NFA girls visit Okonjima for big cat instruction before hospitality training starts

Twelve graduates from the NFA Girls Centre attended the AfriCat Foundation’s Environmental Education programme at Okonjima Lodge.

The AfrifCat Foundation has been operating from Farm Okonjima in the Otjiwarongo district for close on 25 years. It conducts regular educational sessions on a range of aspects related to ecology, conservation, human animal conflict, large predators and rehabilitation of injured animals. Its best-known work is on leopard rehabilitation and relocation. Recently, it has also started a new project on the dynamics of the wild lion population at Hobatere on Etosha’s western border.

AfriCat exposes young people to all the elements of conservation in their environmental education progremmes. The twelve girls from the Namibia Football Association were each awarded a full year scholarship to study for a Diploma in Restaurant Management at the Silver Spoon Hospitality Academy, after successfully completing a 3-month introductory course to Hospitality Management.

The girls started their year-long training with a four-day educational tour to the AfriCat Foundation in the last week of January.

During their time at Okonjima, they were visited by the German Ambassador, H.E. Christian Schlaga and the Head of Cooperation in the German Embassy, Mr Christian Grün.

The German partners underlined the importance of the NFA Girls Centre as a safe space for young women to meet, be educated and make use of different sport opportunities. Ambassador Schlaga stressed, that “educational programmes such as these not only help to empower the girls, but ultimately improve the employability of Namibian women.”

The AfriCat Foundation’s Environmental Education Programme will further complement and enrich the learning experience of the students who are on the verge of starting their full year diploma course which began on 01 February and runs until the end of this year.

The scholarship-programme was made possible through the NFA’s partnership with German Development Cooperation through the GIZ and private German partners Futouris e.V. and the TUI Care Foundation.

The girls who received the full-year scholarships are Melisa Eises, Jorita Cloete, Martina Shipanga, Anna Marie Shikusho, Sadia Garoes, Jenny Mento, Christiana Kohlman, Gwenneth Narises, Raiza Beukes, Rosalia Silvanus, Melissa Matheus and Jeneal Mouton.