The Malilangwe Trust’s Junior Ranger Programme (JRP) started in 2018 with the purpose of equipping young men with life skills to improve their employment opportunities after they leave school. The course takes place during the school holidays, over a total of 9 weeks throughout the year and is aimed at boys, aged 16 to 19 years old, who are selected from a neighbouring rural school. The JRP is designed and instructed by the Malilangwe Scouts, who act as mentors and pass on a diverse range of skills and wisdom to the young recruits.
During their time as Junior Rangers, the boys live in purpose-built dormitories in a village on the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. The boys work as a team and share responsibilities for cooking their own meals, washing, and keeping the JRP facilities clean and tidy. The scouts demonstrate high standards for levels of cleanliness and neatness, and the dormitories are inspected daily by the scouts. For all of these boys, it’s a first-time experience in sleeping in a real bed and using a proper shower.
The course aims to instil discipline, respect, teamwork, leadership, and self-confidence which in turn creates a happy learning environment. The Junior Rangers are instructed in physical fitness, bushcraft, conservation education, first aid and a wide range of life skills such as sewing, cooking, public speaking, and compiling CVs. They ultimately graduate in a parade which encompasses a full drill exercise and demonstrates some of the incredible skills that they have mastered in conservation, first aid and public speaking.
Team building exercises encourage the boys to collaborate on how to devise strategies and solve problems.
Addresses a variety of subjects and encourages confidence and quick thinking. Study time in the evenings allows for revision and keeping up with their diary, which is a course requirement.
The boys are trained in food handling and hygiene, as well as preparation of delicious meals. By the end of the first module, they are responsible for all their own catering.
Every day starts with exercises, followed by a run. Workouts include circuit training in the gym and a competitive team ball sport. Each exercise session is instructed and accompanied by senior scouts.
This is led by Debbie Kelly – a consulting qualified teacher, who is also a professional guide. Debbie conducts activities both in the classroom and out in the field, with an emphasis on practical work and group discussions.
This is taught by senior scouts. Traditional uses for a variety of plants are shared and some Shangaan bushcraft practices, not typically passed down through the generations anymore, are revealed.
This is taught through practical and theoretical lessons. In their pass out parade, the junior rangers act out a scenario and the processes of attending to the injuries at the scene of the incident.
The programme teaches the boys the meaning of respect and one of the modules focuses on giving back. Communities have been impacted positively by this philosophy, where the Junior Rangers have built houses in the community for elderly people, established vegetable gardens and they have mentored young people within their communities to improve their behaviour.
Since inception the course has made a huge impact on the lives of the boys, who have been given direction and hope, as well as a toolkit of life skills which has shaped opportunities for their futures. Several graduates from the programme have been employed by Malilangwe to work in the various departments of the Trust – conservation, maintenance and workshops, as well as a couple who have trained to become scouts. Some of the boys have continued their schooling and have been sponsored by Malilangwe to attend university.
Phibeon’s passion and enthusiasm for the bush led to valued ideas for the programme as he shared his knowledge of the local flora and fauna with the boys. He also drew attention to the traditional uses for a variety of plants and shared his Shangaan bushcraft skills. Sadly, Phibeon was only able to instruct the first year of the programme, due to being diagnosed with cancer and his subsequent passing. His wisdom for the wild will be missed, but not forgotten.