WINDHOEK– The Pupkewitz Foundation has donated a Nissan NP300 hardbody vehicle to the AfriCat Foundation, in support of conservation through education for school-going children and the larger communities around Okonjima Lodge.
During the handover ceremony hosted at the Pupkewitz Nissan showroom in Windhoek yesterday, Chief Strategic Officer of the Pupkewitz Foundation, Meryl Barry, emphasised that the Vehicle Assistance Program of the Foundation largely focuses on supporting the Ministry of Environment and Tourism’s efforts to preserve Namibia’s unique flora and fauna heritage, through environmental and wildlife conservation initiatives. “The future of the conservation depends on the child of today. The Pupkewitz Foundation through a much targeted Vehicle Assistance Programme for environmental initiatives, that include communities, the education of our future generations, and conservation for future generations, should be preserved at all costs and that educational programmes such as provided by AfriCat, will ultimately contribute to the prevention of extinction and wildlife crime in Namibia.”
The Pupkewitz Foundation’s involvement with afriCat’s Environmental Education programme is intentional and ambitious, by which the Pupkewitz Group not only helps protect the environment but build future conservation leaders. “I have observed the commitment with which AfriCat pursues the education and preservation of large carnivores by targeting the youth, with the intention to secure and sustain future awareness and conservation of these stunning wild cats,” says Barry.
The AfriCat Environmental Education Programme aims to inform and empower Namibia’s youth about large carnivores, conservation and Namibia’s natural heritage. AfriCat’s Head of Environmental Education Programmes, Helen Newmarch, says after many years of working with the farming community, it became clear that youth education is vital to the long-term conservation of large carnivores. “The Remarkable contribution made by the Pupkewitz Foundation today, through the donation of a Nissan NP300 hard body pick-up, will go a long way. Not only will the vehicle be serving as the main source of transport for the children in AfriCat’s educational efforts, but it will enable AfriCat to do awareness-outreaches in the surrounding areas. This way we will reach those learners who are unable to visit our education centres, thus encourage personal and school-based involvement in environmental issues,” says Newsmarch.
Besides the vehicle donation, the Pupkewitz Foundation also gave a quarter of a million in form of posters and educational material to schools countrywide, through AfriCat Edu Centre, as well as funding under-privileged schools to participate in the Edu Centre programme or outreach programmes. Furthermore, last month the Pupkewitz Foundation handed over a much needed Nissan NV350 Impendo bus to the Agricultural Training Centre at Krumhuk. This is the first training centre in agricultural production and farm household management that engages all faculties of young people. This is an initiative established for the youth to master the challenges of practical farming and household management. The bus is used to transport 13 gifted children from the centre to the Waldof School in Windhoek every day.