Our Mission is to teach Zambian children and communities
the value of wildlife and their environment so they may be
conserved for present and future generations.
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Olivia Petre , Chipembele 's new Chief Executive Officer and Anna Tolan, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Dear <<First Name>>,
Despite schools closing in late June, the Chipembele team have still been busy at work with activities including radio shows, rescuing a baby baboon and elephant, community game drives, the Mentors At Chipembele (MAC) program and professional training courses to mention a few! With the schools now reopening at the end of August, everyone is keen to get back into full swing again.
Anna is stepping back as Executive Director after 23 years at the helm, but will still be managing some projects such as the student sponsorship scheme, the animal rehabilitation programme and the Chipembele Conservation Centre. As the new CEO, I feel privileged to be part of such an active, motivated and talented team!
Thank you, <<First Name>>, for your continued interest and support in our grassroots work!
Olivia Petre, CEO
and the Chipembele Team
PS: Read more about Olivia here: About Us - Staff
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This donation button lands at our secure website for Paypal in US $ and GBP £.
Other giving options can be seen here.
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The entire Chipembele Team was deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of Benson Beza who passed away on July 16 at the age of 21 at Chipata General Hospital after a short illness.
He had been sponsored through Chipembele since he was in Grade 8, and quickly became a core member of the Chipembele Conservation Programme. Whatever activities, events and programmes were happening, he would be there to fully get involved. In 2019 he was selected on merit as one of 14 students for a conservation education student exchange programme called Tisamale and travelled to Adelaide, Australia for 3 weeks. Later that year he was sponsored by Schul Projekte Sambia (Switzerland) through Chipembele to attend Mulungushi University for a degree in Environmental Studies. This year, together with his best friends Jacob Mphasi and Meya Sakala (also both sponsored through Chipembele and studying the same degree), he founded the first ever Environmental Club at their University. He was about to enter Year 3 next month.
His legacy of a young rural Zambian succeeding through determination and passion, despite such a humble and difficult background, will live on through the Benson Beza Conservation Award program, a new initiative that we are launching which aims to identify and support future conservations sharing the key attributes that Benson had.
A solemn occasion of a memorial tree planting, a baobab tree, held at the Chipembele offices attended by Benson's family, loved ones, friends and Chipembele management and staff. The plaque reads: "Benson Beza. A tree planting in memory and admiration of Benson Beza - 17.10.1999 - 16.7.2021. in tribute ti his commitment and persistence in achieving his dreams".
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We are only a week away from launching a very special fundraising campaign via GlobalGiving (GG) to finance the Benson Beza Memorial Conservation Awards and Leadership Development Programme.
The initial fundraiser will run from 13 September 21 to 30 September 21 and the challenge is to raise at least $5,000 from at least 40 donors. This then allows Chipembele (and Benson's Memorial Fund and projects) from being an ongoing part of the Global Giving community.
Please visit https://globalgiving.org/projects/empowering-young-zambian-eco-leaders to learn more about how you can help, please help us by sharing the link and please donate to make this a reality! Keep checking our FB page to follow how we are getting on.
Thank you for your support!
Please also stay connected to us, this won’t be the only way we will be remembering Benson and his energy and legacy, we are currently developing a conservation awards programme to recognise and help students, like Benson, to overcome barriers in becoming conservation leaders.
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SMART DEVELOPMENT DATA CAPTURE
With schools being closed due to the COVID-19 3rd wave, we have taken the opportunity to utilise SMART mobile (spatial monitoring and reporting tool) to map our community groups as well the villages, churches and NGOs in our respective areas. This tool enables us to quickly and efficiently gather data on our community activities. Back at the office the data is collected and analysed feeding back into programme management and our monitoring and evaluation programme. We have also set up the tool to capture our meeting data once schools reopen.
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The Mentors At Chipembele team observed that birds were being caught in snares made from mosquito nets. As young conservationists who are passionate about wildlife, they took it upon themselves to take action and do something about this problem. They went to Lupande River, one of the tributaries of Luangwa River, to remove these bird snares on a couple of occasions in August 2021. On these 2 days of work, they rescued 17 birds and removed over 100 snares, which they later burnt.
Picture above: The MAC's in the high visibility vests. The back reads " Chipembele - Environmental Protection Team"
Below. Carefully removing snares from small birds.
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CAPACITY BUILDING FOR THE CCE'S
Making the most of the schools being closed, the Community Conservation Educators (CCE's) took several online conservation and teaching courses in early August as a part of their professional development. These courses included From Climate Science to Action; Introduction to sustainability; Ecology: Dynamics and conservation and Class room interaction.
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Introducing Venus
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Chipembele received a call from a local lodge manager to report that he had rescued a baby baboon who he had found stuck in mud in their lagoon. The troop was not around and there was no sign of the mother. The baby baboon was only about 1 to 2 months old and was dehydrated, weak and traumatised. She also had a nasty flesh wound on her leg and another on her arm, though it is not known how these wounds were inflicted. Anna took her straight to the local wildlife vet Dr Mwamba (who works for Conservation South Luangwa and the Zambia Carnivore Programme) and he treated the wounds. She was sleeping most of the day and night at the beginning but is now much more lively! Our thanks to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife for authorising her rehabilitation at Chipembele. She has been named Venus in keeping with the astronomical theme of some of the other baboons we have rehabilitated: Cosmos, Pluto, Mwezi (moon), Zuwa (sun), and Comet.
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ORPHANED ELEPHANT BECAUSE OF HUMAN WILDLIFE CONFLICT
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Only a short time after hearing bout Venus, there was another call, this time involving a mother and baby elephant deep inside the National Park. Sadly the mother had a serious gunshot wound and was euthanised by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) in order to save the 18 month old baby. An elephant calf depends on their mother up to age 5, or more, so proper and ongoing care was essential and the only option for this little one's survival.
The calf was transferred to the Chipembele Centre under sedation and with the veterinary care of Dr Sichande from Conservation South Luangwa (CSL). Elvis Libisi, an experienced elephant keeper from the Lilayi Elephant Orphanage near Lusaka, run by Game Rangers International (GRI), flew in the same day and quickly established a care and feeding regime. Anna also employed 3 local men to help with his care around the clock. Elvis named the elephant Chipembele, due to his strong and feisty nature, just like a black rhino. Thankfully he recovered from his trauma well and was strong enough to be moved (see image below) to Lilayi orphanage as soon as all the permit and travel arrangements were organised.
It is urgent wildlife operations like this where partnerships and trust quickly come into play to make everything run as smoothly and successfully as possible.
Huge thanks to Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), Conservation South Luangwa (CSL), Game Rangers International (GRI) and the Chipembele Team for all the hard work and
co-operation.
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