Empowering Communities and Protecting Wildlife in 2025

We’re thrilled to launch our 2025 project initiatives, aimed at creating lasting, positive change in the communities and wildlife areas surrounding African Bush Camps Experiences. Our 15 community and conservation projects across Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are focused on addressing some of the most pressing challenges these regions face, including high unemployment, food insecurity, limited access to education and healthcare, low school attendance, lack of financial empowerment, wildlife poaching, and the preservation of natural resources.

Within these efforts, we are committed to fostering sustainable growth and conservation, strengthening local economies, and protecting the rich biodiversity of these areas. Here is an overview of our 2025 initiatives.

Building a Brighter Future for Learners

We are excited to begin phase 1 of the upgrades at Maunga Primary School near Thorntree River Lodge, where we plan to expand the primary school into a primary and secondary school. The nearest secondary school is 12 miles (20km) from Maunga Village. The high cost of schooling, travel, and boarding far from home is a financial challenge for many families. As a result, a large percentage of learners for Maunga and the surrounding villages drop out of school after grade 7. Expanding Maunga Primary School will keep learners in school beyond grade 7, giving them the opportunity to finish their schooling while easing the financial burden for parents. The expansion plan will require key improvements, including a fully equipped science lab, additional classrooms, a new dormitory, and additional teacher accommodation at the school. This year, we will start renovating the science lab.

ABCF will renovate 2 more schools in 2025, improving the boarding facilities, dormitories, and classrooms at Janeiro Primary School near Lolebezi, and upgrade the classroom blocks at Khwai Pre-School near our Khwai Experiences. Learners and teachers in the 6 schools that we support will have the critical resources that they need to succeed, such as stationery packs, teaching materials, daily meals for learners, and sanitary pads to keep girls in school.

Here is a breakdown of the school expansion and renovation costs for 2025:

• Science lab building: $20,000
• Stationery and teaching materials per school: $2,500
• Hostel bedding and mattresses: $5,000
• Desks, chairs, and new chalkboards for classrooms: $5,000
• Classroom renovations: $15,000
• Sanitary pads for the year per school: $1,000
• Repainting classrooms: $1,500

The Kufadza Female Scouts and the Female Guides Program

We are proud to fund the training and deployment of seven Kufadza Female Scouts– an all-female group of highly trained scouts who are at the frontline of our efforts to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. The scouts play a vital role in protecting wildlife and educating local communities on the importance of conservation.

We are also excited to welcome the class of 2025 to African Bush Camps  Female Guides Program in Botswana and Zambia. Five new female guides will begin their journey to become licensed safari guides. This two-year program provides comprehensive training to empower women, through access to career opportunities in a traditionally male-dominated field. In 2024, Sharon from Botswana completed the program and was promoted to Junior Guide at African Bush Camps, while Kgalalelo earned her Assistant Guide license. In Zambia, Esther and Zita completed their second year at Lolebezi, specializing in angling and driving.

You can partner with us to sponsor a female guide in 2025 with a contribution of $5,000. The sponsorship covers the license and training for the program.

Conservation and Reducing Human-Wildlife Conflict in 2025

Our partnership and collaboration with the Conservation and Wildlife Fund (CWF), Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit (BHAPU), and Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ) is advancing our conservation efforts across Hwange National Park, Bumi Hills, and Lower Zambezi National Park. Our mission in 2025 is to protect wildlife and preserve vital ecosystems through ongoing patrols, snare recoveries, poacher arrests, and confiscation of illegal items.

The Lion Boma and Lion Guardian Projects are vital in protecting livestock, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and preventing retaliatory killings of wild animals. A boma is a cloth material used to cover kraals (wooden livestock pens), preventing predators from seeing the animals inside. The Lion Guardians play an important role in protecting both communities and wildlife by alerting locals to the presence of lions in the area. They also conduct thorough kraal and herd assessments, ensuring livestock enclosures are built to maximize protection and evaluating the health and well-being of the animals.

This year, we will install 20 additional lion bomas in communities surrounding our Experiences and employ full-time lion guardians to work with the community to promote conservation.

You can partner with us to reduce human-wildlife conflict with a contribution of $1,000 towards a lion boma.

Partner with Us in 2025

For just $10 a month, you can help us make a lasting difference. Your support as a recurring donor will help us continue building a brighter future for learners, uplifting women through meaningful opportunities, and preserving Africa’s precious animals and landscapes. Together, let’s continue to share and conserve Africa in 2025.