Dr Jennifer Gush, one of the coaches giving lessons about Rhino Poaching prevention.

Due to the senseless slaughter of rhinos across the world, Investec partnered with the reserve to train young ‘defenders’ to fight the mass killing of rhinos through education. 

The program teaches children about conservation (mostly from the surrounding primary schools) – it also teaches the children about the importance of having rhinos on our game reserves so that they won’t cease to exist in a few years to come. 

The Amakhala Conservation Centre is the ‘home to conservation’ for the reserve. The foundation basically teaches about the importance of conserving animals and the environment for the future generations to see. The Amakhala Foundation partnered with Coaching for Conservation/Investec Rhino Life Line to educate children who live near the reserve (Paterson, Addo, Alexandria, Alicedale and Grahamstown) on how important it is to keep rhinos. It also has a series of games for children to make learning fun. Dr. Jennifer Gush, together with her team; Tammy, Mo and Lunga are the coaches who see to it that children have fun while learning. 

Kids listen to a presentation by Jennifer about Rhinos (the two different rhinos, the food they eat and how to spot the differences between the two). After the lesson, they then play different games (soccer-related), they are coached in dribbling, defensive skills and speed. 

After all the activities, kids go to game drives and enjoy what the reserve has to offer, looking for rhinos and other animals while sitting in the game vehicles.