After many months of planning, cancelling and rescheduling, and more planning and cancelling and rescheduling due to COVID outbreaks, we were thrilled to finally be able to start our craft skills sharing workshops in the villages of Bere, Kacgae, East Hanahai and West Hanahai this month. The craft workshops were born out of the fact that the communities, which sit in the middle on a key wildlife area critical to the connectivity of the entire area, wanted to develop craft initiatives but needed training and guidance in getting their ideas off the ground. The workshops aim was to harness the existing skills of the participants and provide training in various crafts and traditional skills such as ostrich eggshell processing, traditional techniques for leather processing, beadwork, embroidery and carpentry. In Bere 20 craft producers were engaged for the 4-day training workshop, learning new skills and creating some beautiful designs in the process. 
 
Unemployment and poverty levels in these communities are incredibly high. Through comprehensive needs assessments carried out with the communities we realised that many of their development initiatives were based on the sustainable use of natural resources. Knowing that wildlife-based economies can help promote environmental conservation, we have partnered with experts in various fields to provide the support needed for these communities to develop these ideas and skills into alternative livelihood streams. These workshops have been facilitated by CCB and were headed up by expert craft developer Sandi Albertson, who brought her extensive experience in craft development with San communities in Ngamiland in northern Botswana to help assist these communities to develop to their full potential. 
 
We are incredibly thankful to all of the stakeholders involved for their patience with the various cancellations caused by COVID, and especially to the community members who came armed with enthusiasm, creativity and a strong desire to learn. We are very proud that in the workshops already conducted, 47% of participants have been women, helping us to bring potential income opportunities to women in the community, a group who can be disproportionately vulnerable in these traditionally patriarchal societies. We have gifted each community with a Singer sewing machine, that can be used by participants to develop their work long into the future. Thank you to everyone involved in making this fantastic initiative a reality, particularly the financial support from the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. 

This article was produced with the financial support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Cheetah Conservation Botswana and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or the European Union. 

Participants from the community of Bere received a Singer sewing machine and training in traditional craft techniques

The results of the design brainstorming session were impressive! 

The training sought to share traditional skills in craft making, such as the curing process for animal skins, which involves using local tsama melons

His wisdom and experience were essential in those early days, as we navigated our way starting a new NGO and slowly gaining respect and a track record of meaningful achievements. Having Mr. Modise at our helm, gave us confidence and credibility, we benefitted so much from his commitment to help us succeed. He inspired us, believed in us, guided us and helped us to bring Cheetah Conservation Botswana to life and to grow in the right direction to become the organization it is today. I also speak on behalf of our Board of Directors, Sedia was an insightful leader with an incredible track record and yet he led our Board with humility and humour, it was always a pleasure to spend time in his company and he always had a great story to share. We are proud to be part of Mr. Modise’s environmental conservation legacy.
 
We are extremely grateful for Sedia’s long-term support of our work to conserve carnivores and their Kalahari home. His parting will be felt by so many. A great, wise tree has fallen in our forest. We must now grow to fill that gap and make him proud of what we achieve. May his legacy live on through as all. We will miss you Sedia, may your soul rest in peace and continue to guide us. Thank you from all of us at Cheetah Conservation Botswana.

Robala ka kagiso, Rre Modise.

​During Botswana’s winter months (June-August), we ran a fundraising appeal to help us raise funds to feed the children that attend our community “Learn to Play” playgroup in Kacgae. In an area where 11% of children are malnourished, providing a healthy snack for the 30 students in the playgroup is a great way to motivate children to attend the environmentally-themed group and helps them to grow into healthy children who support environmental conservation. 
 
We are thrilled to report that the fundraising campaign —which aimed at raising the $6,000 needed to feed the entire playgroup for a year — was a huge success! We were overwhelmed with the support from our network and we managed to raise $8000 by the end of the campaign. Thank you to everyone who contributed by donating or sharing. Thanks to you, the children in the playgroup will have full bellies and little minds brimming with environmental knowledge! The healthy food for the programme is being sourced locally, providing further income for local producers and ensuring the playgroup has the best possible impact for the community of Kacgae. 
 
The playgroup continues to be a success since its inception in February 2020, with further adaptations helping to make the children more engaged and the “mamas” (local mothers who run the programme) capacitated to help make it a success. The mamas underwent a curriculum refresher course at the start of the year and have had computer training to help them with their reporting requirements for the programme. Playmats were developed by the mamas themselves to help make students more comfortable in the winter months and the new provision of food will help the children have more energy during the day and will likely boost attendance numbers. We are working closely with the Regional Council to keep up to date with developing policies for playgroups to make sure that the playgroup adheres to all necessary regulations. The regular engagements with parents of the children involved has been overwhelmingly positive and the smiling faces show that the children, aged between two and five, love the playgroup. We are now going through the process of seeking land to build our own classroom so that we no longer have to rely on the community’s Kgotla (traditional meeting place) structure, and so we can provide the mamas with a safe place to store their playgroup equipment and food supplies. We are very thankful to Kacgae’s Village District Committee for allowing us the use of their nearby facilities which we currently use to store our equipment and the use of their bathrooms which we are currently using for the children. Having our own facilities will mean that we can have everything we need in the one place and we hope the structure will also be able to be utilised for our other community projects such as craft development workshops and activities and local team meetings. 
 
We are incredibly thankful to those that supported our food drive for the community playgroup and to the “mamas” who are working hard to run the programme. We also wish to thank the community of Kacgae for their support, especially the provision of the local Kgotla structure for us to run the playgroup until we are able to build our own classroom. This wonderful addition to our CCB activities could not be done without the expertise and support of our partners from “Learn to Play” who pioneered this community-run playgroup concept and curriculum and who work together with us to provide this amazing initiative to the community of Kacgae. Re a leboga thata!

The "mamas" from the playgroup feeling strong and equipped to deal with the day to day running of the "Learn to Play" playgroup after their refresher course earlier this year

The "mamas" sourced and made blankets and mats so that the students weren't sitting on the cold concrete during playtime

Thanks to donations from our supporters, we are now able to provide food to the children that attend the playgroup, helping to have the energy and attentiveness to learn and grow