Tusk Trust Changing Lives Through Conservation Education In Lebialem Highlands

Since Tusk Trust first threw its financial and material weight behind ERuDeF’s Environmental Education Programme in 2007, more than 5,000 pupils and students have had their lives and attitudes changed through training in nursery creation and management, arts painting, free books, scholarships to intelligent but less privileged learners and other needs. Before the support from Tusk Trust, schools adjacent to the Tofala Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and the Proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary (PMBWS) in the Lebialem Highlands operated with a bare minimum of scholastic materials. The schools depended upon meager financial support from the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) to purchase research books. Not so after ERuDeF stepped in with support from Tusk Trust.

By Ngueping Samuel & Che Azenyui Bruno

To make wildlife conservation, especially of endangered species sustainable and meaningful, ERuDeF with support from Tusk Trust has been running an Environmental Education programme in 33 schools (22 primary and 11 secondary) in the Tofala Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and the Proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary (PMBWS) in the Lebialem Highlands. The aim of the programme is to instill awareness, knowledge, skills, motivation and commitment to work cooperatively towards the conservation of the sanctuary’s resources.

At the start of the 2014/2015 academic year, ERuDeF arrived with free textbooks and exercise books which were distributed to 12 secondary schools around Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary (THWS) and the proposed Mak-Betchou Wildlife Sanctuary (PMBWS) to equip their libraries, it was all joy for the pupils, students and the teachers. G.S Fossimondi in Alou Sub-division some 25 km away from the Divisional chief town of Menji is one of the over 30 primary schools that constitute the support zone communities of the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary. It benefitted from the ERuDeF book largesse.

The lone government school has few teachers and still lacks classrooms, but now the teachers and pupils are relieved thanks to the textbooks and exercise books donated by ERuDeF.

The books have been a great relief for Amanoch Theodore, the head teacher of G.S Fossimondi.

“Before the arrival of the book support from ERuDeF, we had planned to increase the PTA levy that pupils pay at the start of the academic year so as to raise some funds to purchase textbooks and support the production of lesson notes by the teachers. With this support we simply relieved the parents of the additional financial burden they would have incurred trying to buy research books for staff.”

Amanoch says with a scanty staff of just four teachers, the free books have greatly facilitated the teaching and learning process in his school.

“Before the book gifts from ERuDeF, most of the teachers had depended upon their personal resources for the preparation of lesson notes and this made assessment of the staff very difficult. But now, we are able to produce our lesson plans more easily since we received textbooks from ERuDeF,” says Amanoch.

At the Government School Banti in Wabane Sub-division, the head teacher, Menkem Sylvester, says the books have become the sole guide for the preparation of lesson notes at his school.

“At the start of each academic year, we sign out the books to the teachers of all the classes who use the books to prepare their lesson notes and lesson plans. We only do an inventory of the books at the end of each academic year to ensure that each staff returns the books he collected. The day –to-day usage of the books is in the hands of the various class teachers,” says Menkem.

In 2014, over 30 primary schools received books from ERuDeF while in 2015, the organization targeted 15 secondary schools adjacent to the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary with books worth over 3 million francs CFA as part of the school library development project.

Representing the principal of GSS Bechati, Munuh Livingstone describes the gesture as a timely booster to the educational endeavours of the beneficiary schools.

The move, he says, sends loud and clear the message of ERuDeF’s commitment to the sustainable development of all communities in Wabane and Alou.

“Not only do we want to say thank you for this, but we also want to pledge openly our unalloyed support to ERuDeF and its activities in our respective communities,” says Munuh.

The book donation is ERuDeF’s long-term goal of reducing pressure on the forest by ensuring access to quality education to communities adjacent to the Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary was reiterated.

“The much-talked about lack of research material by students and teachers in my school will certainly be history from this day,” says Atabong Esunji Bernard, principal of Government High School M’mouckmbie.