​I’m Yvonne Tshiamo Baisang, and I’m currently doing my internship with Cheetah Conservation Botswana at their Ghanzi Camp. I have been here for six months now. Being someone who has grown up in Ghanzi, it has been quite an experience to see what conservationists in the area are involved with on a daily basis. While I studied my Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences at the University of Botswana, joining the University of Botswana Wildlife and Environmental Conservation Society (UBWECs) felt like a natural extension of my interests in conservation. This was one of the reasons I wanted to be part of the CCB community, because I wanted to continue contributing towards wildlife conservation, as well as better understand cheetahs’ welfare. Knowing that common stories about cheetahs paint a dire picture, I thought of this as a great opportunity to make a difference as far as cheetah conservation is concerned.
 
Since I began working at CCB, I have gained a lot of knowledge, including how to set up and maintain camera traps in commercial farms as well as near the Bere and Kacgae cattle posts. Opportunities like going on off-road excursions, camping in the wilderness, and the challenge of single-handedly setting up my own tent have been some of the most intriguing aspects. Finally, I have had the opportunity to learn more about, and appreciate, the various animal species that can be found in and around the Ghanzi region. The skills I've obtained at CCB thus far, and will continue to gain, will be essential in my research journey because I intend to continue my studies and pursue a career in research. My first CCB Annual Planning Meeting experience at Limpopo River Lodge will always be one of my favorite CCB memories – especially the cross country travel part of it. What’s more, I got to learn more about local animals and plants, spoor (footprint) tracking, and connect informally with a lot of the members of staff.

What a way to start the year! CCB is grateful for all the support we received over the end of 2022 as part of our end-of-year fundraising campaign. Without our supporters we wouldn’t have been able to raise an amazing $109,700!

This money will go towards building accommodations and basic facilities at our new camp in Ghanzi. This camp will be our forever home, it will be the site of much of our teaching and learning, it will add to our contributions toward wildlife conservation in Botswana.

We’d like to take this moment to thank all of you who have given to this campaign. We look forward to continuing our development work with you by our side. Together we can do so much. 

​Earlier this year, CCB reached out to a group of private sector friends of ours to reconnect after two years of pandemic-related distancing. One of the guests at the luncheon was a Sithabile Mathe, a local architect who founded and runs her own architectural design and project management business - Moralo Designs. When she heard about our dreams of developing an office and accommodations for the organization to be able to be closer to the communities further south that we work in, Sithabile offered her expertise, pro bono, whenever we’d need.
 
We’d been in discussions with the Land Board in Ghanzi about getting allocated land in the village of Bere prior to engaging Sithabile, and when it came time to submit our proposed plans it was her rendering of site plans that we gave to the assessors. This plan was accepted by Land Board – who have now allocated CCB a 1-hectare plot just outside of Bere. This location is ideal in that we will be able to have a permanent presence in this area and minimise our travel time between our Ghanzi camp (1.5 hours away) and attending to work in the remote villages of Bere, Kacgae, East and West Hanahai. With the other projects that we have in the area, this new location will be a fundamental asset to CCB and our implementation plans.
 
Sithabile’s understanding of the work we do, and her eco-friendly approach to sustainable architecture have been a perfect fit and a welcome gift. We hope that through the journey forward, we continue to collaborate towards the organisation’s success. In-kind donations such as what Sithabile has done for us are just one of the many ways you, our friends and supporters, may add to building CCB’s legacy. We’d like to take this time to thank Sithabile and her team for assisting on yet another milestone for CCB.

Our Learn to Play community playgroup has wrapped up their activities for their third year with a graduation ceremony for four of its students. These children have reached the age where they will be moving into their first year of primary school next year in their village. Each student that graduated received a graduation certificate and a special prize, as well as the joy of dressing up in their graduation caps and gowns. 
 
We worked together with early-childhood development specialists “Learn to Play” to set up the community playgroup in Kacgae in 2020 following a request for help from the community. The villagers were concerned by the dropout rates of children at the local primary school and regional high school. Early Childhood Development is key to establishing a strong foundation for future development at the individual level and has been highlighted in the past by UNICEF as being an area requiring improvement in Botswana. Pre-school education helps bridge the learning gap between home life and school life and helps prepare students for life in primary school. This is important for all children, but especially important in rural villages of Botswana, where children grow up speaking indigenous San dialects rather than the English and Setswana that is used in the primary schools. The more these children can be exposed to English and Setswana before they attend primary school, the better equipped they are to transition to the classroom setting and the fewer dropouts will occur. 
 
We are thrilled that so far the children who have graduated the playgroup previously have been progressing very well at the primary school. Head Mama Veriphi reports: 
“The kids that have graduated here – at the school the teacher tells us that they are doing very good – better than those from the (village run) preschool. They know how to hold their pencils, they know how to differentiate colours, to speak. When the teachers ask them a question, they are open to answer – they are not shy. From that – those teachers compliments – we are proud of that.” 
 
Hot off the press from the Ministry of Education and Skills Development is that after many years of consultations and debate, the Government schools are introducing some indigenous languages into rural primary schools to help reach more students in a meaningful manner. As part of this roll out, we are very pleased to see that primary schools within our focal area, including Kacgae, Bere, East Hanahai and West Hanahai will partake in the “Phase 1 implementation of mother tongue languages”. For these schools the mother-tongue language will be the San Bushmen dialect of Naro. This move will hopefully help reduce primary school dropout rates and improve education levels in these rural settlements.