IUCN Conference on Lions In Johannesburg - Mr Conolly Reports Hwange Volunteer Conservation Project Update Trip Report - Volunteers visit Rhino Project Lion Cubs News People on the move at African Impact Kwaheru! Subscribe to our free newsletter Africa volunteer opportunities       print this page | bookmark this page (CTRL-D) | send to a friend back to top